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Yesterday, I tested seven different finishes. These were applied over Fiebing’s Pro Mahogany. I was looking for: color change, level of gloss, flesh burnishing and waterproofing qualities. This report is not super organized and may contain errors but I think it conveys the basic results of my tests. I do not wish to spend more time to perfect it because it was a casual test anyway. I put two drops of water on each sample. After one minute, I wiped off one drop of water and let the other sit until it was completely absorbed (over an hour or two). I wanted to know the short term and long term water resistance of these products. When the samples were completely dry, I buffed them in attempt to “repair” them as much as possible, without re-treating them. Buffing did slightly improve their appearance. The damage actually came in the form of cratering. It appeared that the solution had evaporated completely off of the sample. The edge was easy to see and feel. The crater was approximately 1/20 of a millimeter deep. Resolene won the water test. It was completely waterproof. I had a thick coat on there. The color change was quite dramatic but Tan Kote was even more so. Tan Kote was second best. The one minute test showed damage only if the light was reflected off of it in just the right angle. The long term test was a little bit easier to detect but not too bad. Tan Kote resulted in the deepest color change. Shocking, actually. Very dark brown. Satin Shene was a surprising third. The short test did show a very slight discoloration and some loss in gloss. You could tell there was some damage but it was minimal. Color change was very significant. Gum Tragacanth and Tokonole were tied. More damage on both areas than Satin Shene. Sno Seal and Shoe Polish were by far the worst. I must qualify this by saying that I did not warm the leather, nor use multiple coats. I smeared on one coat, rubbed it in and buffed it off. The water damage on these looked like they had burned with a cigarette or like acid had eaten into them. Satin Shene, Tokonole and Gum Tragacanth were the easiest to work with and they all resulted in a very similar semi-gloss finish. Resolene and Tan Kote were sticky and impossible to apply smoothly with a dauber. An air brush would be a much better method of application for these two products. BTW, I did not thin them for this test. I know that is protocol but I am lazy. Both have superior water resistance to the other products tested. Tan Kote can be applied with a dauber and then quickly spread with a finger to smooth it out. This actually resulted in a nice smooth finish that was second in gloss to Resolene, and significantly glossier than the others. If for some odd reason, I could only have one product for flesh burnishing and top coat, Satin Shene, Tokonole and Gum Tragacanth would all work but I would go with Satin Shene, because it had slightly better short term water resistance and it was the best of all the products for burnishing the flesh side. I do not consider this testing to be definitive in any way as it was not scientific and I may get different results if done on different leather on a different day. nick Top row: Tan Kote, Resolene, Tokonole Bottom row: Gum Tragacanth, Satin Shene, Neutral Shoe Polish, Sno Seal

I lust finished making a plain black belt. I used H.O. leather I just purchased from hide & leather house. I dyed the belt with fiebings pro oil dye. One way I thought to finish it is : buff the belt to remove any dye, then use acrylic resolene. Anyone have any suggestions ?

Hi! I'm a new user and new to leather working! I'm lately just trying to figure out dyeing/staining/finishing methods and techniques for each different type. Lately I encountered an issue. I made a wallet and used Fiebings Dye. After a day of drying I applied Leather Sheen. After another day, I picked up the wallet with wet fingers and the color is running off of the wallet. I'm looking for any ideas of why? I thought the Leather Sheen was a protector and water repellent?? Please correct me if I am wrong. I tried out a test piece with Dye's and Stains and it seems like the Dye's all run when in contact with water. (with and without the leather sheen on it) None of the stain's or all in one's ran except an Antique Gel from Tandy. Am I doing something wrong? Because this doesn't seem right! Advice is appreciated!

Hi All, I know this topic had been covered a lot previously, and I've tried looking for the answers without posting a new topic, but I'd still like to get some input from you. I've recently started making leather watch straps. I like the results, and have no big problems with any of the techniques, except from dying and finishing. I am using veg tan leather for this. The challenge with watch straps is that the leather is in direct contact with skin, so perspiration causes some dye to bleed out of the leather. Going forward I will probably avoid dying the side that is in contact with skin (this is not the flesh side, as I am folding the leather when making straps), but even for the top side, I would like to lock in the color as much as possible, to avoid damaging the sleeves from the color bleed and rub off. Here are some of the questions I have regarding this: 1. If I use acrylic resolene for waterproofing, to prevent the water from penetrating the leather (to a certain degree), it should work the other way around as well, preventing the dye to bleed out. Is this correct? 2. Does using acrylic resolene or leather sheen provide permanent protection from dye bleed/rub off, or is it a treatment that needs to be repeated after certain periods of time? I am not too worried about waterproofing or leather conditioning, as this will be the concern for the person who purchases the product going forward. I am more concerned with locking in the dye. 3. Right now I am using Eco-Flo water based dye. Now that I am reading the posts I see that most people recommend using spirit dyes instead. I am happy with the visual results of water based color, just concerned with locking in the color. Does spirit/oil based dye provide better results when it comes to this? Will I get similar results when using resolene or sheen on water based dyes? 4. Any additional advice/comments regarding the subject are more than welcome. Thanks everyone! Dejan

While finishing the edges of a project today (50/50 resolene/water on top of Angelus leather dye) I had to walk away suddenly and some foam sitting on top of the piece dried and caused spotting. It is still there after completing the finishing and I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions for removing, or at least lessening, the appearance of these spots. There are several in other areas as well. Thanks for your help!