Dye - Feibings Vs Eco Flo

[jeremyqmartin]

Hello, I'm a noob who wants to make a satchel. I got a quarter shoulder hide and some soft pigskin for lining. I still need the basic tools.

I have some black Feibings dye that I used on some suspender button attachments for pants. I also got some coffee color Eco Flo from Tandy.

What's the main difference in these brands?

[glockanator]

I have only used eco floonce and then threw it away. I use only fiebings dye. Some have trouble with the USMC black wanting to rub off onto clothing but I have found that if you dye then buff the hell out of it and then seal you won't have any problems.

[jeremyqmartin]

Thanks, I think I read Fiebings is alcohol and Eco-flo is water based?

I tried them both on a test piece of the thick shoulder an the Fiebings soaked right in but the Eco just kinda smeared around, I wasn't sure it absorbed until I wiped it off.

[electrathon]

Thanks, I think I read Fiebings is alcohol and Eco-flo is water based?

I tried them both on a test piece of the thick shoulder an the Fiebings soaked right in but the Eco just kinda smeared around, I wasn't sure it absorbed until I wiped it off.

I think you nailed the differance. Fiebings soaks in and EcoFlo sits on the surface. The differance will really show in a year when it starts to wear.

Aaron

[Studio-N]

Fiebings = works. Eco-Foo-Foo = crap.

nuf said.

[jeremyqmartin]

Thanks again. Another thing is I applied Eco-Flo Satin Sheen sealer to both dyed sections of the test piece.

After it dried, the part with the Fiebings would crack like crazy if I bent it. The actual leather would crack. The section with the Eco dye seemed ok, still flexible

[NVLeatherWorx]

Never heard of the Eco-Flo acrylic causing that issue with cracking but if you use Fiebing's, and I highly recommend that you do, then you need to use the Acrylic Resolene that they make as the finish. It is a much better product and does not create any issues. Might I also highly suggest that prior to any dyeing/staining, etc. that you first replenish the lost oils from the casing and stamping/tooling processes by applying a good coating of Neetsfoot Oil and letting it penetrate (dry) overnight. Does wonders to the leather.

[Matt S]

Being alcohol-based you need to oil your leather after Fiebings dries; the alcohol destroys much of the grease added by the tanner, which stops cracking.

[ReneeCanady]

My two cents.....I have only been leather working about a year and Tandy pretty much talked me into the Eco Flo. I have used it since. However, I have noticed things like cell phone cases and certain belts I have made are now fading really fast. I don't care what anyone says about antique gel LOL I actually use the med brown gel as my dye and it holds up nicely and is the BEST shade of brown to my liking. I have been curious to try the fiebings for a while now so I tried it the other day. I was very impressed at how it actually soaked INTO the leather which is not something I was used to seeing. I think that once I figure out the process of making the mixute of dye vs alcohol to make it to color I want, I will be in love with the fiebings as well as the gel.

[Cyberthrasher]

I think that once I figure out the process of making the mixute of dye vs alcohol to make it to color I want, I will be in love with the fiebings as well as the gel.

Just holler

[jrny4wrd]

I had many problems with eco-flo but that is what I was introduced to, being new. After a while I decided to go with fiebings. Finally, I figured out a little something. Tandy's sample pack of eco-flo is not the professional grade. That makes a huge difference. You hould dampen the leather b4 using the pro. eco-flo so that it will penetrate further. That is something that took over a year to figer out because Tandy simply couldn't answer why the dye kept coming off so easy. well one out of 6 people I talked to told me. The sample is crap and more for indoors. One thing I don't get is if you were a business, wouldn't you want to have samples as good as it gets? Same with sales. Thats how they get rid of their crappy stuff. I would think they would want to use sales and samples to get business and people trying new things, not to ruin their rep.

[jeremyqmartin]

Update: I have realize that the brown Eco-Flo in question that I used was actually Hi-Lite, not the dye!

I used it on my first quick project, an iphone 5 case, and I got a nice dark coat that kept coming off when I rubbed on the Satin Sheen. I was an UGLY faded brown and you could see the HIDEOUS water stains from where I molded the sides. I followed Ian Atkinson's Iphone 4 case tutorial on Youtube. I used WAY more water than he did, I got it all up on the front face of the case. I probly shoulda soaked the whole thing.

Anyway, I tried using rubbing alcohol to strip it down some and then I used my black fiebings LeatherColors (the politically correct Low VOC CA dye). It looks better, kinda blotchy though and some of the brown shows through in small areas.

[SooperJake]

keep in mind there are more than one "Fiebing's", and they are different.

[mrdabeetle]

I have had a lot of problems with Eco-Flo dyes and stains recently. I don't think they have a very strict quality control. Sometimes the colors are vastly different between bottles. I got a bottle that was like jell-o inside. I diluted it and used it anyway because I was in a rush. I had to eat the cost of materials and start over. On the other hand, when the batch is good, I get great results. I absolutely despise the Eco-Flo Professional edge dressing. I get better looking results with a Sharpie marker.

