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Hello wonderful community! I'm pretty new here and usually browse around as a guest. However I've got a situation on my hands that I can't seem to find a solution to. I'm currently making an Alien Facehugger mask that required some wet formed pieces. There are around 50-60 pieces to this particular mask. I had just finished beveling and sanding all these pieces(it took an ETERNITY). It was finally time to get to wetmolding and alllll was fine and dandy until a dark pattern started to appear.. on the single most important piece of the entire damn project... Just the one. I've found other posts where metal shavings have come into contact with wet projects and caused dark spots or others found mold on their leather. I can say with certainty that this isn't that. I've tried removing this discoloration with alcohol (which seemed to make it worse) and I've tried using odorless mineral spirits. All 50+ pieces were cleaned with minerals spirits prior to this because I was an idiot and used masking tape to hold down my patterns and try to reduce as much leather scrap waste as possible. I quickly found out that the tape leaves behind a residue that could only be removed with the mineral spirits at hand. That being said, I basically deglazed every piece so there shouldn't be any trace or and weird substance on the leather, right??? What caused this? Why did this happen to the ONE piece if they were all cut from the same hide? Thank you so much to anyone who took the time to read this and is willing to help out a fellow maker.

In the process of making custom shoes I found out that my leather (vegetable natural tanned) painted with royal blue Fiebing's Pro Dye stains on the rubber sole, on my hands and on the white wax yarn. Anyone know what would be the preferred way to solve this problem? All help we be very much appreciated! Have a great day! Frank Franc & Hanz | Bespoke and handmade bags & cases www.franc-hanz.com

I have never sprayed finishing coats on my work but, have been having problems lately with streaking. Some of you have suggested spraying finishing coats on. I have been given a small compressor and am wondering if I can use an airbrush to apply lacquer/ finish to my work. If so, what airbrush brand and size should I purchase. Do I also need to filter lacquer before putting it in the airbrush? Please help someone! Leather Maid (Jamie) Brisbane Australia

Hi All, I'm "Showing off" my first carvings here... As you might notice, I've only had a beginners set of tools. No different sizes in shaders, backgrounders or whatever... Tipps and criticism that will help to improve my work are always appreciated and I will learn from them, promise!! :-) The Floral design is inspired by very old swiss folk art. Stuff like that was painted on furniture... I wanted something different than the "useual" western-style designs (absolutely NO offense!) :-) Now the stain problem: As you see on pic 2 where I lay out the chinks I'm working on, I'm going for a straight natural look, the deer hide was laying in the sun for 4 days so there's a color-contrast anyway... I love the look, but theres a problem: In my carvings, a couple hours after I finished them with Fiebing's Leather Sheen, there where white stains showing (As on picture 3 "Stains"). Does anyone know why this is? Is there a way to get rid of them without staining/antiquing the leather? Also: If I finish the Carvings with leather sheen (or resolene or whatever), the leather can't take any oil or wax or other conditioners anymore right? I've learned that leather should always be takin care of with good conditioner or oils, so what's about that? BTW: I'm sorry for the bad quality pic and lighting, it's early morning here and I didn't wanna wait for this to post (because of that stain thing, not to show off!... ;-) Thanks for your answers, Regards from switzerland, Andy

I'm new to the forum, but hoping for some help. I made my wife a checkbook cover using Eco-Flo dye and Finish. The other day she got caught in the rain and the cover got a few drops on it. I'm not sure why she was writing a check in the rain, but now the cover has spots on it. I tested some scraps using two or three coats of Super Shene. I also tried some neatsfoot oil. The dye bled every where I put a drop of water. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I am a relatively new leather worker based in thailand. And while my work is only for personal use and/or gifts and my experience limited, I abhor the quality of materials and supplies that I have found in Thailand. For example, I cannot find an outlet for any Fiebings products or any shops that even remotely compare to Tandy Leather. Does anybody have any suggestions?

The title is pretty self explanitory. I am wondering how you darken natural leather without the use of dyes or stains. I have a dark brown dye. But to get an even coat without an air brush requires multiple coats and it darkens it a ton. How would I get a light brown color without dying or staining? I would prefer something that started out very light, maybe 2 or 3 shades darker than natural, and got darker with multiple applications. Thanks Zayne

Usually I can get suede looking pretty good with just using an eraser and a good brushing, but this seat is giving me some trouble. There's a dark spot on one corner that might be oil, from a long time ago. The suede is darkened, slicked down, and no amount of brushing brings up the nap. Don't think the usual cornstarch would work on an oil stain this old. There's also an area near the saddle horn like something was used to remove a stain (and did a great job!) but now it's a lighter color than the rest of the seat. I seem to remember there's a solvent or something that works for cleaning suede, but I can't remember what it is. If nothing else, I can use leather dye to darken the seat and hide the stains, but I really like to keep the original look if at all possible. I've attached a pic so y'all can see what I'm dealing with.

Hallo guys (and thanks to the posters - I have consulted this forum a couple of times already by reading relevant threads - now I had to turn from passive to active user) yesterday a friend of mine gave me an almost new brooks saddle. The catch: there is a huge dark stain on it. He had no idea where it came from. I on the other hand am clueless as to whether it could be remedied/removed. Due to the "shimmer" I would assume that somebody managed to spill oil over the saddle - perhaps while he/she was lubing the chain and the cycle was turned upside down. My Questions: What could have caused such a stain ? Could it be removed ? (perhaps by just applying the process of removing oil stains from leather - link ?) If not - I wouldn't mind using the stained saddle but would like to make sure that the "damaged" leather doesn't become moldy etc. How would I do that ? Thanks in advace JD

Just finished(?) my first batch of Vinegaroon, I am curious if I've done it right 1) It really isn't Black more a clear gray liquid, 2) after almost 3 weeks there was steel wool left in jug. 3) I strained it through coffee filters but it looks like I may need to do it again?? Thanks so much for you all of your help.