Dye woes

[Yellowhousejake]

I have had hit and miss luck with Dying Saddle Tan Fieblings.  Sometimes it goes on even and looks great, other times it goes on blotchy and looks terrible. I have tried sponges, airbrush, dip dye, all with no luck. Oddly enough my best luck has been dying Springfield Leather craft squares. Every attempt on quality Herman Oak looks uneven.

Here is a picture of my latest article holster. A copy of a late 1930s Berns Martin for a S&W N frame snub. This was dip dyed and still came out splotchy. I can't help but think I am doing something wrong here.

Any thoughts?

DAve

[fredk]

Are you wetting the leather before dyeing? I always do and its removed any uneven dyeing. Some others also prefer to use NFO on the leather before dyeing. And did you leave the holster in the dye for long enuf for the dye to really saturate thru the leather?

[Yellowhousejake]

1 hour ago, fredk said:

Are you wetting the leather before dyeing? I always do and its removed any uneven dyeing. Some others also prefer to use NFO on the leather before dyeing. And did you leave the holster in the dye for long enuf for the dye to really saturate thru the leather?

No, I do not wet the leather before dying. How much do you wet the leather? Casing wet or just a quick wipe down and a minute to soak in?

I do use NFO before dying a customer holster, but I let it dry/cure for 48 hours before dying. I left this holster in the dye for about 15 minutes, no idea if that is long enough. Or, clearly it was not ;^) I only tried dip dying because every other attempt on scrap leather from the same hide was mottled when spraying or using a dauber/sponge.

I have watched Mike Dorsett's videos so many times I have them memorized. My dye never looks like his 100% of the time.

 

DAve

[fredk]

7 minutes ago, Yellowhousejake said:

No, I do not wet the leather before dying. How much do you wet the leather? Casing wet or just a quick wipe down and a minute to soak in?

Nearly casing wet

 

7 minutes ago, Yellowhousejake said:

. . .  I left this holster in the dye for about 15 minutes, no idea if that is long enough. Or, clearly it was not . . . 

That should have been long enuf but not so if the leather was really dry

 

9 minutes ago, Yellowhousejake said:

. . . I do use NFO before dying a customer holster, but I let it dry/cure for 48 hours before dying. . . 

Dyeing soon after NFO, about 2 hours or so, might help

[HandyDave]

Leather is natural material. And even really good leather has differences throughout the hide. Sometimes with lighter colors then pure black your just gonna have uneven areas. You'll save yourself alot of headache if you learn to just let it ride. The variation in finish is just part of it. Even when you buy pre dyed veg tan you can see lighter and darker areas.