Montana Leather Company: "All our dyed hides bleed, it's normal"

[BDAZ]

UPDATE: I was contacted by the owner Doug, and it looks like he is going to resolve the situation. He seemed alarmed that any of his employees would hang up on a customer and surprised at what I was told.

 

I have been purchasing Bison hides of various shades for the past few years, primarily for the production of guitar straps. I have purchased numerous sides from Tandy and lately The Hide House in California and most recently Montana leather Company. I am able to make the straps quickly and because there is virtually no finishing required I am able to offer them at a reasonable price. I also have a wholesale contract with a guitar manufacturer to produce branded bison straps 

The bison is great for straps because the flesh side is soft, comfortable on the shoulder and also essentially padded. I sometimes purchase 10-12 oz and then skive the strap to 6-7 oz but leaving the middle  like a built in shoulder pad. 
In addition I make a range of instrument cases using drum dyed leather in various shades from Wicket and Craig. I also use their dyed leather for musical instrument straps for guitars, banjos and mandolins. So over the past 15 years or so I have been through many dyed hides with no issues. 

I purchased two Bison sides from Montana Leather Company a few weeks ago, one was  brown and the other had a reddish tint. I though the red tint would be great for folks with red electric instruments. Opened the package a few days ago and last night I started trimming the sides, first the brown and then the red. When I started cutting the red hide, I notice my hands were turning orange!  The red dye was bleeding from the flesh side and of course, it would have been a disaster to make a strap from that side. I called the company and spoke to Brandon. I explained the problem and assumed I had a defective dye job. I was the passed on the the manager, who I believe was Patrick, the owners son. I explained that the hide was defective, it was unusable for my application and what could they do to help me. He then told me "It's normal for all dyed leather to bleed"  "I have sold thousands of hides and they all bleed"  I explained that in my experience of purchasing commercially dyed hides, for many years, that they don't bleed, and neither does the other hide I purchased from them. He told me that all his customers seal the flesh side of the leather he sells them. "That's Normal" . I asked him what they use and he mentioned Resolene.  I replied that I have a gallon of it but I doubt it will leave the flesh side as I required, in a soft comfortable condition but I agreed to try. I asked what they can do if it doesn't work and he basically told me to suck rocks and hung up. I called back and explained that if they refuse to accept responsibility, I will contest the transaction with my credit card company. He then stated it doesn't work like that, clearly having had this issue before. 

This was the worst customer experience I have had in recent times with ANY vendor and I caution against doing business with this "bleeding" company.

The below images show the bison swatch from their web site and the flesh side and the effect of Resolene on the left side. The Resolene effect would be fine for a bison bag, wallet  or similar but a guitar strap..not so much. Also if they had posted the bright orange  flesh side on their web site I never would have purchased it.

 

Any comments, or suggestions much appreciated.

Bob

Edited September 20, 2023 by BDAZ

[TomE]

I use mostly HO bridle leather and it bleeds a little dye when I wet form buckle turns or rounded straps - not to the extent you describe.  If I split the pasted back off bridle leather then I usually reseal it with this flexible water based adhesive.  I use a glass slicker to work it into the flesh side.  It leaves a matt finish similar to a pasted back from the tannery.  I think this would stop the bleed from the flesh side.  It doesn't accept dye well if it gets on an edge before dyeing.

  

[BDAZ]

Thanks Tom,

The problem is to maintain the qualities (soft padding and non slip)  of the flesh side without turning the musicians shirts orange... The Resolene did the trick as far as sealing the dye but killed all the supple  padding qualities of the flesh side but sounds like an interesting product for other projects.

Best regards,

Bob

[GatoGordo]

I have to agree with Montana Leather. While, in my experience, they all bleed, they do it to a different degree. While some are barely noticeable, others are more pronounced.

Just this week I was making a stock shell holder using a piece of gold suede that I purchased just over three years ago. While sewing my thread turned yellow from the dye!

[Charley1]

Classic example of the business rule 10/100. Treat your customers/clients well, and they tell 10 people. Treat them badly (like hanging up on them) and they tell 100 people.

[fredk]

I'm surprised by the contents of this thread

In over 23 years of leather working I have never ever had any bleed from any type of pre-dyed leather

[tsunkasapa]

2 hours ago, fredk said:

I'm surprised by the contents of this thread

In over 23 years of leather working I have never ever had any bleed from any type of pre-dyed leather

Same here