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jeremyqmartin

How Important Is "deglazing" After Handling Leather Before Dyeing

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Is it critical to use a "deglazer" on leather before I begin dying/finishing if I've handled it a lot with my bare hands?

If I don't, will it cause inconsistencies in the final appearance or something?

Edited by jeremyqmartin

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Yes, if your hands are dirty/oily you'll see lots of problems. I don't deglaze my stuff at all. I do, however, religiously wash my hands with dish soap before handling customer leather.

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Then I'm already in trouble, as my hands have been all over my hide piece :blush:

Would saddle soap work? I have some of that, or would it be good to get something like Fiebing's Deglazer or Dye Prep?

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Use some denatured alcohol and wipe it down once you cut your piece off. As long as your hands weren't oily when you messed with the hide you should be fine. I get a pretty oily face and tend to wipe at it a lot, leaving my hands pretty oily at times. So that's why I wash them quite a bit.

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might not be as strong, but it's worth a shot. I use it for thinning all my dyes when you're technically supposed to use denatured, so why not try another use? :)

Fiebing's Deglazer is "basically" denatured alcohol

Just did some brief research and it looks like it should be easily available in California. Just go to the hardware store in the paint section. I get mine at WalMart because I'm cheap and never remember until we're there.

Edited by Cyberthrasher

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Just a question on this subject: I think I was told that using denatured alcohol prior to carving leather made the leather surface harder and made using a swivel knife harder because it is difficult to cut. Is that true, or am I thinking of oxalic acid that does this?

thanks,

Bob

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Just a question on this subject: I think I was told that using denatured alcohol prior to carving leather made the leather surface harder and made using a swivel knife harder because it is difficult to cut. Is that true, or am I thinking of oxalic acid that does this?

thanks,

Bob

Not sure. I know most people deglaze after tooling and before dying since that's when your hands transfer the most crud to the leather. I can see where the alcohol might do that if applied heavily though.

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I've never had to deglaze, and I haven't had issues with dying. I don't have greasy hands and I wash them often though, which might be why. If I had to deglaze, I'd use rubbing alcohol from the pharmacy.

I bought Fiebings deglazer once to fix up dying mistakes, and it smelled just like nail polish remover.

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Nail polish remover used to be carbon tetrachloride - which was also used for dry cleaning - it is carcinogenic (can cause cancer). Things may have changed but I'd avoid sniffing that stuff.

I expect isopropyl alcohol, rubbing alcohol or - in the UK - methylated spirits ("meths") would work, they are all organic solvents. Yes, alcohol tends to harden cells, so I'm not surprised that it might harden leather - perhaps that is also why it is so bad for the liver? A Botanist told me they use it to harden plant cells when preparing them to go on microscope slides.

BTW If you search the forum for "oxalic acid", there is a discussion on using this acid before dying leather. Coincidentally I just received some in the post today but I will use it to remove tannin stains from an oak bowl rather than on leather (it is often sold as "wood bleacher" & sometimes as "alloy wheel cleaner"). It is corrosive & poisonous, so gloves & safety glasses would be prudent. White vinegar might be a safer (but weaker) alternative - I use a white vinegar spray as a general cleaner - "old school".

Yes, washing hands frequently with soapy water is a good idea - learnt that the hard way handling newly finished bowls :(.

Edited by Tannin

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Fiebing's Deglazer is 70-90% Ethyl acetate the remainder being ethyl alcohol. Ethyl acetate vaporizes rapidly; so much so that after a few months storage in a 'tightly stoppered' container only a small amount may remain in the can-it of course being mostly the alcohol remnants. Only Fiebings seems to know the mechanism by which the deglazer works. I suspect that it 'denatures' and dissolves oils from the fingers, dissipating and drying the remaining materials into and off of the leather mostly as a dead dry dust. I keep a can just in case but find that with normal hand washing and careful handling it is rarely needed. The one or two times I thought I needed it, it didn't seem to do much by way of removal (that a clean dry cloth could have readily accomplished with one or two swipes) and I got a strong headache from the fumes. The leather surface did become harder, subsequently the dye absorbed faster. If my hands feel anything other than dry I wash them with a simple bar soap or on occasion use a pump delivered hand sanitizer (mostly an alcohol substance).

Denatured alcohol is adulterated--contaminated by a non-human friendly liquid to make drinking it unpalatable and dangerous. Gasoline is one such additive; benzene and similar aromatic hydrocarbons are also used. Unless you buy your ethanol from a drug/chemical supplier (with appropriate license) as pharm grade or get it as grain alcohol from a liquor dispenser (Everclear and expensively taxed) you ALWAYS GET denatured alcohol in the USA. Ethanol a heavily regulated and taxed commodity!

Carbon-tetrachloride is know (by more than just the state of California) to be carcinogenic, toxic and generally harmful to most living things. It's tightly controlled and heavily regulated-not easily obtained by the general public. It's principle use in times gone by was to clean ribbon based typewriters of accumulated ink residue, paper dust and other materials referred to as crud, junk or ***** (deleted for social reasons). Logically it was and may still be used in the newspaper and printing trades especially if the still employ older metal based offset production.

Fingernail polish and fingernail polish remover are usually (partially or wholly) adulterated acetone(by perfume and softening agents as well as the color ingredients). Acetone can be found in the paint aisle of most home improvement centers and requires nothing more than common sense in storage and handling.

Vinegar is acetic acid in water, diluted heavily. As acids go it wouldn't be very strong anywhere outside a lab or industrial situation; even then it's seldom above about 35%. The white version more filtered than the red/tan to brown looking varieties.

All of these substances work against the very things most prized in leather: it's suppleness, resiliency and resistance to other contaminations. Several can in fact contaminate leather to the degree that it must be discarded. Except for vinegar all have adverse effect on humans and require some care in handling.

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Nail polish remover is now acetone. If you use much, it's cheaper to buy at paint and hardware stores. Also used to cleanup tools after using fibreglass resin. So is also available at automotive and boat shops/stores.

EPA doesn't and California haven't classed acetone as a smog producing volatile organic compound, so it is being used in paints and finishes now. That doesn't mean it's not a harsh chemical. Don't breathe too much of it!

Tom

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