Dyeing Scuffed Leather?

[needles]

Hi guys

how can you stop the scuffed bit of leather soaking up more dye than the surrounding un-scuffed leather...... as you know, scuffed leather soaks up more dye, more readily than leather in good condition, so was wondering does anyone know of a way to still use the scuffed stuff and being able to get a reasonably even coar of dye on it?//

if that makes sense

thanks

al

[Bob Blea]

Hi Al,

I think that is a tough one, and based on the fact nobody else is answering I'm assuming there isn't a good answer here. It the leather is truly scratched so the grain surface is broken a bit, that is probably opening it up to allow more dye to penetrate. I can't think of a good way to stop that without using something to stop up the 'broken' surface (like a resist) but then you would have the opposite problem.

You might try applying the dye in that area with a brush and applying in light thin coats. That might give you enough control to make the area look even. I've seen light dye coats used to make very subtle color gradients in leather, so I think it might work with some practice and luck, but I haven't tried it myself.

Bob