Search the Community

Hi all, I´m a newbie leather hobbyist. I have searched the forum but could not find my exact problem. I'm trying to deep dye some straps to make belts. I got natural veg tan shoulders from a dealer in Germany. I´m using fiebings pro dye (English bridle). The thing is that I´m getting like splashes in my leather and not an even coat. I have tried deep dyeing from 20 seconds to 20 minutes. I have tried using a dilution of oxalic acid (I think I saw it here), even fiebings Dye prep to clean the leather. Same results. I roll each strap and deep dye it on a square container. Maybe should I try a long container and dye them flat? Anyone knows if they exist? Can anyone help me? I attach some pics. The first ones are after 24h drying time. The others after applying some fiebings neatsfoot oil. Thanks

I am using leather that I bought from the same company in two different widths. I am using Royal Blue dye diluted 1:4 with denatured alcohol. Same amount of coats on both pieces. The smaller strap is the color I'm going for. Both deglazed before hand. I had some bad luck wetting the leather, neetsfoot, etc. So I just deglazed and dyed.applied both the same with a sponge or dauber. I noticed that on my rag there, it seems there is a bit of pink/red almost leeching out of the diluted dye. That would make sense because red + blue = purple. But why would that even happen anyway? The flesh side looking closer to the shade I was chasing. Does anyone have any insight to what could be going on here? I wasted so much leather chasing that perfect color. I had it mixed in a plastic disposable Tupperware type container. Thanks!!

Hello! So i am a fashion student from portugal and the leatherwork always amazed me, so i am using this new project at college to do some experiences with veg tanned leather. And, of course, as a newbie i have encounter some problems with the art... would really appreaciate if i could get some insigh, helps and tips from the pros! Help please? So on the 1st two pictures i wet molded veg tanned leather and then tried to dye it with the fiebing's pro dye (used the deglazer first), burnished the edges with tokonole and as i really want a really high gloss finish i tried to aply the fiebings Saddle-lac spray and as you can see it is really baaaaddd! all uneven, full of little spots of dirt, just bad. And on the last three pictures, i have cut some straps of veg tanned leather and again, deglazer, dyed with the black pro-dye, burnished edges and this tip i tried to apply the Eco-flo top finish gloss diluted on 50% of water, and again, all uneven, some parts glossy and other not, and as i want this strap to go over a D-ring, as i tried to bend it got those tiny ugly bumps/wrinkles. HELLLLLLLP????? For how long should i wait between applying each product? (i think i did it quite fast, tbh like in 10 minutes gaps) With what should i apply the different products? And i kind don't like using the tokonole to burnish the edges as i get on both sides of the leather these sticky imprints that you can notice in the end and it is really ugly. Is the leather i got just bad quality? Thanks! I would loooove to get some tips, help and insights from the pros!! Please, thank you and much love from portugal!!

I've recently started doing some leather inlay / overlay work and find that I need several colors for the designs I have in mind. For my first attempt, I dyed some thin veg tan leather in the colors I needed and then skived the pieces. However, as you can imagine, the veg tan behind chrome tan body was not ideal. I'd love to be able to get some kangaroo leather in several colors, but the cost for even small skins is too much right now. Has anyone got a source for kangaroo or calf scraps that will send me colors - not brown and black - those I have. Chris