Neat Lac over dye?

[ETW Grumpy]

Can you use Neat Lac over dye? I've got a piece that has oil and spirit dyes on it and I want to make sure this isn't going to smear when I Neat Lac it.

[RWB]

Can you use Neat Lac over dye? I've got a piece that has oil and spirit dyes on it and I want to make sure this isn't going to smear when I Neat Lac it.

It shouldn't smear the dye as long as it is really dry (approx 24 hours after the dye is applied is long enough to wait). I use it all the time over a dyed background and dyed edges with no problem. That Clear-lac stuff tends to smear if you not careful though.

Ross

Edited September 21, 2009 by RWB

[ETW Grumpy]

Cool. I thought it would be OK, but I wanted confirmation. Thanks.

[hidepounder]

Grumpy,

I agree with Ross....it shouldn't pick up the dye if the dye is dry enough. I always worry about it and so I carefully apply a light coat over the dye to seal it before going back and applying a more thorough coat. I use the spray cans (I still have a few) just for this. If you don't have anymore spray use a trimmed piece of woolskin and apply lightly without going back over it until it dries. Then you'll be good to go!

Hope this helps.....

Bobby

[ETW Grumpy]

That helps very much. I'm letting it dry overnight, then I'll do the Neat Lac, stain, antique and finish coat tomorrow. Then start lacing. Thanks guys for the help.

[hidepounder]

Grumpy,

You didn't mention stain in your first post. If you are going to apply an atique finish over the NeatLac, using it a s a resist, then no problem, however I am concerned when you mention stain, because that might be something that should be applied before you NeatLac....what are you planning with regard to stain?

Bobby

[superchute]

Well just a thought some of the car paint places can fill spray cans would that work for neat lac ??? Just a thought .

Russ

[ETW Grumpy]

I used a couple of coats of the Eco Flo Gel stain and the paste antique. I posted a while back about getting blotchy stain and it was recommended to use Neat Lac before the stain. I think there's some confusion on my part about stain and antique. The product I used to stain the leather is Eco Flo Gel Antique. The product I used to hilite the cuts and impressions is Fiebing's (paste) Antique Finish, both in tan. If I oil after I tool, will it seal the pores enough to use the Eco Flo product evenly w/o blotching? Then Neat Lac then antique? Also, I used Bee Natural Leather Finish as a topcoat.

[hidepounder]

Grumpy,

I have not used very much of the Eco Flo gel stain and I could be wrong here but it seems to me that using it and antique paste is redundant. To the best of my knowledge both products are designed to provide approximately the same effect. Maybe someone more knowledgable about the Eco Flo products can jump in here. But to me unless you are using two entirely different colors in order to achieve a special effect you probably don't need to use both products. Before I apply any dyes or antiques I clean my leather with oxalic acid. If you didn't do this it may account for some of the blotchiness of your finish. Oils and dirt from your hands during the tooling process will affect the way stains and antiques are absorbed into the leather. That is one of the reasons for using the NeatLac as a sealer before applying antique paste. It insures that you get even absorbtion of color.

Hope this helps....

Bobby

[ETW Grumpy]

So I guess my question is still if I use oxalic acid to clean, then oil, can I apply stain and expect an even color?

[RWB]

So I guess my question is still if I use oxalic acid to clean, then oil, can I apply stain and expect an even color?

Sure, if you oil evenly your color will come out even, but if you oil unevenly you color will probably come out uneven. But acid your leather, let it dry out, apply a coat of oil, and then wait for about 12 hours. That will give the oil enough time to soak in and you will generally be able to tell if it's oiled evenly. If not then LIGHTLY re-oil the light spots,let that soak in, and when you have it even then go ahead and apply your Neat-lac. When that's dry apply your stain or antique and what ever your using for your top coat finish or sealer. You can drastically change the color of an item by how much oil you apply to the leather. So just experiment with it.

Ross

[ETW Grumpy]

So the key to getting the color to look even is to get the oil evenly applied. Thanks very much to all.