Adding A Conditioner To The Dye When Spraying On Dye

[kwelna]

I am still trying to come up with a good way to dye leather to a lighter color and so far it is only working OK to good.

Here is what I am currently doing:

Using Fiebings standared dye ( and thining it 9 parts acohol to 1 part dye)

Wet down the leather with water to moisten it so the dye flows over the leather more evenly and gain better penetration

Spray teh dye onto each cut out leather piece with a "Cheap" Air Brush "

Let dry and hope it looks even and the color is what I am looking for ....

Talking with the folks at springfield leather, they mentiond that since I am using a alchohol based dye, as the alchohol evaporates, it pulls additional moisture out of the leather making it stiffer, (make sense to me)

So new plan :

Mix 1 part dye with one part neetsfoot with 8 parts alcohol

Wet down the entire leather side with water

Spray dye on to the entire side with an automotive touch up gun

Then cut out my peices

I am hoping that the touch up gun will throw out more dye and I will get better penetration

I am also hoping that since i am spraying a larger area with a larger spray pattern it may look more even

I am hoping that the neetsfoot will help keep the leather a bit softer and mitigate the effects of the evaporating alchohol as well as retard the evaporation process so I get better stain penetration

So any one have opinions on this? Will neetsfoot mix in with the dye and alcohol?

Any one have a better idea? Is there a downside to my approach?

The goal is to get a nice even and light color on my leather messenger bags.

[katsass]

I am still trying to come up with a good way to dye leather to a lighter color and so far it is only working OK to good.

Here is what I am currently doing:

Using Fiebings standared dye ( and thining it 9 parts acohol to 1 part dye)

Wet down the leather with water to moisten it so the dye flows over the leather more evenly and gain better penetration

Spray teh dye onto each cut out leather piece with a "Cheap" Air Brush "

Let dry and hope it looks even and the color is what I am looking for ....

Talking with the folks at springfield leather, they mentiond that since I am using a alchohol based dye, as the alchohol evaporates, it pulls additional moisture out of the leather making it stiffer, (make sense to me)

So new plan :

Mix 1 part dye with one part neetsfoot with 8 parts alcohol

Wet down the entire leather side with water

Spray dye on to the entire side with an automotive touch up gun

Then cut out my peices

I am hoping that the touch up gun will throw out more dye and I will get better penetration

I am also hoping that since i am spraying a larger area with a larger spray pattern it may look more even

I am hoping that the neetsfoot will help keep the leather a bit softer and mitigate the effects of the evaporating alchohol as well as retard the evaporation process so I get better stain penetration

So any one have opinions on this? Will neetsfoot mix in with the dye and alcohol?

Any one have a better idea? Is there a downside to my approach?

The goal is to get a nice even and light color on my leather messenger bags.

From the grumpy old guy; The idea MAY have some merit, however, remember that the addition of neatsfoot oil will always darken your dye job to a certain extent. Neatsfoot oil compound more so than pure neatsfoot oil. Also remember that each dead cow skin will accept the dye, and oil, to varying degrees, even different areas of the same skin will vary, so that a 'standard' formula will not generally work out to be exactly the same when used on another skin, or another area of the same chunk of dead cow hide.. Leather weight and tanning processes will also vary the final appearance if using a 'standard' formula on different skins. A final thing to think about is the finish. Most also add a bit of darkening to the dye after application. As to casing or wetting the leather prior to the application of a solvent based dye, I've never been too sure of this idea. To me (and I may be wrong) the denatured alcohol used in dyes is not all that compatible with regular water - that old 'oil and water' thing. You can dump a little of each in a bottle, shake the hell out of it and get an emulsion, but after a little time - they separate. For a reasonably even tone of 'tan' color, I generally give the piece of leather a shot of pure neatsfoot oil then set it out in old Ma Nature's bright smile for a while to 'tan'. You never get exactly the same shade, or even hue of tan from differing pieces of leather, but that's kind of the beauty of using natural substances in your construction - natural variation. JMHO. Mike . .

Edited July 26, 2012 by katsass

[kwelna]

From the grumpy old guy; The idea MAY have some merit, however, remember that the addition of neatsfoot oil will always darken your dye job to a certain extent. Neatsfoot oil compound more so than pure neatsfoot oil. Also remember that each dead cow skin will accept the dye, and oil, to varying degrees, even different areas of the same skin will vary, so that a 'standard' formula will not generally work out to be exactly the same when used on another skin, or another area of the same chunk of dead cow hide.. Leather weight and tanning processes will also vary the final appearance if using a 'standard' formula on different skins. A final thing to think about is the finish. Most also add a bit of darkening to the dye after application. As to casing or wetting the leather prior to the application of a solvent based dye, I've never been too sure of this idea. To me (and I may be wrong) the denatured alcohol used in dyes is not all that compatible with regular water - that old 'oil and water' thing. You can dump a little of each in a bottle, shake the hell out of it and get an emulsion, but after a little time - they separate. For a reasonably even tone of 'tan' color, I generally give the piece of leather a shot of pure neatsfoot oil then set it out in old Ma Nature's bright smile for a while to 'tan'. You never get exactly the same shade, or even hue of tan from differing pieces of leather, but that's kind of the beauty of using natural substances in your construction - natural variation. JMHO. Mike . .

Hey Grumpy, I am still working the air brush and it is getting better, I bumped up the pressure as you suggested and that helped a lot. I do expect some variation in color adn hue on the leather, but what i am finding is that I end up with lighter and darker areas mostly due to my lack of ability to spray evenly so I am looking for a way to compensate for my weakness. I will take a sample leather piece and try the neetsfoot oil and sunlight approach. It sounds great. I havea specific color\hue in mind, and I just can not successfully achive it every time. I have halve a mind to assemble the entire bag un dyed adn then dunk it all at once in a big tub of thinned dye adn see what happens LOL. I really only get to play on weekends so I have to plan my experiments for then and try and gather all the supplys durign the week so i can just got outside and go..... I will say that it has been an intersting journey in learning. I thnk I am getting there......just not as fast as I would like!

[pete]

If you are simply looking for an even dyeing job with a lighter color- mix your dye with Bick's #4 conditioner. Won't darken by itself but is my favorite leather conditioner and mixes well with feibings. Don't bother wetting the leather first as it inhibits the Bick's.

MOST of the time it's all that I use to dye rather than dyeing and then applying something. I have a large bottle of Bicks and feibings chocolate mix. Keep adding the dye to get the color that you want.

[kwelna]

If you are simply looking for an even dyeing job with a lighter color- mix your dye with Bick's #4 conditioner. Won't darken by itself but is my favorite leather conditioner and mixes well with feibings. Don't bother wetting the leather first as it inhibits the Bick's.

MOST of the time it's all that I use to dye rather than dyeing and then applying something. I have a large bottle of Bicks and feibings chocolate mix. Keep adding the dye to get the color that you want.

How are you applying the mixture?

[pete]

How are you applying the mixture?

sheepskin scrap. Doesn't take much to cover a lot of area. Tip the bottle over the scrap. then scrape it across the opening and apply.

pete

[kwelna]

Cool I will try that as soon as I get a bottle of #4