Bad bottle of dye?? Is this possible?

[Fraulein]

Hey y'all I haven't been on the forum for a while as I've been super busy with the business side of my leatherwork for a while, but recently I've had an issue with dye. I've bought probably 3 or 4 quart bottles of fiebings light brown pro dye and used it with no issue dip dying large quantities of koozies but the last several batches I've done have come out MUCH darker and very streaky which is not an issue I've had before. It seems this change came about the same time I opened up my newest bottle of dye. I do buy import hides of veg, which I know can absorb dyes differently from hide to hide, but I've tried it with several different hides and seen no difference.

I really think it's the bottle of dye but that just seems hard to believe. Has anyone else ever had this issue or heard of bad bottles of dye?

Thank you so much for any information you can give me!!! It's so frustrating when you're trying to run a business and can't give customers a consistent product!

[Burkhardt]

I don't know how it could be the dye when you're dip dyeing it, the dye would have to separate and become separated in the pan. Do you dilute the dye and is it all pro dye? Does stirring it before dipping make a difference?

[Dwight]

I had the same problem a few years back with the Saddle Tan dye . . . 

Found out if I give the leather a quick dose of neatsfoot oil . . . . FIRST . . .  let it sit for 24 hours . . . ohhhhhhh, iti turns out so, so, so beautiful.

No streaks . . . no funky . . . just beautiful, even, and great.

You might try that.  

I use a little 50 cent bristle brush I buy in bulk from Harbor Freight . . . slop it on the hair side only . . . 

Works for me.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Fraulein]

8 hours ago, Burkhardt said:

I don't know how it could be the dye when you're dip dyeing it, the dye would have to separate and become separated in the pan. Do you dilute the dye and is it all pro dye? Does stirring it before dipping make a difference?

Thanks so much for replying!! I don't dilute it at all it's just straight pro dye. The last batch I did I made sure to stir it really good and it seemed to help the color come out slightly lighter but still very streaky and nowhere near the perfect results that I used to have with it.

5 hours ago, Dwight said:

I had the same problem a few years back with the Saddle Tan dye . . . 

Found out if I give the leather a quick dose of neatsfoot oil . . . . FIRST . . .  let it sit for 24 hours . . . ohhhhhhh, iti turns out so, so, so beautiful.

No streaks . . . no funky . . . just beautiful, even, and great.

You might try that.  

I use a little 50 cent bristle brush I buy in bulk from Harbor Freight . . . slop it on the hair side only . . . 

Works for me.

May God bless,

Dwight

Thanks for the reply Dwight! I may have to try oiling beforehand and see if that helps. Thanks for the tip!

It's just so frustrating because I've used this technique repeatedly and it's worked great for me, I don't understand why it's not now!

[Dwight]

12 hours ago, Fraulein said:

Thanks so much for replying!! I don't dilute it at all it's just straight pro dye. The last batch I did I made sure to stir it really good and it seemed to help the color come out slightly lighter but still very streaky and nowhere near the perfect results that I used to have with it.

Thanks for the reply Dwight! I may have to try oiling beforehand and see if that helps. Thanks for the tip!

It's just so frustrating because I've used this technique repeatedly and it's worked great for me, I don't understand why it's not now!

AHHHHHhhhhhhh  . . .   part of the problem surfaces . . . 

Fraulein . . .  find a piece of leather that is not good for one of your projects . .  .  but is still a really good looking piece of scrap . . . and get one at least the size of both of your hands laying down on the table.

Oil the hair side of it . . . neatsfoot oil . . . one coat . . . not serious . . . just a coating of oil over the whole thing . . . give it 24 hours to dissipate within the leather.

THEN . . . take 3 or 4 oz of your dye . . . pour it in a container . . . add the exact same amount of Feibiings reducer . . . you will have a 50/50 concoction when you are done.

Drag that piece of leather thru the diluted dye . . . lay it on a paper towel . . . flesh side down . . . for about 20 minutes . . . then hang it up to finish drying.

Come back tomorrow and I'll be dismayed if you do not have a darn near perfectly well dyed product . . . and it will be the color of the dye . . . same as you have had with the full strength.

Try it . . . you'll like it.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Fraulein]

2 minutes ago, Dwight said:

AHHHHHhhhhhhh  . . .   part of the problem surfaces . . . 

Fraulein . . .  find a piece of leather that is not good for one of your projects . .  .  but is still a really good looking piece of scrap . . . and get one at least the size of both of your hands laying down on the table.

Oil the hair side of it . . . neatsfoot oil . . . one coat . . . not serious . . . just a coating of oil over the whole thing . . . give it 24 hours to dissipate within the leather.

THEN . . . take 3 or 4 oz of your dye . . . pour it in a container . . . add the exact same amount of Feibiings reducer . . . you will have a 50/50 concoction when you are done.

Drag that piece of leather thru the diluted dye . . . lay it on a paper towel . . . flesh side down . . . for about 20 minutes . . . then hang it up to finish drying.

Come back tomorrow and I'll be dismayed if you do not have a darn near perfectly well dyed product . . . and it will be the color of the dye . . . same as you have had with the full strength.

Try it . . . you'll like it.

May God bless,

Dwight

Thank you Dwight that is very helpful! I will have to get some of the fiebings reducer and try it out.

Thanks so much!!

