How To Dye Properly?

[jsb]

Hi everybody,

I'm relatively new to leatherwork and am really getting frustrated. I just can't manage to get an even coloring on my projects. I've tried antique paste and am now experimenting with some colors of which I think they are acrylic - got them from a Taiwanese lady. But whatever I do, the result is some blotched, stained, blurry (more frustration - I don't even know the correct word ) ugly surface. I guess I need some basic information on how to do the dyeing thing correctly. I must have missed out one or more steps ... So here are my basic questions:

- do I have to prepare the leather in any way and if, in which (applying anything before dyeing)?

- how do I apply the color properly? I have used wool dauber and piece of cloth and cotton wool, but none of it is really convincing.

- if using acrylic colors, do I need to mix them with anything? I remember the Taiwanese lady doing so, but I don't know what it was.

- how to avoid getting a darker spot/blotch when I first start to apply the color?

I probably forgot to post some questions that would have been necessary to ask, but I guess you got the idea - I just can't do it properly. So any tips, advice, tutorials, ... are really, really highly appreciated before frustration leads me to some silly actions

Thanks!

PS: I have attached a picture of the Taiwanese dye the lady gave me. Can anybody tell me what kind of dye it is? I can't read Taiwanese, but maybe someone here can tell by how it looks?

[Dwight]

jsb, . . . a few years back I got pretty good at daubers, sponges, etc, . . . but never really did get it as I wanted it. Especially repeatabilty, . . . used the same dye twice, but the items came out differently.

THEN,........... I started dip dyeing EVERYTHING. It has made all the difference in the world. Takes more dye, but is done in only a few seconds, . . . is uniform, . . . is repeatable, time and again, . . .

And, . . . my blood pressure stays down during and after the process

May God bless,

Dwight

[LNLeather]

Dwight Do you dilute the dye at all? So you can get the leather a lighter color

and then maybe dip again to get it darker?

What dye do you recommend? Thanks for your help

[jsb]

Dwight, thanks for your reply. Only I don't know what "dip dyeing" is (it sounds like you dip the leather into the dye? Sorry, I'm not a native speaker)... And should the leather be prepared in any way? Do the colors need dilluting? If so, with what? And if I DON'T want an even coat, but some shades? Still sooo many questions ...

[chadnorth]

I heard airbrushing the dye onto the leather will give you a uniform consistent spread. Of course you would need an airbrush, compressor for that to work. I have those since I used to airbrush back in the days. I think I just found an excuse to get back to airbrushing.... Hopefully someone here has used an airbrush and can pipe in if it works well with dyes.

[Alihs]

Yep, I concur, airbrushing works really well.

Been doing that for years now and works great.

Highly recommend it!

Kim

[jsb]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Only I don´t have airbrush equipment and to be honest, I´d rather learn how to do it the "traditional" way - but properly. Isn´t there one of the old hands that could tell me how to do it? Or does anybody know any video tutorial that can do the job?

Thanks again ...

[TwinOaks]

Dip dyeing is exactly what it sounds like. You dunk the piece of leather in a tub/bucket/tray of dye. You can also brush the dye onto the leather, or use daubers.

Take a look at Peter Main's website (search engine for it) and you can see what is possible.

However, the only way to get results like his requires a LOT of time. For lighter shades you can dilute the dye then slowly build the layers to get even transitions. I would like to offer the opinion, though, that the reason the 'traditional' methods were developed is because they didn't have access to the modern tools we have today. If you want to go with purely traditional methods...like the way it was originally done...you're stuck with oiled and sun tanned leather, some dyes made from bark and berries, and perhaps some made from animal by products. Just how far back do you want to go for "traditional"?

I've been using an airbrush for a couple of years now, and the results are well worth the initial expense (which is pretty small). You gain the ability to vary your shading from 'hint of color' to full saturation. You can mix your colors, fade from one to another like the 'sun burst' effect, pretty much whatever you want. You can also control it very well with a little practice, which results in a much more efficient use of the dyes. I also use my AB to apply finishes, which allows me to get a very even coat on everything, with no pooling or runs.

Lately there have been new products added to the list of available products for us. Just this week I stopped by a Tandy to take a look at the new "professional water stains". I'm using it on a project that I'm working on...now (happens to be in Black). My opinion of it? It's fantastic. It's certainly not a 'traditional' dye product, but it works better than the old standard 'USMC BLACK'. Within 20 minutes of applying it AND a sealer, I was assembling. No buffing, no touch ups, no rub off. I'm sold on it.

While the 'new' methods don't bend a knee to the 'traditional' methods, they work.

[Cyberthrasher]

I prefer to use an airbrush when possible, but I'm still not that good at doing detail work with it. So, I end up doing a lot of brush work as well. For me the key to using a brush is to follow Peter Main's tips on loading the brush. Dip it in your dilluted color and then wipe it off on a piece of paper to get the large quantities down. This will help to keep your application even. The same goes with the dauber. Just get the bulk of it off so it doesn't apply too much to the leather and then apply even and consistent pressure to the work. I also like to apply color to large areas by using a blue paper shop towel which gets an even coverage over a larger area. You can get a decent airbrush setup from harbor freight for under $100. They have small compressors that are frequently on sale and the Deluxe Airbrush is usually only about $30. You will need the hose too for $10 and some filters. I got all that and some quick disconnects for it for under $100.

[electrathon]

One more for dip dying. Fast, easy, consistant.