Ingrid

Thanks for taking the time to reply. II have tried the acetone thing like you advised, RoosterShooter. Didn't do the trick unfortunately, but it was worth the shot. Bruce, I think you have a point. I've worked with several weights and qualities of harness leather now and have found that no hide is consistent. Every hide means starting all over again with experimenting how to get the results I want and need. Maybe I should just buy some precoloured harness leather for this kind of projects, and then use the heavy natural veg tan leather for the projects that demand the antique or distressed look (which are very easy to obtain on this leather and my customers are wild about it). I just can't stand the fact that I can't succeed doing a proper (even) dye job on this leather.

I have a problem with dyeing my heavy harnessleather, hope somebody can set me on the right path. I have this beautiful, light oiled high quality harnessleather (13-15 oz) that I use for dogcollars etc. I use Fiebing’s professional oil dye. With the black I have no problem, but the browns are giving me headaches. I just can’t get the dye to penetrate the leather completely and evenly. What have I tried: - Not cleaning the leather, directly dyeing - Not cleaning the leather, dampening before dyeing, - Oiling the leather before dying, - Not oiling the leather before dyeing - Cleaning the leather before dyeing with Ammonia Alcohol Aceton All kinds of mixtures of the three above Special leathercleaner Fiebing’s dyeprep - Dilluting the paint with alcohol - I also tried to apply the dye in different ways: With a cloth, various thin layers With a dauber With a sponge But the effect is still not satisfying. At the first glance, it looks fine but when I bend it to fasten the buckle, you see all this “cracks” where the paint didn’t hold. It’s not evenly. Now I am not talking about a pull up effect, that ‘s normal for this kind of quality leather, but really little spiderly lines where the paint did not penetrate. Now this looks really nice actually, and lots of my clients want it for it’s special rough look. But for some projects I want to dye the leather evenly. I’ve tried so many things, but am really frustrated now. On my other thin leather, no problem. Looks fine and even. Problem is only with the heavier harness leather (different batches, different tannery, different weight.) Anyone out there with the golden answer? What am I doing wrong?