Freaking Out

[Regis]

All this is with black only.

abn,

It mixes good with Bicks but thins dye out a lot. Haven't found satisfactory combo yet.

Beez,

Control is terrific. Straight from bottle (no thinning) and it lays where you put your brush. Even with pretty loaded brush, there doesn't seem to be much (if any) flow out.

Penetration looks good straight from the bottle. Looks to be close to 1/32 without wetting first to open pores. More testing comming. With Bicks, penitration was poor (very little).

Fading will be the key and time will tell.

Regis

Edited June 2, 2007 by Regis

[pepin1948]

I saw a sample in black at our local Tandy and it was nice and shiny right from the bottle with no top coat/sealant - and NO RUBOFF! What an improvement from the USMC black I was using!

[whinewine]

I just picked up a bottle of black yesterday & am anxious to try it to see how it crocks (hopefully it won't). The literature recommends all the other eco colors be sprayed, with the exception of the black, which should be used with some sort of applicator (dauber or wool piece). I also picked up a colored highliter in purple & a bottle of eco all-in-one in cherry chocolate. My son used the cherry chocolate on a piece of scrap, but i'm not terribly impressed with the first impression. I'll need to play with it some more. The others may or may not be promising: I won't know till I actually do play with them.

[abn]

So, are the spirit dyes expected to go away? Or is this just another option for the folks who live in California?

[Chitin]

So, are the spirit dyes expected to go away? Or is this just another option for the folks who live in California?

They're being phased out, according to the Tandy guy I talked to.

[abn]

Well, I don't plan on using a dye that requires spraying. (My shop just isn't set up for that.) So either this finish can be applied with a rag or dauber, or I won't be using it.

I'll have to check it out... Thanks to everyone for their initial reviews.

-Alex

[Art]

About spirit dyes going away.

I have noticed that Fiebing's LEATHERCOLORS product is only offered in 4oz sizes. This obviously targets a consumer market like Tandy does. It will take them some time to get a waterbased product to a point that it will satisfy an industrial user (this includes small leather businesses). Offerings now are to enable marketing small quantities to consumers under CA law (and probably other states soon).

Penetration and durability are major concerns with water based dyes and some finishes along with application issues from an industrial perspective. I have found the Tandy One Step colors to be more of a wiping stain than a dye and REALLY not well suited to industrial application, so far, they don't spray well. Coverage is a lot on the dark side of the color specified and very time dependant. I don't have enough of it to try immersion (dipping). Remember that Tandy wants to satisfy a consumer who is more the crafter than the business. Their formulations will definately lean to the retail side; and this may be where the idea of spirit dyes going away came from.

I found the One Step product from Tandy to have really suprising durability compared to other water based finishes which have had very little penetration and little durability. Top coats are a different story and there are some that work well, but they may need a little more time and development too. Right now, it is just easier, more dependable, and predictable to stay with the Pro Oil Dye from Fiebing, it just works.

Right now there are any number of Fiebing distributors who will be happy to ship you quarts to 55 gal drums of product, even to you all in CA. I think all anyone is asking is that you use the product wisely and dispose of it properly.

Art

So, are the spirit dyes expected to go away? Or is this just another option for the folks who live in California?

[abn]

I stopped by Tandy this weekend and got the opportunity to purchase and try out some of the new Eco-Flo dye colors. I must admit, I think they're a step up from the traditional spirit dyes. The water-based formula appears to absorb slower, so there's less propensity to streak, even with the lighter shades like Ranger Tan. I'm told the pigment in these dyes is actually liquid (instead of being suspended in liquid), and as a result, I found very little buffing was required after application. To create different shades, the dyes appear to mix well with each other, with water, or even with Lexol. I found that the actual color on leather is much closer to what's advertised on the bottle than with alcohol-based dyes, which tend to go on much darker. Overall, Eco-Flo dyes appear to be versatile and easy-to-use. I was able to apply with a piece of cloth and get good results, although Tandy literature recommends spraying.

Available colors include Coal Black, Dark Coco Brown, Bison Brown, Java Brown, Timber Brown, Canyon Tan, Ranger Tan, Dark Mahogany, Light Mahogany, Cranberry Red, Scarlett, Evening Blue, Emerald Green, Forest Green, Deep Violet, and Sunshine Yellow.

I also purchased several of the new All-In-One Eco-Flow Stain & Finish bottles, and was favorably impressed with how easy they were to use. Dunk a dauber, smear it on, and wipe it off with a paper towel for an extremely even color and mellow acrylic finish. Tandy claims this stuff is for beginners, but for anyone interested in taking the easy route when dyeing, this is a good option IMO. One more benefit: this product does seem to act somewhat as a highlighter to darken stamped areas with an antique-like paste.

Colors for this product are Midnight Black, Fudge Brown, Acorn Brown, Light Mocha Brown, Prairie Tan, Desert Tan, Cherry Chocolate, Mariner Blue, Grape Purple, Cactus Green, Primrose Red, and Cherry Red.

On a related note, I picked up a pamphlet on the Eco-Flo line, and discovered this product line isn't just dyes -- all environmentally friendly products that Tandy offers are being rebranded as Eco-Flo, including Leather Dyes, Hi-Lite Color Stain, Gel Antiques, All-In-One Stain & Finish, Cova Colors, Satin Shene, Super Shene, Block Out Resist Finish, Carnauba Creme, Gum Tragacanth, Easy-Carve Concentrate, Tanners Bond Contact Cement, and Leather Weld. The back of the pamphlet contains a compatibility chart which shows which dyes and stains work with which finishes.

For anyone who has struggled to get decent results with alcohol dyes (like I have), you might want to check out the new Eco-Flo stuff.

Regards, -Alex

[Jim M]

Got the Tandy July sales flyer today and it has a section of info on the new products. The flyer can be found their website, as well.

[CitizenKate]

I just got mine. I called Tandy in OKC today, and asked them about the colorfastness of the Eco-Flo products. Their answer was: There has been no official word from the chem labs about that property, but we're testing some samples we have recently made.

I went ahead and ordered a few small bottles to try out. The first thing I'm going to try is to color a piece of scrap with it and leave it sitting in a nice, sunny window for a few weeks. That should tell us something...

Kate