Over Dyed, Is There A Fix?

[kayrunp]

I dyed a piece too dark with angelous dyes. Is there a way to lighten?

Thanks!

[Cyberthrasher]

Let it sit for a couple days and see if it mellows out. The dye will naturally lighten as it's absorbed into the leather.

[JustKate]

Angelus dyes are pretty intense. In most cases, I have to reduce them about 50%.

[kayrunp]

I did reduce by 50%. It has soaked in and is still too dark . Not sure what I can use to remove some of the dye. Alcohol? Acetone?

[Cyberthrasher]

If it's really soaked in, you're stuck with it. Try applying some neatsfoot oil to even it out some. This will darken if applied heavily, so go super easy and super light. Chances are there's not much you'll be able to do.

[JustKate]

Cyberthrasher is right. I've tried flushing the leather with just about every chemical known to man, and it doesn't come out, but you can sure trash the leather in no time. The only thing you can do to change it involves adding more color. Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight will cause it to fade over time, but that takes a while. Sorray... fwiw I too have felt that pain on more than one occasion.

Also - and I know this won't help you with your current problem - in the future, if it is still too dark after reducing 50%, there is no rule that says you can't just keep reducing it (or adding other colors to get different shades, for that matter) until it's the color you want.

[Cyberthrasher]

There is one time I was trying to remove some finish and used denatured alcohol. Ended up going through and removing dye in a way. I was actually removing the top layer of leather in the end. So, I ended up sanding the whole thing up, leaving some color here and there and calling it "road worn". Came out cool looking for what it was, but definitely not what I would call a good technique for lightening dye in any normal situation.