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Hi all. I'm working on a custom wallet project with a splattered dye job on the leather and I need to know the best black dye to use that will stay put on the leather (and not run over time) as well as the best sealant to protect the splatters from running together and/or rubbing off. Since this leather will be used for a wallet, it'll get a lot of use and needs to be well sealed. FYI, the dyes I've tried so far are: 1)Fiebings Black Leather Dye 2) Even tried Fiebings Edge Kote for a more opaque look. The sealants I've tried are: 1) Fiebings Acrylic Resolene (I've tried rubbing this on gently but it makes the splatter spots run) 2) Bowling Alley Wax (I've used this for years on belts and such but it's not protecting the splatter spots over time. They all blend into the leather making it look dirty...) Thank for your help!!

Hi! First of all - sorry for my english, i know it's bad So, today i saw a nice carved leather wallets, with freaking amazing dying technique. Now i can't sleep because i need to know how to get these colours. I think its not spirit dyes, seems like water based or acrylic used with some snain ot acrylic gel (i dont know), but, its so vintage, and lean, yes, its looks old, but clean. Do you have any ideas, or maybe you know this technique? Maybe you can give some advise of dye brand?..God, that's make me mad...

I'm really new to leather crafting and experimenting with some simple coloring techniques, I was wondering if anyone new how to get this look?

Im unhappy with my Tandy brand (eco flo) chemicals...the bottles come with a paper "seal" inside the caps, and it rapidly disintegrates leaving a leaky bottle, or one which dries up well before I can use the contents up. Im looking at some Angelus brands, they have a very large selection of colors and what appears to be packaged in a glass bottle, its listed as a "dye" but appears to be a paint.... Im in California and several Fiebings items on the web state they cannot be shippped to the Golden State. So...anyone have any practical experience with Angelus products?

HI everybody! I am working on a mask and I will be attaching a horn core to it. This core has been out in the elements for awhile and so it has some green tint to it. I want to try to give the mask a similar weathered/aged look to it. I want it to look like the mask itself has been sitting out in the elements along with the horn core. I want to give it a "spalted/mottled" look. I don't want the dye to be dark but just give it a tinting. Does anyone have suggestions about how to achieve this? I don't have an airbrush. The dye I have is a Tandy Leather Eco-Flo water based Forest Green. My thoughts: 1. Put some neatsfoot oil spots then dye the piece 2. Put dye in a spot and almost immediately wipe it off Let me know what you think or if you have done it please let me know how you achieved it and include a picture please. Oh I also have some kelly green Cova Color also from Tandy, which is an acrylic paint.... I'm not sure if that would give me the mottled look I want though...

I recently washed my Allen Edmond (Park Aves) and only when they dried did I notice that It stripped away some dye. (I used saddle soap) http://amzn.to/2jAzCv0 <- this is the dye I was pondering at since it's the closest to the shoe color. I've never dyed any leather in my life and I was wondering if I was missing any steps in the process. Also, do you condition the leather before or after the dying process ?

I have been practicing with my swivel knife and stamps, that I inherited from my grandparents, on some old veg tan scraps from the Local surplus store, for about six weeks now and feel like I will be ready for my first projects soon. I want to make leather stick barrettes for my mom and me. I still need some more practice because I'm still not confident in my abilities yet, but I think I have almost everything I need. I'm going to buy a piece of belly from the surplus store to practice on since it's probably a little better quality than the supper thick, warped, dry scraps I've been practicing on. I ordered an 8-1/2"X11" 6-7oz piece of leather from Springfield LC. It was a nice piece, I liked the stiffness, but seemed a bit thin for the project, so I ordered a piece of 7-8oz and it should be here in a week or two. Should the 7-8oz piece be ok? for the stick, I'm using a dowel rod from Walmart, because that is what I use for my Native Amercan beaded stick barrettes. I want my barrette to be black. I'm brewing up a batch of vinegaroon right now. I've done a lot of reading about it here on the site. If it goes wrong, I have a bottle of black Feibings oil dye. Do I burnish the edges before or after I dye, or is it personal preference? I'm going to be burnishing with water, a wooden burnishing tool and paraffin wax. something I'm really concerned about is the finish. Mom wants the natural look and mine will be black. Since the leather we will use will be some what flexible, I'm concerned that acrylic finishes will crackle. Unless I could wet form them into the shape we want, but I don't know how that is done.We need a finish that is moisture resistant because we plan on wearing our barrettes almost every day, which means we might have damp hair when we put our hair up. I have read on the site that a 50/50 mixture of beeswax and neetsfoot oil applied to the leather, then melted in with a hair dryer was a good way to water proof leather. Would that work for this project? Would burnishing the flesh side aid in making it water resistant? On a side note, from what I understand, vinegaroon will turn some wood black. I think I'm going to cut a piece of the dowel rod off and see if it reacts to the vinegaroon. I'd like to have a black stick to go with my black barrette. If that doesn't work, some of the oil dye will work on the dowel rod, won't it? Thank you for your time.