[tsunkasapa]

For the record, I just use denatured alcohol for reducing. I've even used 99% isopropyl. Either one gives fine results. Also, screw the cap on the bottle really tight and shake the stuffing out of it. Mix it up really well.

[Fraulein]

1 hour ago, tsunkasapa said:

For the record, I just use denatured alcohol for reducing. I've even used 99% isopropyl. Either one gives fine results. Also, screw the cap on the bottle really tight and shake the stuffing out of it. Mix it up really well.

Thank you so much for replying!! Do you use the denatured alcohol with pro dye? 

[tsunkasapa]

I have. I currently don't have Pro Dye, but here is a link to the MSDS for it. It is all alcohol.

Microsoft Word - Dye Reducer_GHS (springfieldleather.com)

[Double Daddy]

10 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

For the record, I just use denatured alcohol for reducing. I've even used 99% isopropyl. Either one gives fine results. Also, screw the cap on the bottle really tight and shake the stuffing out of it. Mix it up really well.

I use Denatured Alcohol for when I need to reduce my dyes...and you ain't kiddin' either about making sure the lid is screwed on tight before mixing. I keep clear graduated measuring cups on hand just for this (one could probably get them on line but I have a bunch left over from my days of doing tub/tile refinishing)...pour what's required of each component into clean pickle/olive/mason jars, seal it up tight, swirl it around first...then go to shaking. I label and keep the reduced mixtures on hand either for dipping or for wide-area dye work via pieces of shearing or airbrush.

[Fraulein]

Thanks all for taking the time to reply!!

New bottle of dye finally arrived yesterday and I dyed a few pieces and... It worked! Came out the same beautiful, consistent color it did before I started having the problems. So that confirms my suspicion that it was just that bottle of dye causing the issue. It still just seems so strange that that bottle of dye was so different. I wouldn't expect that kind of inconsistency in such a reputable product as fiebings.

[Dwight]

6 hours ago, Fraulein said:

Thanks all for taking the time to reply!!

New bottle of dye finally arrived yesterday and I dyed a few pieces and... It worked! Came out the same beautiful, consistent color it did before I started having the problems. So that confirms my suspicion that it was just that bottle of dye causing the issue. It still just seems so strange that that bottle of dye was so different. I wouldn't expect that kind of inconsistency in such a reputable product as fiebings.

Thanks for the update . . . and the heads up that it can happen.

May God bless,

Dwight

[JLSleather]

I absolutely HAVE got "bad" dye.  Most often was the saddle tan - had a different smell, and would not dry evenly even when dunking the leather in the dye.  Ordered another quart, same thing.  Fiebings said they'd send a replacement, which turned out to be just fine.  Cause me to wonder if there's a shelf life for the stuff, or maybe just was a bad "batch" that the distributor had on the shelf.  Once I tossed out that "old" dye, no more problems.

Long as I'm on this type of topic....

Do not "mail order" your tan-kote or other acrylic type stuff in northern climates in the winter.  It will likely freeze sitting on a UPS truck somewhere and even after warming up it will not function correctly.  Guess maybe it separates, er sumthin'....  Straight from Fiebings "do not freeze", so I always drive to get these products if I have need to replace in cold months.

[Doc Reaper]

On 11/15/2023 at 7:11 PM, Fraulein said:

I really think it's the bottle of dye but that just seems hard to believe. Has anyone else ever had this issue or heard of bad bottles of dye?

I had 3 of the quart size bottles, it was Fiebings Dark brown pro dye, I called on the phone and gave em the numbers off the bottle. Apparently there was a bad batch of some mixture that makes these colors

Edited December 22, 2023 by Doc Reaper
I'm ignant

[Fraulein]

On 11/29/2023 at 7:03 AM, JLSleather said:

I absolutely HAVE got "bad" dye.  Most often was the saddle tan - had a different smell, and would not dry evenly even when dunking the leather in the dye.  Ordered another quart, same thing.  Fiebings said they'd send a replacement, which turned out to be just fine.  Cause me to wonder if there's a shelf life for the stuff, or maybe just was a bad "batch" that the distributor had on the shelf.  Once I tossed out that "old" dye, no more problems.

Long as I'm on this type of topic....

Do not "mail order" your tan-kote or other acrylic type stuff in northern climates in the winter.  It will likely freeze sitting on a UPS truck somewhere and even after warming up it will not function correctly.  Guess maybe it separates, er sumthin'....  Straight from Fiebings "do not freeze", so I always drive to get these products if I have need to replace in cold months.

Thank you for posting! Glad my theory's not crazy about the bad bottle of dye. Did you buy directly from Fiebings? Wondering if they replace bottles bought through other sellers (Amazon, Springfield Leather Company, etc.).

On 12/22/2023 at 9:15 AM, Doc Reaper said:

I had 3 of the quart size bottles, it was Fiebings Dark brown pro dye, I called on the phone and gave em the numbers off the bottle. Apparently there was a bad batch of some mixture that makes these colors

Thanks for posting! Were you able to get a replacement when you gave them the bad batch numbers? And if so did you buy your dye directly from fiebings or through somewhere else? Dye is such a a huge expense and I'd like to have peace of mind when I'm buying that I'm not just gambling and wasting my money every time I get a bad bottle.

Edited January 11 by Fraulein