Thinning Neatsfoot Oil & Oil Dye

[retiredff]

I have been reading a lot here but can't seem to find the answer I need. I am making wallets and phone holders for now and want to dye and oil them to keep the leather soft. At some point I'll do some tooling and wet forming. Is there a formula for thinning the oil dye with alcohol? I read here someone puts their neatsfoot in the microwave then apply after dying, can the thinned dye (denatured alcohol) be mixed into the neatsfoot then apply both at the same time?

Thanks

Tony

Edited November 17, 2014 by retiredff

[Chief31794]

I've never heard of anyone thinning neatsfoot oil, i apply thin coats and it is what it is. As for oil dyes, feibings pro oil dyes can be diluted with denatured alcohol, yes. I do it all the time, I normally thin any pro oil dye (except black) at 2:1 dye to alcohol and 1:1 on some dyes depending on the color I'm trying to achieve. I have diluted as far as 10:1 alcohol (particularly Browns), but recently I've been buying different (lighter) shades as opposed to thinning that much, I think it works better, just my opinion not backed up by any facts that I know of.

Chief

[JLSleather]

I thin dyes 'thinner' than that, but I'm with chief on the oil.. never considered thinning it. I don't know if you need a "formula" for thinning dye, but I would recommend writing down what you did.. like simple as maybe a piece of masking tape on the bottle. If you never need it, no harm done. But I've mixed dyes, used them, made no note, only to have someone say "hey- kin i git another one like that"

Some dyes i use full strength. Some I thin as much as 30:1. I just use dye solvent.. that denatured stuff will kill ya quick!

[retiredff]

I didn't mean to thin neatsfoot, sorry if it sounded that way. Can I mix the dye (thinned or not) into the neatsfoot then apply?

thanks for the reply, these will give me a starting point.

[Chief31794]

I didn't mean to thin neatsfoot, sorry if it sounded that way. Can I mix the dye (thinned or not) into the neatsfoot then apply?

thanks for the reply, these will give me a starting point.

I would try it on some scrap before I tried it on a project, most people just add the oil later to replace what has been lost in the dying process.

Chief

[retiredff]

OK, Thanks Chief.

[dakotawolf]

I'm not sure why I can't paste the info here, or even paste the link, but if you go to www.fiebing.com there is information on this. It's in the tips and tricks section. In short, mix Fiebing's leather dye (not oil dye) with neatsfoot oil. The ratio they state is 6% to 94% neatsfoot oil. I tried it and the color (med. brown) was much easier to control with a dauber. I imagine you can go stronger or lighter with the dye concentrations.

[ENC]

Dakotawolf...I had not seen that on their site befor.

When I wrote to Fiebings asking about the differences in their dye products a while back. This is the reply I got.

Leather Dye is Alcohol based. Pro Oil Dye is alcohol and oil color based.Leather stain is vegetable oil based and can be mixed with most other oil up to 20%.

Professional Oil Dye is the best product as it dyes more level and does not fade and can be used on oily leather. In many cases Leather Dye works and is

lower in cost.

You may pass this on to others.

Thank You

Richard Chase

President

So I guess the answer is try it and see what works and then let us all know.

Ray

Edited January 25, 2015 by ENC