best way to dye item

[stampingdelight]

was getting ready to dye my leather hat & normally I dye when fully dye having a day or more to dry. Is these the best way to dye, I read on another site someone does it when leather is still damp not sure what dyeing the leather damp would do or how it would come out. So asking for any tips to dyeing that helps get the even coloring threw out the leather project? 

[DieselTech]

That's a hard question to answer I think. Only reason I say that is: it seems like every different piece of leather I have dyed, takes different approaches/dying technique to achieve certain results. 

Lol now this is what I found when I recently started using Fiebings Pro Dye. 

[stampingdelight]

3 hours ago, DieselTech said:

That's a hard question to answer I think. Only reason I say that is: it seems like every different piece of leather I have dyed, takes different approaches/dying technique to achieve certain results. 

Lol now this is what I found when I recently started using Fiebings Pro Dye. 

k thanks any tips if wanting to dye a hat with even brown color. would wool dauber be best or is something else better to use for keep wanting to learn 

[DieselTech]

13 minutes ago, stampingdelight said:

k thanks any tips if wanting to dye a hat with even brown color. would wool dauber be best or is something else better to use for keep wanting to learn 

I myself would use something bigger than a wool dauber. I myself would use a sponge, that has more coverage area, per pass. 

I would also have my dye in a dish like a disposable pie pan. I would dip one side of the sponge in the dye real quick like & pull it back out & kinda let the dye soak into the sponge. That way it don't drip. Drips off of the sponge is a bad deal & can wreck a project. 

Then i would start my dye application process to the project, & continue to repeat till I got my desired results. Uniform color & desired color depth. 

Try dying some of your scrap leather you cut your hat out of first. That way you have a idea how the dye is going to react to the leather. 

Edited April 27, 2024 by DieselTech

[Dwight]

I'm no "all leather" professional / professer / know it all.

But if you are using veg tan . . . belts . . . holsters . . . knife sheaths and the like . . . 

Make the project with the exception of some snaps if you can put them on later . . . or buckles . . . etc.

Take a bristle brush and give the project a light coat . . . hair side only . . . of genuine neatsfoot oil.  Let it dry 24 hours.

Then dip / dunk dye your project with feibings pro oil dye . . . diluted 50/50 with feibings reducer.

You should like the result . . . I generally always do . . . 

I finish it with Resolene after a good buffing . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited April 27, 2024 by Dwight

[fredk]

Dyeing whilst the leather is damp helps the dye spread though the leather evenly

I would wrap a piece of sponge in a cloth and use that to apply the dye. Do a certain area all at one time, eg all of the brim, both sides, then the crown and then the  crown shaper

Keep a 'wet' edge. Say, on the brim start at the front centre, doing a bit on the left side, then on the right side, go back and do more on the left side, then more on the right until you meet up around the centre back

Edited April 27, 2024 by fredk

[dikman]

Road Agent Leather has a few videos on youtube, his method is to apply a coat of NFO, let it dry, thin the dye then apply liberally with a sponge (he sploshes it on!). It seems to work well for him.