A Little Guidance With Dying Leather

[thekid77]

I have been working on some small wallet pieces, dyeing in two different colours (Fiebings USMC black and oxblood for different wallets) however, I have seen an inconsistency where the oxblood dye completely obsorbed, looks incredible and doesn't come off on my rag what so ever when I buff it. However, the black seemed to dry on top of the leather and comes off to a great extent onto my rag and I can see some of the original leather colour through the dye. I am going to attempt a second coat tomorrow morning to see if I can get the black to hold a consistent colouring, However I just wanted to ask and ensure this is a normal occurance.

P.S. I simply dampened the leather and then applied the dye with a sponge. I have heard about watering down the dye but was just keeping it simple for this test.

I was having similar problems with black dye as well...I was using the Tandy Eco-Flo Coal Black....here is something that worked for me:

Dye the leather black, then while still wet, buff a thin coat of neatfoot oil onto the leather. Allow it to dry and add a second coat of dye if necessary, again buffing with a thin coat of neatsfoot oil. Once the project is dry, buff with a microfiber cloth.

I found that when I applied the finish (resolene cut 50/50 with distilled water), I would get a lot of black dye lifting off. So here's what I did...

Take an old piece of cotton shirt, fold it up into a square, and tip the bottle of resolene onto it. Then, tip your bottle of black dye over that (so there is resolene and black dye in the same spot. The key to application is building up thin coats of resolene with the black dye mixed in (you can blot or swipe the shirt on a piece of scrap paper). As the resolene cures, it will freeze the black dye where it's at. There will be some dye lift, but that is where building up the coats of resolene+black dye comes in to play. When the resolene cures, the grain side of your piece will be completely waterproof, and no black dye will come off at all...

Incidentally, I discovered a youtube video which gives some tips and even pointed to the existence of a "black resolene" which is probably just resolene cut with black dye...this is not the gospel, just what worked for me...in leatherworking there are so many ways to skin a cat...

Good Luck!!!

[r lenna]

I like to use Fiebings Oil dye. You want to wait until the piece is dry. I then give it a coat of Neatsfoot oil then dye the part. The oil helps to even the dye. Rob