[jeremyqmartin]

Here is the project on which I used the Eco-Flo Hi-Lite. My first real project. (Before this I had made some black button attachments for a pair of suspenders. I also replaced a couple loops on a cheap beg for my wife. Both of these were with scrap leather)

I rushed this iPhone case cuz I was excited to get something done. My dream project is a satchel/briefcase. On the iphone case, you can see the water stain on front, also how most of the Hi-Lite rubbed off when I applied the Satin Sheen. I put Fiebings Black LeatherColors on the sides and burnished with the satin sheen.

Since then I rubbed it with rubbing alcohol to strip it a bit and put the black fiebings on instead. I need to upload those pics.

[mrdabeetle]

Hi-lite is supposed to sit in the crevices and the rest rubbed off only leaving a faint impression of the color. It looks as though it is doing what is intended.

[jeremyqmartin]

Yeah, I just didn't know that when I grabbed the bottle. I was looking for Fiebing's but since Tandy stopped selling it I just grabbed a bottle that said "coffee brown" cuz that sounded like the color I wanted, haha.

[Sjohnsone]

I think i might be the only person on here that likes the result of the splotchy eco flo compared to fiebings solid wall of color. I feel like the texture of the leather is allowed to show off with a light eco coat.

[Ulfberht Leather Works]

Newb and my input here is only about ten cuff bracelets worth of experience. Feibings has a spirit based application and an oil based application. I have not yet used their oil based but have read that many prefer it over the alcohol/spirit based dye.

The spirit based dye WILL dry out your leather and make it rock hard if left long enough between projects or depenging on the amount of dye that you used. I have a couple pieces which I had to lay out and little by little re-apply oils to soak in. No Bueno, a time and results killer!

IF however, you dye them and oil them lightly immediately after you can keep them flexible and soft. I have not tried neetsfoot beforehand but will definitely do that ASAP.

Eco-Flow...... unless my results change when finishing up this bottle I plan never to use it again! I used it on one application and absolutely loved the color and way that it kept the leather soft and supple. However, it just keeps rubbing off, even after trying to seal it with a bees wax blend that I made. Reading that it fades in the near future I will stick with Feibings!

Side question for anyone here: Is there a good recipe for homemade sealer or way to seal these finishes with standard store bought products? I like the natural finish and do not want a high gloss shine.

[MadMorbius]

Standard eco-flow stains; tried to use it once...it beaded on the leather and ######ed up my project. Threw it in the garbage. I now use the Professional Waterstain almost exclusively, the best stain product I've ever used.

[cjdevito]

+1 on the eco-flo pro line. Much better than the rest of tandy's dye/stain line, easy to work with on my dining room table without having to worry about ventilation or clean up, and by far the best black dye I've used so far.

[prc77ro]

dI use mainly Angelus Dyes they work well for me. If the Hi-Liter is water based then more than likely that's why it came off, especially if you didn't allow enough time for it to dry. AS Coloring Leather is a great book for dyes, and acrylic dyes and I was wondering if anyone has tried dyeing their piece brown or blue before using the USMC black to get less rub off?

Oh one more thing, Neatsfoot oil darkens leather, like really dark if you put too much on. So if you don't mind your dye job being dark then use it, but I use Lexol because it doesn't darken the leather, before and after dyeing.

Edited January 24, 2014 by prc77ro

[tiggertlee]

dI use mainly Angelus Dyes they work well for me. If the Hi-Liter is water based then more than likely that's why it came off, especially if you didn't allow enough time for it to dry. AS Coloring Leather is a great book for dyes, and acrylic dyes and I was wondering if anyone has tried dyeing their piece brown or blue before using the USMC black to get less rub off?

Oh one more thing, Neatsfoot oil darkens leather, like really dark if you put too much on. So if you don't mind your dye job being dark then use it, but I use Lexol because it doesn't darken the leather, before and after dyeing.

I'm a total noob here, so take this with a grain of salt, but I used the USMC black recently in an experiment mixed with Lexol. First quick coat was raw USMC black just to get full coverage. Second coat was Lexol/USMC mixed well together (about 10 drops Lexol plus 5 drops USMC). Daubered it on right on top of the first coat. Let is soak in for 10-15 min and a quick buff and after the initial buff there is no black coming off, great looking black too.

[Cyberthrasher]

Newb and my input here is only about ten cuff bracelets worth of experience. Feibings has a spirit based application and an oil based application. I have not yet used their oil based but have read that many prefer it over the alcohol/spirit based dye.

Slight correction here. BOTH Fiebing's dyes are alcohol based. The "Pro Oil" is an alcohol based dye designed for use with oiled leathers. Rub it with some light oil before you dye (or after) and you're set.

[Ulfberht Leather Works]

Slight correction here. BOTH Fiebing's dyes are alcohol based. The "Pro Oil" is an alcohol based dye designed for use with oiled leathers. Rub it with some light oil before you dye (or after) and you're set.

I just realized that the other day. Thanks for the heads up man, still learning here. Started oiling right after I dye and have not tried to oil before. Experiencing all of this has me wanting to try vinegroon for black. Gonna give that a go here soon.