Hi, I have been practicing with the swivel knife and stamps for a few weeks now. My first projects were going to be checkbook covers but decided they would be a little too advanced for me at this time and the stick barrettes are needed more anyways. The barrettes will be about 2-1/2" to 3", by about 5-1/5" long. They will be dyed black. I will use a dowel rod for the sicks, I will dye those black too. I bought 4oz of Feibings black pro oil dye and from what I understand, this doesn't bleed as bad as the others. Do you think 4oz will be enough to do both? I bought a piece of 6-7oz 8.5"X11" veg tan from Springfield Leather. This should be enough to make both barrettes, but not leaving much scrap for testing I bought a set of hole punches for the stick holes. I was going to burnish the edges and the flesh side. I ordered tools for that. I was thinking that burnishing the flesh side might help make it a little more moisture resistant. I'm concerned about making the barrettes moisture resistant because our hair might be damp when we put it up. Any suggestions on what we can put on the flesh side to protect it from the moisture in our hair? I'm ok with having to reapply something every so often. on the grain side, I will tool them and plan to use Mop n' Glo mixed 50/50 with water to seal them. I read about it on here. I already had it on hand and don't have much money to work with. Does it crackle really bad? The barrettes will be pretty flexible, so I'm concerned about that. I was thinking I should apply the Mop n' Glo, then put the dowel rod through the holes and let it dry in that position. Does that make sence? the barrettes are going to be oval shaped. To cut it out, I plan to use the 28 year old swivel knife I inherited (I have a brand new one for the good stuff) It has been sharpened and I have stropped the h**l out of it. It will cut through tough, roughly 8-10oz cased veg tan in a few passes with a little elbow grease. I know there are other knives I should be using, but I'm very clumsy and feel less likely to cut myself or ruin my project this way. I know I can't do it this way for long, but I will learn the right way in time. Is there anything y'all think I should know? Constructive criticism, suggestions, ideas and insight are very welcome. I'm very sorry I have so many questions. I have no idea what I'm doing, I have no one to learn from. The person a inherited the swivel knife and stamps from got them as a gift and knew nothing about leather work. I know absolutely no one that has worked with veg tan leather. I don't even have access to leather working books through our library because of personal reasons. All I really have is the Internet, just this website really. I have learned a lot here the last two weeks already. Please don't suggest any wool products, I'm allergic. Except the wool daubers should ok since they won't come in contact with my skin. Any responses are greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this novel lol.

A quick (not that quick, really) question about dyes... acrylic dyes, to be specific. Question #1: Once I apply one of these I can kiss any pull-up in the leather goodbye, right? I ask because I'm looking for a very dark brown or chestnut color, but I have only natural color leather at hand. I've made some progress with stains and dyes through trial and error, but I'm not quite where I want to be in terms of color (I've actually found a color I' might use on another project). All straps have the same base: 9 parts brown stain, 1 part black stain, 40 parts light paint thinner (UN number 1263... in case that means something). All straps were dip-stained in that soup and let dry. The differences: From left to right: - #1 and #3 were resisted with neatsfoot oil and dried before staining. - #2 and #4 were stained first and then neatsfoot oiled once they dried. - all of them received an extra layer of neatsfoot oil when dried from the previous steps. - #3 and #4 were dyed with acrylic dye, #3 without diluting and #4 at 50% dilution (diluted with the same paint thinner mentioned above). (NOTE: These look rather dull in the photo, but are actually quite shiny and nice) Once dried, all received a coat of Fiebing's Tan-Kote The color I'm after is basically the one in #3 and #4, but, having used an acrylic dye, I'm afraid they loose that nice, light pull-up I've got from #1 and #2 (shown below)... #1 and #2's by the way, is the color I mentioned I'll use for another project... Question #2: Is there anything on the market that can give me the color I want without loosing the pull-up effect? Thanks in advance!!

