Darkening Leather Boots/Shoes

[cottontop]

What is a product that when applied by hand will make brown shoes a darker shade of brown? I have tried Mink Oil, and it darkened the shoes slightly, but not dark enough. What I really want to do is this: I have some shoes that are various shades of brown and are all one color. I would like to darken just the side or saddle panels a darker shade of brown so that the shoes become a sort of two tone, or really, two shades of contrasting brown on the same shoe. On some of them the toe section is a separate piece of leather and I would like to darken that section also and thus match the side panels. I might not be using the correct terminology for the shoe parts so i hope you can understand what I mean. You could say that I want to do it the easy way, i.e.; wipe it on, let it dry or soak in for a while, polish it off, and done. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Joe

[fredk]

Dark brown dye?

[Tastech]

Post some photos of the shoes so i can see how brown they are originally and what outcome you can expect

Some examples below 

The first pair has a base color of English bridle and airbrushed highlights in chocolate

The second pair of boots has a base color of English bridle and a wing tip and heel brush  dyed with dark brown raven oil

 Depending on the base color and on the color you want to change them to will determine the end result . Either way you will have to use stripper or deglazer  before you dye on the area you will be working on to open the pores so the dye penetrates.

Mink oil is a very good conditioner but it is known for not darkening the leather . If you are after the Antique effect you can use a darker cream polish or wax polish but it takes a while to build up the layers .

[cottontop]

Here is one pair of the shoes in question. Thanks for the responses. As I stated in my OP, I don't want this to be a complicated project; just a wipe on wipe off affair. Using a stripper and dye seems to be a complicated process, at least for me. This conversion does not have to be permanent as I can always paste it again if the new color starts to fade. In the second photo, the side panels were darkened slightly with Cobblers Choice conditioning cream and it provided a slight contrast which is what I was after with these shoes. Of course light brown (or tan) colored shoes are much easier to darken. Amazon has a product called Startso World Leather & Vinyl Recoloring Balm, dark brown. I think I will give that a try. It will either work or it won't.

Joe

Edited July 17 by cottontop
spelling

[Tastech]

@cottontop you can strip  the shoes with acetone and dye with a leather dye .

The amazon product is more than likely a paint. Because you do not color vinyl the same way you color leather . Any "does everything "product is more than likely a "does everything badly " product .

Do it properly or not at all . 

[SUP]

I used those Amazon coloring products before I came into leatherwork. They work surprisingly well. The shoes that  I dyed several years ago are still going strong, look as beautiful too. They have not peeled or faded. I check them periodically and have no complaints so far.

Those products work for those who don't want to get into leather dyeing.

So @Tastech while it is true that it is probably paint, it certainly works well for leather shoes. I do not know about how they work on anything else, as I have only used them on leather.

 

[cottontop]

There is the old saying, "There is more than one way to skin a cat." What is "properly" to some may not be "properly" to others.

[cottontop]

15 minutes ago, SUP said:

I used those Amazon coloring products before I came into leatherwork. They work surprisingly well. The shoes that  I dyed several years ago are still going strong, look as beautiful too. They have not peeled or faded. I check them periodically and have no complaints so far.

Those products work for those who don't want to get into leather dyeing.

So @Tastech while it is true that it is probably paint, it certainly works well for leather shoes. I do not know about how they work on anything else, as I have only used them on leather.

 

Thanks for your comments SUP. I am one who does not want to get into leather dyeing. The whole "dyeing" process sounds way too involved and messy to me for what I want to do. If I was a pro and doing something like this for the general public, it would be a different story; but I am not a pro and i am only doing this for little old me. Like we say on the Banjo Hangout Forum, "It's your banjo, play it any way you want."

BTW, if you go to Amazon and look up the Startso World Leather Balm, the description states that it is a DYE, and "Restores new life into old worn leather."

Edited July 18 by cottontop

[SUP]

@cottontop, I see your point and the Amazon products worked for me for definite color. If you want a variation in a shade though, the dye might be better. But yes, it is a pain, at least to me! 

Even after you order the product that you want, I suggest that you check the actual color on something else that is disposable. Sometimes the actual color differs just enough to disappoint. The shoes that I dyed were all of a single color but the tan I initially ordered was awful, so I ordered a different brand.  

