Need Help With Oil Dye! (Photos Attached)

[th961605]

Yesterday I applied two coats of Fiebings light brown oil dye--reduced with denatured alcohol at 1 to 1.5 ratio (dye to alcohol). It turned out beautiful on my practice scraps of the same leather, but very streaky on the piece (I'm making a travel bag btw). However, the same two coats look great on the straps from Springfield Leather (see below). The bag itself is leather from Tandy. I did wet form the bag and set in the sun for around 30 minutes, so I'm wondering if I underestimated how much this would dry out the bag? Does it simply need more coats? I did wet the piece before staining, but not heavily, and allowed to dry. Any and all help appreciated! Thanks!

http://tinypic.com/r/8z4tbd/8

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=6ztw1i&s=8

[stingray4540]

Do you have a sprayer?(paint gun, whatever you call it?)

You can get a cheap one at Harbor freight. That is what I use on anything that doesn't need more than one color. Perfectly even everytime.

Otherwise I have no advise. That's what my stuff looks like if I use a brush...

My only other thought would be to try to use a foam brush of equal or greater width than that strap.

Edited July 8, 2014 by stingray4540

[cgleathercraft]

could put a light coat of neatsfoot oil on the leather from tandy first and let it soak in for a while. looks like the leather is dry and is soaking up the dye faster than it can spread out. Applying dye in a circular motion instead of straight lines will also reduce the amount of streaks.

[th961605]

Thanks for the advice Stingray and Cg! I'm going to hold off on an airbrush, but I did order some neatsfoot oil to try. The straps are looking great, so I'm wondering if maybe Tandy's leather is just much dryer than the Springfield to begin with?

[cgleathercraft]

That has been my experience with leather from Tandy (dry). Ordered some belt blanks from Weaver and had no issues with them. I'm not sure what tannery they came from but they were higher quality. I have an airbrush and used it a couple of times. i was happy enough with the results just don't have the proper ventilation to use it regularly.

Make sure to practice on scrap first!

[Dan28]

Sounds a lot like my experience the past couple days with a bag I'm doing. Up until this all my dye jobs have been relatively small. I was using Feibings saddle tan oil dye and just kept jetting bad streaks. It was drying way to quickly. Eventually I got it to a point I could live with it and went to put Resolene on it and that just made it worse. My Saddle Tan dye was also coming out slightly red too. I eventually couldn't stand the streaks and went to town on it with Fiebings Deglazer, denatured alcohol, and acetone. Took a lot of "junk" off, soaked the pieces, let them dry a bit, but not bone dry and then put another couple coats of dye on. They pieces came out with an antiqued look. It wasn't what I was going for originally, but I kind of like it, though there is still a slight red tinge, maybe from some mink oil I had applied. Of course when I dyed the straps, they came out without issue and saddle tan. I mixed some Saddle tan dye with a little bit of mahogany dye to add a second coat to the straps to get them to match the rest and it got it close.

It was a learning process.

[Hi Im Joe]

Saddle Tan is rough man. It's by the far for me the hardest to get even. Especially if you are trying to get a light colored saddle tan. Most of the time I have to keep adding coats until it's pretty dark in order to get it even.

[electrathon]

I have had good results dip dying pieces. It is easier to cover large areas fast.

[DavidL]

your issue is your adding water before you dye the piece, water acts like a barrier that doesnt allow the dye to penetrate. You also may want to dump out your dye in an open container and have the cloth/ sponge(recommended) ready to rub into the leather. If you wait too long and allow the dye to soak in a single spot it won't blend in correctly when you try to put the next rub of dye in(sort of how painting a car you have to strip the entire paint off and do it consistently). I try to do it as fast as I can (but in the same motion) so that doesnt happen, the same goes with finishes like aussie or resolene.

A sponge that is saturated then dabbed on a separate piece of paper to remove excess helps to prevent one area to be darker than another. Finger prints also contain oils that could effect the dye, which probably isn't the case here.

[Dwight]

I have had good results dip dying pieces. It is easier to cover large areas fast.

We use different pans, . . . but the same process, . . . and yes, it does work.

May God bless,

Dwight