Hello, i recently bought a new leather wallet and it didn't last 3 days intact. It got damaged in my pocket somehow and when i saw it i thought that it might be a stain, so i tried to clean it off with a cotton swab, but it got even worse as some of the dye at that spot came off. Now the spot is really noticeable and it has a few minor scratches around it. Generally, it seems that the skin is very delicate and easy to scratch. Now, what i want to ask is whether i should try to dye it or not even bother? Will i be able to find a sufficiently similar color? How should i do the dying? It's not really about the wallet, but i am afraid that even if i buy another, the same will happen again.

Hey guys! I don't know if this has already been a topic. Has anyone compared Fiebing's Low VOC vs. their pro dye? I KNOW pro is the best! but here in Cali. its getting harder to get the pro dye. Just wondering if anyone has experienced the pros and cons when compared? Other than the harmful fumes of course. I guess I am asking performance wise. thank you all!

Hello everyone, I was reading leathercrafting101 and noticed for the tandy eco-flow waterstains they had a picture of several pieces of leather dyed and they were so vibrant especially the seafoam green and turquoise. Has anyone every been able to use these dyes and get that type of coloration as in the picture? please help http://blog.leathercraftlibrary.com/2015/05/12/leather-coloring-101/

So I was going through some old leather stuff and found I still had some brown dye, leather balm and gum tarcaginth (spelling?). My question is I know they are at least 5-7 years old are any of these still good? Some of them are still in the plastic bag they were mailed to me in and unopened while others have been open but had lids on the the whole time.

I joined after I read a lot and now I would like to ask for advise. I have a Flexsteel hunter green sofa. At first I wanted to dye it brown but have lost my nerve and decided I like the green enough to leave it alone. But the cushions, back and arms are faded and I do want to darken them to their original color which is a traditional dark hunter green. Would Fiebings green oil dye darken it to that color? In the color swatches it looks kelly green so I wondered what your experience with it are. I would not be against mixing dyes to get that color, so I wondered what you think about that.

Good evening! I'm very new to this and started on my first project yesterday. I'm making a notebook cover and I used naked veg tanned shoulder. After cutting it out, I got excited and wanted to add some color to it. I realized that didn't purchase any dye with my leather, so I lathered it in Obenauf's Leather Oil; which I use to protect my leather boots. I love the way it turned out! My question is this: Will the color hold if I do nothing? Do I need to seal it somehow? Can you even seal Oil? How can I keep it like it is without sacrificing the integrity of the leather? Thanks so much!!

Hi, I'm hoping to dye the yellow on these gloves black. They're deerskin leather so what method would you suggest to achieve this? Here's a link to the gloves: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K6AKOYQ/ref=s9_simh_co_p60_d8_i2?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=RWR92C8VWWBNYYY32YVJ&pf_rd_t=3201&pf_rd_p=518516127&pf_rd_i=typ01 Thanks!

Hi all, I'm new here and new to working with veg tanned leather. I'm making some experiment with a piece of hide I was given, which means I don't know it's provenance, nor if it was treated with something previously. I have been doing some dye tests on it, and they look good. However, when I use Fiebings dye prep it seems to stain the leather somehow. Does anyone know why this might be? Please see images. I managed to spill some of the dye prep, which is what caused the largish splodge in the centre and also it drip down the bottle which I place on the leather and caused that dark square stain (yes, I know, VERY shoddy behaviour!) However, the more even staining is just caused by my wiping the dye prep over the hide with a cloth. I tried to find some Oxalic acid to clean with that, but failed (in the UK in my town). I'm back in the Netherlands so will look there for some. Many thanks in advance for any help. Simeon

Hey all, I'm getting a bit confused in the dyes and antiques you can buy from Fiebings. I'm using the spirit based (regular) ones at the moment, since they have many more colors available for this one in my favourite webshop. Though they also sell the pro oil dye, what's you experience in their difference? And their Acrylic dyes, how are these different? does this compare to the Cova from Eco-flo? (So, more of a surface dye which gives this very bright 'unnatural' color as if you're using your leather as a canvas?) I'm also wondering about their antiques. My webshop sells two types of Fiebings antiques; Antique leather stain (Water-soluble antique finish on acrylic base) and Fiebing's antique finish. Is there anybody who an explain the difference in these? I'm using Eco-flo antique paste at the moment, and am generally quite happy with it. Does either one of Fiebings resemble this? Thanks in advance and sorry for all the noob questions.

