Is it possible to darken or recolour wax hardened leather?

[simo289]

I recently finished an armour project for a customer who wanted it wax hardening. I submerged the pieces on ~125C wax for 3ish minutes to harden.

He is now asking if it would be possible for the leather (which was originally undyed pre waxing) to be a dark shade of brown.

As far as I'm aware no dye or paint is going to take because of the wax, but I'm desperately hoping one of you lovely folk is going to tell me otherwise, before I rip the things apart and start again.

I had considered trying shoe polish, but I'm doubtful that will work ofr the ame reasons as wax or paint.

[toxo]

You have nothing to lose by trying shoe polish. I'm about to do the same with a pair of shoes that are a bit lighter than I'd like. Failing that if 125c did it in the first place it'll do it again using darker dyes or adding dark dye to the original mix if you still have.

[TomE]

I'd make a test piece matching the project then try a solvent like Fiebings Deglazer or acetone to see if it dissolves enough wax to allow the pigment to be taken up into the leather.  I don't know what your wax or process was.  Can you add dye pigment to the wax mixture or re-wax the project after stripping and dyeing? The Fenice Colorfast dye (Campbell Randall) that I use for some tack repairs is a water soluble dye with waxes added.

[simo289]

Thank you both!

 

I've just run out and bought some shoe polish, and it seems to work well enough for what I need.

 

@TomE That sounds like a very good plan! I'll definitely try that incase I run into a similar problem in the future. As long as I can get the surface layer of wax off, the pigment should take enough

 

[TomE]

I've read about using stearic acid (which is a long chain fatty acid) for hardening leather.  I think it can create a very rigid shape, which might be too much for this project, and it appears to require a fair amount of cleanup and polishing to improve the appearance after hardening.

[dikman]

Beeswax is used as a moisture repellant (and lube) for good reason - it works exceptionally well. It is almost impossible to remove completely once applied. Bullet casters use it for lubricating lead bullets, but if they decide they want to try something else after lubing then the only way is to re-melt the bullets as nothing else will stick to them one the wax has been applied. Casters have tried all sorts of solvents to remove the wax but these are not what you would want to apply to leather.

Shoe polish should work, but permanency will be the issue as like shoes it will probably have to be constantly re-applied. Toxo's/Tom E's idea is probably the best, if you can find a dye that can withstand the 125* wax bath.

[fredk]

I find washing down leather with cellulose thinners not only removes waxes, other finishes, some dyes and also stiffens the leather