[cottontop]

5 minutes ago, SUP said:

@cottontop, I see your point and the Amazon products worked for me for definite color. If you want a variation in a shade though, the dye might be better. But yes, it is a pain, at least to me! 

Even after you order the product that you want, I suggest that you check the actual color on something else that is disposable. Sometimes the actual color differs just enough to disappoint. The shoes that I dyed were all of a single color but the tan I initially ordered was awful, so I ordered a different brand.  

I am not really looking for a variation in a shade. I just want to darken a couple of small sections on a couple of shoes. As long as there is a contrast between sections of the shoe, I am happy. Notice the second photo I posted earlier of the Jim Green vellie shoe. I achieved a slight contrast with just an application of Cobbler's Choice Cream. The Startso Leather Balm should darken the leather even more and a contrast either slight or not so slight is what I am after.

[SUP]

In the 2nd photograph, you have a nice contract of a slightly darker shade. It looks good. I hope you get a good shade that works well with the current color.

I used Startso brand too.

[Aventurine]

This is a case where Tandy's not bad.

[cottontop]

3 minutes ago, Aventurine said:

This is a case where Tandy's not bad.

Do you mean leather dyes and treatments? 

[cottontop]

I just received my jar of Startso Leather Balm, dark brown. This stuff is very easy to use. It is also water soluble so easy clean up. I used it to darken the "saddle" area of a pair of shoes that were all one color of a light tan. The contrast of the two parts of the shoe looks great to me. I used plain old masking tape to protect the areas where I did not want the balm to reach. For me, I can't see using any other method.  However, if you are a professional cobbler and have the products and the experience and are coloring shoes for a paying customer, then I can see the need to dye the shoes using the acetone and whatever other stuff a cobbler would use to do a professional  long lasting job. But, the Startso worked for me yet YMMV. Will post a photo later today.

 

 

[cottontop]

Here is a photo of the end result of dying a portion of this pair of shoes with Startso Dark Brown Balm in order to have contrasting colors in the shoe. The photos are not great (I am not a very good photographer) but I think you can get the idea.

[cottontop]

I tried to upload another photo of the above shoe, but the "choose files" thing says my photo is to many MB's or something so i will have to settle on the one above.

In the photo, the dark portion of the shoe looks almost black, but it is really a nice dark brown. This is a before the coloring job photo.

 

Edited July 23 by cottontop
addition

[cottontop]

I'm trying to upload a little larger photo. Hope it works.

Edited July 23 by cottontop

[SUP]

That looks very  nice.

And Startso dyes do last. We have been using our dyed shoes  non-stop  for several years now and they look as fresh and new as ever. I knew nothing about leatherwork then, else I might not have used them, and lost out on a good thing. Sometimes shortcuts work very well. 

[cottontop]

2 hours ago, SUP said:

That looks very  nice.

And Startso dyes do last. We have been using our dyed shoes  non-stop  for several years now and they look as fresh and new as ever. I knew nothing about leatherwork then, else I might not have used them, and lost out on a good thing. Sometimes shortcuts work very well. 

Thanks for the positive comments SUP. I do appreciate it.

[Aventurine]

On 7/18/2024 at 1:34 PM, cottontop said:

Do you mean leather dyes and treatments? 

Yes, Tandy dyes and treatments seem just fine on the veg tan cow hide I used long ago for tooling.  I won't use them anymore because I am striving for a low-toxin  and low-environmental-impact lifestyle, but when I did use them they were very good.  The browns, russets, burgundies, reds, oranges, and golds held up beautifully over time. The greens held up okay.  A caveat, blue alters a lot as soon as it is applied and over time it doesn't stay blue because as the leather underneath darkens it turns more and more brown, which is a species of orange, which is the opposite color of blue and turns it greenish-grayish or blackish. (Navy blue is already dark so it doesn't matter much;  I am speaking of true-blues/ultramarines/cobalts/sky blues.)  If you want something to stay blue you must put an opaque layer under it.  I imagine that purples also suffer as the leather darkens and browns,  but I never used any.

Chrome tanned leather is light blue-ish gray when undyed and might keep blue dyes nice for longer;  I don't know.