Hay everyone, I've been eyeing another leather workers art for some time and wished I could do something like it. You can check out their work here: http://www.lescuirsdebelfeuil.com/en-photos.html . My question is about the vibrancy of the colors they use, especially the greens, blues, and purples. I've tried plenty eco-flo dyes but they always turn out washed out or too dark by comparison. So would this be paint they are using or some other dye brand I dont know of? The kind of marbled/flame like effects would be nice to know how to do as well but one step at a time.

Hey all, I'm experiencing a problem with my Fiebing black dye. Often I get asked to make projects where people want my tooling to be painted black, with a bg that requires a antique or other overall color. Though when I apply the fiebings black dye first, it looks very good, until I apply an antique, other dye or even finisher. As soon as I try to do anything else with my leather afterwards, it seems most of the black dye just comes off again, only leaving a faint black grainy pattern (as if the dye has worn off due to excessive use of the product over several years). I do wait at least 24 hours after applying the black dye before doing anything else. I have tried applying the black as last to prevent this, but then it doesn't seem to dye completely, since I can still see the underlying color coming through (I've experienced this especially in combination with the red dye) and I'm afraid it will rub of on peoples clothing and such because I did not use a finisher over the black. Does anybody know why this happens or have a solution? I'm aware of vinegaroon, but here it's actually kind of hard to get by nails that rust easily (they only sell galvanized in all the dutch hardware stores), and in my experience my batch that has been rusting for 6 months now still needs multiple coats to get a nice black look (and is a bit harder to work into details then the regular dyes). Thanks in advance!

I have an idea for a large tote bag for my daughter in law. The project would be fairly large; about 15X12". Most of my projects have been holsters and such so my leather dying doesn't matter much if it isn't uneven. My concern is with such a large piece, how to I dye it and keep my color consistent throughout the whole piece?

So im making armor with a moderately thick leather. I'm trying to get part of my leather to a super exact light blue color. I was wondering what j should do to achieve that. Should I try leather paint and mix it to the right color?

Newbie here...thanks for allowing me to join. I've dyed a piece of sheepskin with Eco-Flo for the purpose of becoming a Fauxdori journal cover. Took three passes to get to a rich red (instead of a pinkish red). As a result, the leather is stiff as a board, which means it's time to move to the moisture step. In reading numerous posts, I've heard various moisturizers discussed, but no mention of Lexol Leather Conditioner. I have a bottle on hand, and am wondering if that's a viable option, or if there's something in Lexol that will strip down the dye...? After that, I'll hit it with Kiwi Neutral wax polish, then buff slightly (hoping for an end result of soft, matte finish leather). Just need to get it back to pliable status first. Shared wisdom, anyone...? Thanks!

Hi all, I encountered problem with dyeing leather. I really need advice from the experts on this. This is so far my 3rd attempts dyeing leather. The 1st and 2nd attempts were okay, but on the 3rd attempts, this is what I've got (pls see pic)... I use Fiebings oil dye, and after dyeing, I apply Fiebings Tan-Kote. Before dyeing, i did moist the leather May I ask why do I get those grey spots on the leather. I wonder what went wrong during the dyeing process. I tried using saddle soap to remove the grey spots but it came back after a while. Please help. Any remedy and answers would be greatly appreciated.

My husband wants me to make a wallet for him. Plain Jane, black dye/stain around the edges and blend it to a lighter color. Probably brown. I have seen some outstanding dye jobs and am just wondering, how the heck do y'all do it?! I've read that you have to use spirit-based, is that true? I'm a newb and using Tandy's Eco-flo line. I like the colors, and don't even know where to begin outside of their line. Pictures for reference to give y'all an idea what I'm talking about.