Immersion Dying & Finishing Leather

[LisaMT]

Hi fellow leatherworkers-

I am new to leatherworker.net but have been making leatherpurses for the past six months, and would like to hone in on our process to increaseuniformity and quality. The advice wehave received is from a local leather shop and we would really like to hear whatother day to day leather workers have to say . I have made a list of questions and any advicewould be so greatly appreciated.

1. We have tried everything from applying dye with sponges (wet leather and dry) to spraying, and now weare immersion, or dip dying. It seemslike we are going through so much dye. Although we welcome the speed of dipdying, we are not sure if there is some way to increase the longevity of the dye. Should we be wetting the leather before dipping it? Can we reduce the dye?

2. Could any one suggest the type of dye(brand) and if we should reduce it. Weare currently using Fiebings oil dye. Could you also suggest an online retailer that we could getbulk/wholesale pricing?

2. Maybe scratching the whole immersion process isthe way to go. Is Dip dying the best process for bulk dying.

3. We have been using Saddle lac to seal ourleather. It's a bit shiny for our taste but it seems to be working well. ShouldI switch to something like Bag Kote. Would that seal as well against water. We just want to make sure that the leather dye does not come off on someone'shands or clothing. Speed is also important to us.

Thank you so much in advance. we have been pulling our hair out trying to figure the whole process out. It is so wonderful to have a resource like this.

Edited May 23, 2012 by LisaMT

[Kustom]

Hi Lisa,

Is there a reason your just not buying drum dyed leather?

Steve

Hi fellow leatherworkers-

I am new to leatherworker.net but have been making leatherpurses for the past six months, and would like to hone in on our process to increaseuniformity and quality. The advice wehave received is from a local leather shop and we would really like to hear whatother day to day leather workers have to say . I have made a list of questions and any advicewould be so greatly appreciated.

1. We have tried everything from applying dye with sponges (wet leather and dry) to spraying, and now weare immersion, or dip dying. It seemslike we are going through so much dye. Although we welcome the speed of dipdying, we are not sure if there is some way to increase the longevity of the dye. Should we be wetting the leather before dipping it? Can we reduce the dye?

2. Could any one suggest the type of dye(brand) and if we should reduce it. Weare currently using Fiebings oil dye. Could you also suggest an online retailer that we could getbulk/wholesale pricing?

2. Maybe scratching the whole immersion process isthe way to go. Is Dip dying the best process for bulk dying.

3. We have been using Saddle lac to seal ourleather. It's a bit shiny for our taste but it seems to be working well. ShouldI switch to something like Bag Kote. Would that seal as well against water. We just want to make sure that the leather dye does not come off on someone'shands or clothing. Speed is also important to us.

Thank you so much in advance. we have been pulling our hair out trying to figure the whole process out. It is so wonderful to have a resource like this.

[DoubleC]

Hi Lisa. I imagine if you're doing immersion, dip, sponge or anything you should be burnishing the leather after to get the excess dye off or it will come off on someone. I hand dye with artist brushes or paint and even that amount I burnish and usually get residue on the rag before I seal it.

Kustom makes a good point too. And if you're looking for a supplier, I use Springfield for everything I need that they have. There's ads at the top of most of these pages and you could even 'ask Kevin' about this stuff (that's an actual link on the site). You'll never have a nicer supplier. Cheryl.

[LisaMT]

Hi Lisa,

Is there a reason your just not buying drum dyed leather?

Steve

Steve-

I did some research on Drum Dyed leather after your post. We really need the rigidity of the veg tanned for our purse styles. Can we buy veg tanned leather drum dyed or is it just chrome tan.

[Kustom]

You can buy drum dyed bridle leather which is a veg tan leather.

http://www.wickett-craig.com/index.php/leathers/colors

http://rjfleather.com/content/index.php/products/#euro

Steve-

I did some research on Drum Dyed leather after your post. We really need the rigidity of the veg tanned for our purse styles. Can we buy veg tanned leather drum dyed or is it just chrome tan.