First try at dyeing

[DeWayne Hayes]

Yep, I can get full use out of a 4oz bottle with a Preval.

[Burkhardt]

1 hour ago, DeWayne Hayes said:

Yep, I can get full use out of a 4oz bottle with a Preval.

Can you refill the canister with air to re-use or is it one and done?

[Cattleman]

I use Fiebings Pro dye exclusively. I apply it with a dauber or a thin long bristled paint brush if I need to get up close to an undyed detail.

 

Ive found that applying the dye directly to dry unoiled leather gives the best results. Once I get to a shade or 2 lighter than I want I stop and let it dry for about an hour and follow with a coat of olive oil. The oil almost always evens out the color, reducing blotchiness and dark spots. After the oil drys I continue with my finishing. For a finish I almost always use Tan-Kote as a resist then antique with fiebings paste, another coat of Tan-Kote, edge dye, and another final coat of Tan-Kote.

[DeWayne Hayes]

4 hours ago, Burkhardt said:

Can you refill the canister with air to re-use or is it one and done?

No, it's one and done - once the canister is spent, it goes in the trash. They're around $10 a pop, so not cheap, but the trade-off is never having to clean an airgun or maintain a compressor, etc. 

[MarshalWill]

I've used Preval cannisters for many things. If you just need a small amount of dye, you can clean them out to use for another small job later. For the most part, though, a full jar just about uses them up.

[NatesLeatherGds]

On 1/16/2024 at 8:10 PM, DeWayne Hayes said:

Just to add to your options, I gave up dying with a dauber almost immediately due to streaking and turned to first airbrushes, but later the much simpler Preval air canister. 

https://tandyleather.com/products/preval-power-unit?variant=31977386868867&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA75itBhA6EiwAkho9e4ayMpy0bMgtdKQ1BZLIJiDI4YnGrzmROkU0Ke8gBK-oJLUoiP6_pBoCSP0QAvD_BwE

These will literally screw right into the top of a Fiebings small jar of Pro Dye and you've got an instant air gun with no clean up - use it until it's empty and throw away. 

It's my go-to method for dying now unless I'm doing Black, which I never have any streaking issues with when using a dauber. But that's the only color I do by hand. Anything brown or tan I use the Preval sprayer. 

Hope this helps!

DeWayne

DeWayne, Oh thanks and that looks really useful! I will see if my local Tandy has one and may explore use - small apartment - so have ventilation issues with sprays. Can I use it for a small one off (2 or 3 belts, say) and then reuse over a few days until the dye jar is empty ?

[Northmount]

On 1/11/2024 at 8:12 AM, MarshalWill said:

 

Please post your photos on this site.  3rd party hosted files often disappear making the post and sometimes even the thread become useless for anyone researching or reviewing these posts in the future.

 

[MarshalWill]

25 minutes ago, Northmount said:

Please post your photos on this site.  3rd party hosted files often disappear making the post and sometimes even the thread become useless for anyone researching or reviewing these posts in the future.

 

I'll remember that.

Thanks.

[DeWayne Hayes]

11 hours ago, NatesLeatherGds said:

DeWayne, Oh thanks and that looks really useful! I will see if my local Tandy has one and may explore use - small apartment - so have ventilation issues with sprays. Can I use it for a small one off (2 or 3 belts, say) and then reuse over a few days until the dye jar is empty ?

Absolutely. I will split a canister over two or three projects until it's exhausted. Bear in mind, you use more dye this way, as a lot of it gets sprayed right past the edges of your project (as with any sprayed medium), so you'll see your dye jar going down faster than you might expect, as opposed to a dauber, where it all goes into the leather. But I freely move the Preval from one color to another. Give it a little blast to clear out the old color still in the tube, then carry on. 

Also bear in mind this one little trick - when you're screwing a Preval directly onto a Fiebings 4 oz jar of dye, you'll need to trim a tiny bit off the end of the Preval's plastic tube that extends down into the dye. They're made to go into a different reusable reservoir and are just a tiny bit too long for a Fiebings dye jar, but with a sharp knife or razor, if you trim it just a bit, you can screw the Preval unit right down onto the Fiebings jar and eliminate the need for a separate reservoir entirely. Very handy! 

BTW - I'm in an apartment too, and I just step outside in the parking lot and spray my piece quickly. You certainly don't want to spray that pro dye in the apartment! 

Edited January 19, 2024 by DeWayne Hayes

[TonyV]

I bought a bag of scraps several years ago which included some sheepskin pieces.  I had no use for the sheepskin bits at the time until I realized they make great applicators for dyes, NSF and finishes.