soften veggie leather

[stampingdelight]

hello

I have some undyed vegetable leather, got cut and tooled, to me feels stiffer now. my questiion is what can I use to soften before i dye? I read can use mix of rubbing alcohol with vaseline, mink oil or neatsfoot? what does everone use or find works best, for hoping not to darken leather.

[TonyV]

The tooling in itself has stiffened the leather by the compression from stamping.  Alcohol will dry it out a bit adding to the stiffness, so will dying (it contains alcohol).  Use NFO or mink oil to condition it before dying.  It will loosen up a little on its own over time and with use.  Don't overdo the oil. Any oil or conditioner will  darken the leather a little bit.  It looks darker right after application then lightens some.  That's all in the nature of leather and you will learn to work with it.

[Tove09Tilda]

19 hours ago, stampingdelight said:

hello

I have some undyed vegetable leather, got cut and tooled, to me feels stiffer now. my questiion is what can I use to soften before i dye? I read can use mix of rubbing alcohol with vaseline, mink oil or neatsfoot? what does everone use or find works best, for hoping not to darken leather.

Hey, I’ve dyed a lot of veg tan over the past year, including pieces that had been sitting around and were noticeably stiffer than normal.
I’ve had good results applying a very thin layer of neatsfoot oil first, letting the piece dry for at least 24 hours. It does darken the leather slightly, but then I dye afterward without issues, as I mostly used alcohol-based dyes.

If you’re concerned that the dyeing process might dry the leather out further, it’s worth checking what kind of dye you’re using. Not all leather dyes are alcohol-based. There are oil-based dyes that can give a very nice finish when paired with the correct sealer — Fiebing’s has several in their range. Water-based dyes and hybrid systems are also options.

Depending on how stiff the leather is, I’d personally lean toward an oil-based dye. In that case, I condition afterward and let the piece rest for a few hours up to a day before sealing. Dye often looks much darker before it fully dries, and giving it time makes it easier to control the final depth and vibrancy of the color. Really take the rest times seriously — this allows the dye to develop correctly before conditioning, and gives the conditioner time to absorb before locking it in with the sealer.

Hope this helps, and let us know what you end up doing! ☺️

Best, 
Tove