Anyone Used Japanese Water Based Dye

[cem]

I wanted to try some water based dye so I got some Japanese stuff mainly because they do a few more different colours compared to the Eco Flo and have been making them alot longer so I was wondering has anyone else used them the brand name is Roapas Batik. I only got a couple to begin with to see what they were like but they have quite a different smell ie a bit like vinegar.

I must say I was expecting more of a water smell and the vinegar smell is a little off putting but I don't know if this normal or not so if anyone here has tried them can they tell me what they smell like. I was looking at changing to water based dye as I was having trouble with the smell of the Angelus dyes as I had been getting headaches from them I use a spray booth, mask, open window etc but the smell just seems to affect me I had the same trouble with Copic Markers when I did illustration work and them and Angelus dye are very similiar in smell.

Thankyou for any help

Cheers,

Clair

[jmorton]

I wanted to try some water based dye so I got some Japanese stuff mainly because they do a few more different colours compared to the Eco Flo and have been making them alot longer so I was wondering has anyone else used them the brand name is Roapas Batik. I only got a couple to begin with to see what they were like but they have quite a different smell ie a bit like vinegar.

I must say I was expecting more of a water smell and the vinegar smell is a little off putting but I don't know if this normal or not so if anyone here has tried them can they tell me what they smell like. I was looking at changing to water based dye as I was having trouble with the smell of the Angelus dyes as I had been getting headaches from them I use a spray booth, mask, open window etc but the smell just seems to affect me I had the same trouble with Copic Markers when I did illustration work and them and Angelus dye are very similiar in smell.

Thankyou for any help

Cheers,

Clair

Clair,

I have never used these dyes, but I a very interested in how well they work for you. I am fairly certain that the smell you notice is due to vinegar being used as a mordanting agent in the dye. This is what locks the dye into the leather.

Thanks,

John Morton

[cem]

Clair,

I have never used these dyes, but I a very interested in how well they work for you. I am fairly certain that the smell you notice is due to vinegar being used as a mordanting agent in the dye. This is what locks the dye into the leather.

Thanks,

John Morton

Thanks John after doing some research I thought that was probably the case it does dissipate on the leather but is really intense when you first open the bottle, I haven't had a chance to do much with them but they seem to go on well enough not quite as well as spirit based but I think that's the norm with water based dyes anyway. I'll probably get some more colours in the next few weeks then I can probably give you a better run down on what they are like.

Cheers,

Clair

[odinloki33]

Hi Clair,

Resurrecting an old thread... how was your experience with the dyes?

[cem]

I don't use the Roapas Batik anymore but I still use another Japanese water based dye called Craftsha, I found the colours were a lot brighter and it doesn't have that strong smell of vinegar. They are no harder to apply than spirit based dyes, I've used brushes, daubers and an airbrush to apply them. I like the airbrush the most as it's easy to change colours on my airbrush and gives the most consistent colour the same as with spirit dyes. I still use Fiebings pro oil dyes as well but mostly for large backgrounds as it's easier for me to get the larger bottles with those.

I would definitely recommend the Craftsha if you want to try another water based dye, I bought mine from Goodsjapan but they don't seem to have them listed any more but they or http://www.leathercrafttools.com/ should be able to order them in as they are fairly common in Japan. I don't have any photos of my work handy at the moment but if you want to check out some stuff done with them this leather artist uses them http://ameblo.jp/chelsea1982/

Hope this helps a bit

[odinloki33]

Thank you very much for sharing your experience! I'll look into the Craftsha dyes.