ThisIsMyFirstRodeo

As always, you come through with some great insight. And yes, the airbrush is a light-duty cake decorator, but maybe it’ll give her a gift idea. After all, Christmas is coming 😉 I think (hope?) I have finally made my case to spend the extra $15 on the Pro Dye to not stress over the potential for bleed, and to skip the topcoat step and save time. Regardless, I still want to explore the airbrush application method. My initial project resulted in a halfway decent sunburst, so I’m excited to see what I can do with a little experience. — AZR

Will do, and thank you for your input. I did use water to dilute, but maybe there’s enough of a difference between Resolene and Pro Resist to give different results. I haven’t worked with Resolene yet to test/experiment… The wife did give me her airbrush though, so I’ll probably set the Preval down. But I have started to cut the resist with water instead of using full-strength, and I cut my dye to various dilutions with 91% iso alc. I have yet to put it through the airbrush though, so I’ll find out soon if I should or not. General question for the audience though: Has anyone sprayed NFO? And how were your results? — AZR

Note to self: Just don’t. Basically my experience was from attempting to spray a 50% dilution. The resist started gumming up into the “white glue”-type sludge, clogging the nozzle. Another sign of a mistake is the freeze warning on the side of the bottle. And the propellant in the cartridge is well below freezing as it’s released. I was doing my best to use short bursts to prevent the nozzle from freezing over, but who knows how successful that was. At least I’m only down a cartridge and some time, though what did spray seemed to lay down surprisingly even. Perhaps an airbrush is still a possibility for application, but definitely not with the Preval system. (It did work wonderfully for my dye though!) Learn from my experience so you don’t have to make the same mistake 😉 And may you never burn your bacon… — AZR

So I’m wanting to use a Preval unit, but I’m mixing my dye and don’t want to mix more than I need. Is there a “minimum” amount needed in the bottle for the sprayer to work properly? TIA, AZR

As a follow-up, I guess, is there any change in technique when using both oil- and water-based dyes? Wow I really feel like a noob again after finally getting some NFO from Tandy (they couldn’t get any from the warehouse for MONTHS!)… — AZR

Ok, simple question (maybe)… Does water- vs oil-based dye affect how you use NFO? Is the typical oil/water separation even a concern? Ive been watching some videos from the University of YouTube, and I’ve noticed that they’re all using Fiebings Pro, and not water-based (I prefer the Pro dye myself, but I happen to have a water-based dye for this project), and I don’t want to ruin a piece by lifting or smearing the dye. TIA, AZR

Aaaaaand I feel even more inadequate…

It’s a handbag, 3-4oz econo veg tan, probably closer to the 4oz end. I was hoping to attempt oiling/conditioning to soften it and make it a bit more pliable (I know I would have only limited results, but I was going to try anyway), but because I made the mistake of using a water-based dye, I had to seal the bag with Pro Resist (it’s what I have on my shelf), which leads to the conundrum of how to best treat the leather. — AZR

My thought was that it would help keep the veg tan a little more pliable. (I have NFO and saddle soap though) Usually I stiffen leather, and use 6-8oz instead of 3-4oz, so this is just the opposite end of the spectrum for me to learn. — AZR

Vinegaroon made my leather super-stiff (almost unworkable) and gray also. I gave it a coat of mineral oil, because hey, worst case it’s still learning curve, but the oil caused the black to return, and softened it enough that I could use it. For period-correct, maybe NFO or olive oil? — AZR

If the flesh side isn’t sealed, can it be oiled/conditioned from there? — AZR

Having any issues with the interior? In the process of assembling a purse myself, but I made the dummy move of using water-based dye. I sealed the exterior with Pro Resist, but now I’m paranoid about bleed/stain on the inside (let’s say it got wet or something…). Before I stitch the panels together, is there anything I should do to seal the inside, or do I even need to worry about it? — AZR

Dwight, since you seem to know what you’re doing, I made the dummy move of using Fiebing’s regular dye instead of the pro dye for a purse, and I’m paranoid about rub off because of my mistake. Aside from a final coat of Pro Resist, is there something I can do to avoid the rub off? Also, because I went to the extra step of dying the interior/flesh side, what can I do to seal it? (Primarily concerned if it got wet…) — AZR

Thank you, Fred. Now that I realize that I didn’t even ask my initial question, will NFO penetrate Pro Resist? And follow-up, does saddle soap still clean/condition in spite of the resist? TIA, — AZR

Okay so this thread is so far dead that it’s fossilized, but I’m gonna dig it up again and hope for more insight… So I am actively in the step of finishing the panels for a purse, so I’ll give the process I just used. Full disclosure: just as my handle suggests, I don’t necessarily know what I’m doing aside from following tips from others… 1) I clean/wash the panels with warm water and Dawn dish soap, and rinse well. The intended purpose is to draw out the oils to the surface and wash off. 2) Once dry to touch, I gave a relatively light coat of NFO to replace the oils I removed, and let it sit overnight to even out in the fibers. 3) Cased the leather with water and let sit overnight. 4) Scribed in my stitch lines and pricked out (not punched) where the stitches would lie. 5) “re-cased” the panels with a spray bottle of water until the absorption slowed, and let sit for a few minutes until it looked kinda dry and was cool to touch, and tooled the panels. Sprayed again as needed, but only minimal. Once finished, I let it sit overnight. 6) Dye process. I’ll leave the method I used out because it was experimental for a sunburst effect (not what happened). But, after dying, I buff off the excess dye sitting on the surface, and let sit overnight to fully absorb and even out. 7) Gave it a light coat of Fiebing’s Pro Resist, mixed about 50/50 with water, and quickly wiped off (just to seal surface, not depressions). 😎 Applied a heavy coat of Fiebing’s antique paste (I use my finger so I can really work it down into the depressions), lightly buffing the excess off when I was done. 9) Let dry for half an hour or so, and buffed on my wheel to a nice sheen. This brings us up to now. The edges of one panel don’t feel quite dry enough for my liking, so I’m killing time with dishes, giving my pup some loving, and writing this post. Once I’m happy with the edges feeling dry, I’m going to give another coat maybe 2 of the 50/50 Pro Resist, buff out, and finally punch my stitch line to assemble, burnish the edges with gum trag and/or spit, and finish. Once again, I don’t really know what I’m doing, it just seems to work for me. Still feels like my first rodeo, — AZR