USMC black dye question

[Ralihaus]

Hello. 
 

I’ve always used the eco flow black water stain for my projects. I don’t like that I have to apply 3 coats for it to look dark black.  I’m using veg tan leather, tooling, dye and then painting. 
 

I decided to try the fiebings USMC Black leather dye on a recent project. It never really dried. It was chalky and I could rub it and black chalk like dye came off on my fingers and paper towels. 
 

I let my project dry 24hr’s before applying this dye. It also made some of my texturing pop back out out the leather. I had to fully wipe it down with a wet wash cloth and then apply the water stain dye for it to look ok. 
 

any ideas why this happened? Any suggestions? Thanks. 

[DieselTech]

By any chance got any pics of your project to share with us all. 

Also I've read here recently on the forum where a couple people were having fiebings dye issues. Not taking right or being blotchy. 

[TonyV]

to get a deep black I will use a base coat of dark blue, let it dry, then top coat of Fiebings Pro black.  This combo makes for a deep rich black.

For a milder antique-looking black, I prefer home made vinegarroon.

Any dye job I do gets a light coat of NF on top, dry for 24 hrs, then buffed.

[Hags]

I always oil after dyeing.  And I always get some rub off with the usmc black.

[TomE]

I have good luck with black Pro Dye.  Heard good things about Renia Absolute Black dye, but haven't tried it.

[Northmount]

18 hours ago, Ralihaus said:

USMC Black

If you do a search for USMC Black, you will find lots of comments about it.  One of the most common is the amount of buffing required to stop rub off.  Much of the dye lays on top and doesn't get down into the leather itself.

[HandyDave]

Like has been said usmc black needs alot of buffing to reduce the amount of rub off. Also if your looking for a dark black usmc want give it to you. It's more of a super dark blue. Use fiebings pro dye black with a couple coats. Less rub off and a much darker pure black finished project. 

[Michael Sheldon]

For larger pieces, I get the best results by using an airbrush to apply Fiebings pro black. Not sure why, but I get much better penetration, and much less rub-off.

[Dwight]

You did not say what you are making . . .  so I'll tell you how I handle holsters . . . double layer CCW belts . . . regular belts . . . suspenders . . . cowboy gun belts . . . knife sheaths . . . etc.

First . . . determine what to do . . . cut it out . . . give it ONE and only light coating of neatsfoot oil on the HAIR side . . . just enough so that when the coating is on there . . . it all looks wet for a while.  Let that hang or lay somewhere for 24 hours in  a  place where the temp is controlled and 70 F or above . . . 

Second . . . do whatever tooling and stamping is necessary . . . let that dry for 4 hours.

Third . . . use Feibings pro oil dye . . . and first dilute it with Feibings dye reducer . . . on a 1 to 1 basis . . . meaning equal parts of dye and reducer.

Fourth . . . DIP dye the project . . . it has to be completely immersed.  I use regular baking pans that are about 10 by 15 . . . pour the dye in there about 3/4 inch deep and run whatever needs dyed thru the dye . . . belts go end to end like a snake slipping across a pond or a puddle.

Set em up some place where they can dry for 24 hours . . . buff the heck out of it on both sides and the edges

Burnish the edges . . . add Resolene (also mixed 50/50 with water) . . . let dry for at least 8 hours . . . preferably 24 . . . voila . . . project completed

This has worked for me for 20+ years.

My Tandy store got in some stocking issues a couple years back . . . so I tried both the USMC black and the water based black . . . when the Pro Oil base dye got restocked . . . I took the remainder of the USMC and the water base . . . gave it to the folks teaching kids basic leather work . . . as a present.   Have not looked back.

Again . . . just my way of doing things . . . have NEVER had a complaint on a black dye job.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Ralihaus]

Thank you all for the reply’s. Merry Christmas