Suede - Stop The Bleeding

[Matt Alsaker]

I've never used suede before, but chose to use it inside of a recent badge wallet. All of the veg-tanned leather used inside the wallet was sealed, but I didn't do anything to seal the suede. Within two days I was getting "bleeding" from the suede onto the veg-tanned surfaces. Is there something I can use on the suede to prevent this? Will the spray sealer used on suede shoes work?

[goldenstonebazaar]

No personal experience, but I have seen at Springfield Leather spray for protecting suede from moisture, maybe it could work for keeping the dye in too.

[BigJake]

Matt, I don't have an answer for your problem. I posted a similar question here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=40124&hl= and so far none of the suggestions have worked. None of the suedes I have tried seem to have the dye "fixed" and are prone to bleed. It could be the suede in question is cheap but I tend to believe it's just the nature of suede. Some colors may be more prone than others since the ones I've used for my testing are in the brown to rust colors.

In addition to the suggestions from my previous post, I've tried hair spray and one coat of Resolene with no succes. Resolene may work if applied in three or four coats which would make the suede totally stiff.

If anyone has a solution, I'd sure like to hear it.

[TwinOaks]

Suede is typically analine tanned, and is struck (drum dyed) during the process. There are some specific dyes for suede, but on most of my dyes, I've seen the little warning " not for use on suede leathers".

[BigJake]

I remember back in the late 50's when blue suede shoes were popular, I managed to talk my parents into buy me a pair of Blue suede loafers. Of course I wore white socks which was the rage back then and I still remember my Mom complaining about the dye bleed on my socks and she had a difficult time trying to cleam my socks. Needless to say I only oned one pair of suede shoes.

I had hoped that the dying process had improved somewhat since then, but I guess not. Suede will just transfer, nothing one can do about it so I just learn to live with it or go to pigskin, or deerskin in natural colors.

[Matt Alsaker]

Thanks for all the input. I've settled on dyeing the veg-tanned leather on the inside of the wallet black, so you don't notice any dye transfer. I tried using the spray you can get to seal suede shoes. It did not work.

[BigJake]

Matt,

I understand your frustration but since I have posted this very question on this forum before with very limited response, I have to assume no one has the answer and it's just the characteristic of suede and we will just have to learn to live with it. I've been think about trying pigskin or deerskin with the flesh side out in natural colors. I have not seen suede in natural color but it may be available and if I could fine it I'd try dying it myself using Feibings Oil Dye. I guess this will be an on-going experiment searching for the solution. If you find a solution please post on the forum for the benefit of everyone else with the same problem.

[RLdave]

OK, with all the views on this topic there seems to be an inherent problem with factory dyed suede. Is there no way to stop the color from transfering to items, clothing & such?

For as long as suede has been around I would think that the coloring process would have been mastered by now.

I hope somebody has found a working solution for this problem because I sure would love to hear it.

Thank you!

[traice]

I am no a leather worker , but I've recently bought a vintage pair of kidskin suede opera gloves. Very delicate and lovely , but they are black and bleed badly.I found a suggested fix in a German article from the 30's on glove care , but I am reluctant to try it on an item this nice without testing it first. If someone in this forum has some scrap suede to test on i would be so very greatfull . The article said to soak them briefly in a gasoline bath then  put them on a towel and fold over the top and press them until the gasoline is removed and then let dry and treat as desired. I would appreciate any help in testing this idea and any information from  anyone who has experience with using gasoline on leather. 

[NVLeatherWorx]

The gasoline will never be truly out of the leather, it is like any other petroleum based product, once it is there it ain't goin' anywhere else.  Another side effect from using gasoline is that the other chemicals contained in the formula will dry the leather out to a point where the amount of conditioning you would need to replenish the leather would make it unusable for anything.  Sorry.  Suede has always, and will always, have the inherent issue of not holding all of the color that has been infused into it during the dyeing process.  Over time it will release that amount which has never really taken hold and it will eventually quit leaving residual dye behind.  Going forward, I would recommend that you use a thin pigskin lining as your liner of choice and make sure that the grain side is faced out (just like your base leather is).  There are several options for pigskin which include dyed as well as veg-tan (I use the veg-tan and dye it whatever color I want) that can help you with this.  By merely dyeing the flesh of the leather you might find that it too will bleed some if the flesh side has a little more fuzzy suede looking appearance than normal, the fuzzy fiber structure is the cause of this issue as there is only so much space for the dye to soak into and once it is full it has nowhere else to go.