Hello,
I've been reading the threads around here, but I am still having trouble putting together a procedure that I can tell will work. I am making a leather hat (veg tan leather so far); I have no airbrush. Here is what I thought of doing. I am very much nOOb. Very much. So, please point out any mistakes I made!
1. clean hat with alcohol (90+% isopropyl or denatured)
2. while still damp, apply oil-based dye
3. let dry
4. apply some more oil-based dye
4. let dry
5. apply water stain dye on top (does not penetrate as well as oil, but is colorfast and such)
6. let dry
7. apply conditioner (something that's not mink oil so that it does not soften the leather). "Leather Honey Leather Conditioner" looks good on amazon. I already have Obenauf's leather oil; will it do the same thing?
8. Finally seal. I am a little unclear on what to do here since the hat will need to survive lots of sun, and potentially some rain. So far I was thinking 50/50 resolene, but maybe I should consider something else?
I plan to apply the dyes and final seal with either a sponge, foam, or wool dauber from tandy.