Professional Polishing

[Brandon711]

I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction to get my products looking like coming out of a factory. I see a lot of briefcases and wallets that look totally awesome and shiny but for some reason mines looks very dull at the end. Any help would be highly appreciated.

[mlapaglia]

What do you currently do to finish your product? What finishes do you use? What products are you making?

On a personal note: I would rather have my product look hand made than look like it came out of a factory. It is possible to get a good finish and still look like a person not a machine made it.

Start with telling us what you sell and how you finish it. I'll bet people here can tell you how to improve the finish.

Michael

[TwinOaks]

Without knowing what you're making, it's hard to be specific.

Even so......

There are several things that can alter the look of the leather- The type of leather (specifically how it was tanned), the method of coloring, the finish / topcoat on it, and any physical applications. For example: If you start with rawhide, wipe dye on it, and cover it with neat-lac, it's gonna look like crap. If you take a piece of drum dyed bridle leather, run it through a glazing machine, and put an good topcoat on that, it'll look fabulous.

The differences are as follows- bridle leather is tanned (and hot stuffed with waxes and oils for weather resistance), rawhide is just cured. Wiping dye on with a dauber or cloth will leave streaks and be uneven, drum dying gives a deep even color (you can also get even coloring with an airbrush). A glazing machine (somebody help me out if I named it wrong) uses glass rods in a machine to compress and smooth the surface fibers of the leather. I've found I can get a wonderful shine after spray-dying, by just rubbing firmly with a paper towel. It's just rough enough to glaze the surface, but soft enough that it doesn't damage the grain. A topcoat to seal it, and voila! nice looking leather.

_{*yes, there are other steps like conditioning that weren't mentioned*}