Azalea

Thanks guys. Thinking back now, too much dye definitely could have been an issue as I was recommended to do 2 coats, although I was satisfied with the first one. I’ll play around with a few things and update if I think I’ve figured it out :)

Ah okay, so this may just be a persistent issue?

Resolene is what is used by saddle manufacturers to give saddles the serious shine when they're brand new, I've spoken to a few master saddlers who recommended it and use it themselves, thats why I did it myself That is also why they recommended acetone to deglaze, as it breaks down the previous acrylic top coat so that you can penetrate the leather with dye, and then re seal Beautiful job! I am wondering whether I should be using Fiebing's regular dye as oppose to the pro dye as it is oil based. It just seems impossible to buff off!

Hi guys, new member here. I don't consider myself a leather worker compared to what I've seen, I'm just a horse rider who is learning to care for and dye leather tack, which I really enjoy! I have only dyed 2 saddles so far but I seem to have had the same problem with them both. The process that I used for the first saddle I dyed was clean using saddle soap, deglaze using acetone, oil with Neatsfoot (possibly oiled too much this first time), apply 1 coat of Fiebing's Pro Oil dye in black, apply 2nd coat of dye, buff, and apply multiple coats of resolene. It turned out beautiful, but I stupidly didn't try buffing after resolene as I trusted it would lock the dye in. I then rode in the saddle a couple of times and assumed no dye came off (I was wearing black trousers so couldn't tell anyway) but I believe the 3rd time riding in the saddle I wore some light coloured trousers, which is when I noticed dye rubbed off on every single part of the saddle where I came in to contact with it. Now, there are a few things that I thought might have caused this, such as applying too much oil before the dye, applying the dye too heavy, not buffing enough afterwards, not applying enough resolene etc. so I bought another saddle and dyed it. I used all the same products, but this time I left much longer in between each step (over 24 hours), applied less oil and dye, buffed more and then wiped with denatured alcohol to get rid of any excess and applied multiple coats of resolene (50/50 mix with water, probably 10 coats?). I noticed this time that after a few coats of resolene, I started to get these weird foggy blotches under the top coat and eventually started to get rough patches where the resolene was just rubbing off. I tried buffing and realised the spots and patches are all dye under the top coat that has been lifted to the surface. I've buffed the saddle in between each step and every single time I still get dye rub off which will obviously be an issue as I will come in to contact with the saddle everytime I use it. From what I've seen online, everyone suggests resolene but I can't seem to make it work so well for me. I have some beeswax conditrioner that I plan on putting on afterwards but I dont have much hope. I'm also going to have to deglaze the seat and redo the resolene due to the weird spots... Sorry for the rambling, I'm just feeling a bit disheartened as the saddles look beautiful, but they're impractical if they keep leaking dye! Am I using the wrong process? Is there a better dye suited to this? Thanks guys