Dye Techniques

[SeventhSon]

Ive heard of people using rags to apply dye to provide slightly darker areas, maybe around edges or something. hoping to find a little more insight into this if possible. Im trying to figure out some new dying tecjniques, I prefer to use lighter dyes as I think most of my tooling looks better with lighter dye, But Id like to try some different techniques as far as rag work, or airbrushing, or antiqueing. Any insight you guys can provide is greatly appreciated. Photos always help explain so Ill try to find some of what Im talking about, and if you guys have some to show results that would be great.

Actually an example I can think of would be most of Davids seat, the lighter dyed ones usually have a slightly darkened edge.

[Sixer]

Ive heard of people using rags to apply dye to provide slightly darker areas, maybe around edges or something. hoping to find a little more insight into this if possible. Im trying to figure out some new dying tecjniques, I prefer to use lighter dyes as I think most of my tooling looks better with lighter dye, But Id like to try some different techniques as far as rag work, or airbrushing, or antiqueing. Any insight you guys can provide is greatly appreciated. Photos always help explain so Ill try to find some of what Im talking about, and if you guys have some to show results that would be great.

Actually an example I can think of would be most of Davids seat, the lighter dyed ones usually have a slightly darkened edge.

I dye most of my projects with a sponge brush. For me it seems so much easier than using a rag, cloth, etc. Once I have the "base" color applied I will hit the edges with black or dark brown using an airbrush.

Before I bought an airbrush, I consulted the members here and received a ton of good info on what I needed to get set up. IMHO, an airbrush is a great tool to have around for leatherworking. Whether it's for dye, finishes, etc... it's definitely handy.

Here are a few pics of holsters that I used an airbrush on. I didn't really stick to just the edges on either one of these but hopefully it gives you an idea of what you can do with it. I needed a certain shade of red on the second holster... not sure I could have achieved that look with any other method.

[UKRay]

I dye about 90% of my projects with a rag.

I start out by making a 'point' in the wadded rag - in other words I fold the rag so I have a pointed end/corner. This is used to reach the fine detail.

Using the thickest part of the point start 'ragging' with circular movements, laying down coat after coat of dye and picking out and highlighting the grain of the leather. Try it!

The pointy end is used when I have specific detail to dye often around tooling or carving - or for the edges of projects (I don't mean edge staining here) where I want to achieve a 'starburst effect'.

Experimentation with these basic techniques will lead you to a lot of discoveries. Try different ways of folding the rag - I like old Tee shirts.

Hope this helps.

Ray