dye and neatsfoot oil ???

[J W Craftsman]

Does anybody oil first then dye? I've tried doing that and it seems to give me a more even coat when I apply my dye.

[johnnydb]

I tried several ways of doing this with varying weights of leather.

Dye then neatsfoot

Dye mixed with neatsfoot both dipping and applying. 

Plain neatsfoot. 

Ok...the most uniform was dipping the leather into the mixture (lighter weights) but the color was a lot darker. The swabbing of the mixture actually looked bad at first but eventually evened out over the course of hours. For heavier weights of leather swabbing is better than dipping. (Edges looked much darker and when trimming with an edger they looked noticeably lighter needing touch ups) 

I was using 3-4oz veg tanned and belly strips 10-12oz of veg tanned leather. 

Swabbing was a surprise...it left a good bit of stiffness in the lighter weight leather. It worked well and will be fine for edge treatments. Dipping had no discoloration when edged. 

 

The plain neatsfoot originally darkened the leather (swabbed on) but then lightened up considerably... Almost to original color. 

[Dwight]

On 10/6/2015 at 12:21 AM, J W Craftsman said:

Does anybody oil first then dye? I've tried doing that and it seems to give me a more even coat when I apply my dye.

Well J W . . . I'm gonna have to go against some of the grain here.

I use pure neatsfoot oil . . . the compound is junk in my opinion . . . good for oiling chainsaws maybe . . . nothing more.

I use only veg tan leather for the products I make . . . for the most part they are vacuum formed . . .  sometimes hand formed . . . then allowed to fully  . . . and I mean FULLY dry.  I even have a drying box I occasionally use . . . max temp is 140 F . . . a couple hours in there dries them out really good.

When I know it is dry . . . I get my 1 inch Harbor Freight bristle brush out . . . and my open container of neatsfoot oil.

I put only 1 wet application . . . I go up and down the project . . . making sure every square inch of the hair side is covered and changes color from dry to wet . . .  and I do not add any more than that.  It then gets hung up to dry . . . not in the heat cabinet . . . just in my shop that is nominally 72 degrees year round.

The next day (at least 24 hours later) it gets dyed . . . and I dip dye everything I possibly can . . . especially holsters, sheaths, and belts.   My dye is Feibings oil dye . . .  cut 50/50 with Feibings dye thinner. After dying . . .  I paper towel off any pooling dye on the surface.

Belts get laid in a circle on a piece of cardboard . . . and allowed to dry about 10 minutes . . . then I flip them over on the other edge to finish drying the next 24 hours.

Holsters and sheaths are laid on their backsides on a similar piece of cardboard . . . it had had multiple treatments of resolene over the years . . . so dye does not leech out into the cardboard.

I then apply my final coating which is virtually always Resolene . . . thinned 50/50 with water.

This is the process I found that works the best for me.  I ruined a few projects "back when" by not oiling my work first . . . especially when I was using Saddle Tan dye.  It is one finicky dye . . . and I found without the oil . . . I might as well trash the work 75 to 85 percent of the time.

Again . . . it is the process that works for me . . . maybe different from others . . . but the important thing to do is figure out what works for you . . . and stick to it.

I've even got me a little reminder note stuck up by my dye pans . . . reminding me I need to oil stuff first.  

May God bless,

Dwight