Light Brown Dye Too Dark

[jrvinny]

Ok, so I've made dozens of holsters at this point and so far everyone wants black. Until now. Turns out, light brown is harder than it sounds. Luckily I tried some test pieces before I went crazy with the holster. One coat of Feibings light brown oil dye looks great when it's dry but when you get the leather wet for molding it turns DARK CHOCOLATE. I mean dark. I'm clearly missing something, just not sure what. I've already dyed the holster pieces so hopefully the step I'm missing doesn't come before that. I'm sure Murphy's law will somehow make an appearance though.

I found a post from johnggrg but that's the closest I could find to being the same issue. If anyone can help me out I would be eternally grateful.

Thanks in advance!!

[BearMan]

Hi,

That happens a lot when using "Pro Dye". Pro Dye is basically regular spirit dye, with oil added. So, if you've already oiled things, it's a second oil application. There are some other binders in Pro Dye also. The added oil, & other binders help to keep from getting the blotchiness you get with other dues. I don't use "Pro Dyes" at all, for that very problem, plus I will usually use different strengths of a given color. Most spirit dyes, I will start with a 50/50 mix with denatured alcohol, & then go down from there. Sometimes as much as 100/1 (alcohol to dye) depending on the color I want. I very RARELY use dyes full strength!

For me, if I'm doing an all over dye, like on a holster, after the oil has dried, I will take a 50/50 mix of the color I want, in a bowl, & apply it with a wool piece. Of course you need to wear gloves. Then when the dye dries, if it's the right color,,, great,,, if it needs to be darker, maybe a second application, or maybe a light coat of oil. But by cutting the dye first, there's less chance of it being too dark.

Btw,,, when I worked at the saddle shop, all of out dye's were 55 gal. barrels, & everything was dipped, after the oil had dried. We only used regular "spirit dyes.

I don't know if this will help, but it may help some future problems.

Ed the"BearMan"

[dirtclod]

Get some denatured alchiol to cut the dye with. I use a syringe to measure the dye and achiol with. Get a package of syringes and needles one for the dye and one for the alchiol. Pull up 20 or 30 cc of the dye and 2 to 3 times of the alchiol. You can play with it till you get the shade you want and write the measurment's on the bottle so you can mix it again.

[Kcinnick]

I bought a bottle of regular fiebings spirit based dye because they didn't have the color I needed in Pro Oil and I am never going to buy the pro oil again. Good thing my wife wanted something purple, or I would have never figured out I like the regular dyes better.

[jrvinny]

Hi,

That happens a lot when using "Pro Dye". Pro Dye is basically regular spirit dye, with oil added. So, if you've already oiled things, it's a second oil application. There are some other binders in Pro Dye also. The added oil, & other binders help to keep from getting the blotchiness you get with other dues. I don't use "Pro Dyes" at all, for that very problem, plus I will usually use different strengths of a given color. Most spirit dyes, I will start with a 50/50 mix with denatured alcohol, & then go down from there. Sometimes as much as 100/1 (alcohol to dye) depending on the color I want. I very RARELY use dyes full strength!

For me, if I'm doing an all over dye, like on a holster, after the oil has dried, I will take a 50/50 mix of the color I want, in a bowl, & apply it with a wool piece. Of course you need to wear gloves. Then when the dye dries, if it's the right color,,, great,,, if it needs to be darker, maybe a second application, or maybe a light coat of oil. But by cutting the dye first, there's less chance of it being too dark.

Btw,,, when I worked at the saddle shop, all of out dye's were 55 gal. barrels, & everything was dipped, after the oil had dried. We only used regular "spirit dyes.

I don't know if this will help, but it may help some future problems.

Ed the"BearMan"

Thanks for the info Ed. I have a few questions. I hope they aren't stupid ones. Are you saying you would oil the leather before dying? I have not done that in this case. Can you tell me why to oil the leather prior to dying?

Do you have a recommendation for a particular dye?

I don't have enough people asking for brown holsters to justify having enough dye to dip dye. I dye the leather before I sew up and mold the holster so I'm not dying the molded holster. That means I'm getting getting the dyed leather completely wet to mold and that's when the color turns so dark. Never been an issue with black because I want it as deep of a color as I can get. I will mix the dye down and do some test pieces. If I understand correctly, I actually want the color to be extremely light after dying to compensate for the darkening when wetting it for molding?

The more I do this, I realize the less I know!

Thanks again.

Get some denatured alchiol to cut the dye with. I use a syringe to measure the dye and achiol with. Get a package of syringes and needles one for the dye and one for the alchiol. Pull up 20 or 30 cc of the dye and 2 to 3 times of the alchiol. You can play with it till you get the shade you want and write the measurment's on the bottle so you can mix it again.

I was just thinking about how to measure the mix. Are you just using regular medical syringes?

[jrvinny]

I bought a bottle of regular fiebings spirit based dye because they didn't have the color I needed in Pro Oil and I am never going to buy the pro oil again. Good thing my wife wanted something purple, or I would have never figured out I like the regular dyes better.

Have you used the regular dye on molded holsters? Just wondering what wetting it will do.

[Kcinnick]

Have you used the regular dye on molded holsters? Just wondering what wetting it will do.

No, she wants an LSU belt so I ordered a bottle of purple dye. I haven't used anything on molded holsters other than oil and the sun, or just used drummed dyed black leather. I have enough trouble with die to try to get an even coat on something molded. My plan in the future however is going to be to dip dye the piece a lighter color than I want it to turn out, then airbrush the color I want over the top. Good thing everyone wants black these days, Drum Dyed Hermann Oak black saves a ton of time.

[dirtclod]

I was just thinking about how to measure the mix. Are you just using regular medical syringes?

I get the big syringes and needles at the farm supply store. You need to label the syringes so you'll know what's in what. I write on them with a dry mark what color dye was was used.

Edited December 12, 2011 by dirtclod

[katsass]

Ok, so I've made dozens of holsters at this point and so far everyone wants black. Until now. Turns out, light brown is harder than it sounds. Luckily I tried some test pieces before I went crazy with the holster. One coat of Feibings light brown oil dye looks great when it's dry but when you get the leather wet for molding it turns DARK CHOCOLATE. I mean dark. I'm clearly missing something, just not sure what. I've already dyed the holster pieces so hopefully the step I'm missing doesn't come before that. I'm sure Murphy's law will somehow make an appearance though.

I found a post from johnggrg but that's the closest I could find to being the same issue. If anyone can help me out I would be eternally grateful.

Thanks in advance!!

FWIW from old grumpy guy; I've used Fiebing's Pro Oil dye on most of my holsters. I cut, dye --- allow 24 hrs to dry, assemble and stitch, mold, then add a finish. I've never had the color change when wet molding after stitching the thing up, except for that period that the leather remains wet while drying. The application of neatsfoot oil WILL darken the color. Mike

[jrvinny]

FWIW from old grumpy guy; I've used Fiebing's Pro Oil dye on most of my holsters. I cut, dye --- allow 24 hrs to dry, assemble and stitch, mold, then add a finish. I've never had the color change when wet molding after stitching the thing up, except for that period that the leather remains wet while drying. The application of neatsfoot oil WILL darken the color. Mike

I use that exact same process. I was really surprised at my results. The leather is a nice light tobacco color after one coat of dye and after a quick dip in the water it's so dark it's almost black, even after drying. The whole thing's making me a little grumpy myself!