Dye And Finish A Simple Belt?

[cudofcow]

I'm wondering how i should be dying and finishing a simple everyday belt.

I notice that just about any dye i'm using tends to rub off onto my jeans, especially when I sweat, or if the belt gets wet. How can i avoid that?

I've been making my own belts for years now and some for friends. Nothing fancy, I've started using just regular belt blanks and putting on my own snaps, bevel the edges and punch the end, add a loop, put some holes on it and its ready for dying.

I've got Feibings Leather Dyes, and Eco-flo dyes. I usually dye, gum trag the edges, tan kote, or resoline, or i've even used acrylic floor polish. It doesnt seem to matter what i use, they all have seeped into my clothes in one way or another.

Am i doing it wrong?

Edited July 16, 2014 by cudofcow

[Dwight]

In a one word answer: yes, . . . you are doing something wrong if using resolene and you are still getting dye bleeding onto your clothing.

I have been making belts for over 5 years now, . . . only one ever bled, . . . it did not get Resolene, . . . the ones that did not bleed, . . . got Resolene.

I use a 1 inch bristle brush (Harbor Freight, . . . about 50 cents each), . . . I use Resolene at 50/50 strength with plain old tap water. I put a coat on the back, . . . brushing on product until I get a good lather, . . . brush out the bubbles, . . . left / right / up / down / left oblique / right oblique / repeat and continue until all bubbles are gone.

Turn it over and put a coat on the front, . . . same process.

Turn it back over again, . . . another coat, . . . once more, . . . do the front. You wind up with two coats on each side.

Hang by the buckle end, . . . handling by the edges as you hang it, . . . touch up those areas you touched.

Leave it for 24 hours, . . . it should NEVER allow dye to leach out again.

You will also need to form the buckle end, . . . doing the "fold over" while the belt is wet, . . . I do it usually after doing the back the first time.

A long time ago, . . . I lost track of how many belts I've done, . . . narrow, . . . wide, . . . natural, . . . browns, . . . blacks, . . . black cherry, . . . etc., . . . no bleeding with this process.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited July 17, 2014 by Dwight

[cudofcow]

When you say bristle brush, you mean one of these jobbies?

Edited July 17, 2014 by cudofcow

[Sona]

Well I ´ve made some belts, too and not a single one bled yet. Not even the ones that didn´t get a coat with resolene....

First thing: I simply only use Fiebings Prof. Oil dyes as I got a nicer colour with it and as they are not waterbased there should be less bleeding, rub off or anything else.
Second one: I let the dye set for at least one day/~24 hours and buff it like hell after that. If you won´t let it dry properly the resolene might catch some pigments laying on the surface which might put some colour on your clothes.
When you apply resolene I´d apply it in one very thin coat first cut 50/50 with water. Just enough to make it look wet and applied with as less strokes as possible (I use a cloth wrapped around a sponge) let it sit for about half an hour and then apply a second coat, which maybe a little thicker. So if there are any pigments left, they should be kept in the first coat, covered by the second. You may do that to the back as well, as you like. Than let it sit for another day.

When I make some brown or natural belts, I also like to use some sort of leather balm, made by one of my leather-supply-shops. It´s made from bees- and canaubawax and some sort of oils. Aplied quite thick and let it sit for some time like 15 minutes. It soaks in like hell. After that I rub the rest in with an old cloth, creating some heat to really work it in and let it sit for some hours. After that I just apply a second light coat, rubbing it in/polishing it the same way I did before. I wear a belt made like this for over two years right now and there was no bleeding at all... never... The nice thing about that belt is, that it gets some patina over time which is nice to look at and the surface. It creates a really polished look over time which increases the resistance against water plus it feels more like leather than resolene (actually I don´t like the touch of resolene... feels more like plastic than leather)
For the backside I normally use one coat of this product.

Besides that... I never (!) dye the back of a belt. The look won´t be as even and nice as the natural one, it soaks in a lot of dye and the chance of rubbing of is much higher... The only reason I´d do it would be when I dip dye the belt

[Dwight]

When you say bristle brush, you mean one of these jobbies?

Uhh, . . . no, . . . that is the one I use to apply contact cement or glue.

The bristle brush I use has a wooden handle, . . . is about 1 inch wide, . . . and the bristles are kinda yellowish / tan, . . . I buy em by the box

I was able to find it, . . . it is this one, . . . http://www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-chip-brush-39627.html

And I am fairly "picky" about how my belts look when they leave my shop. I have pulled out stitches for half a belt (42 inch belt at 5 stitches per inch is a bunch of stitches) because one was dropped and I didn't see it, . . . or I ran out of thread in my bobbin, . . .

I also dip dye my belts, . . . because mine aren't intended for the rose garden, . . . they are intended for the sheepdog guarding the rose garden, . . . carrying a full size 1911, two full mags, maybe a set of handcuffs, cell phone, and flashlight.

I want that belt to carry all of that, . . . keep his/her britches from falling down, . . . not scratch up and look like it came off Omaha beach, . . . and last longer than I will at almost 70.

I tried the dauber, . . . brush, . . . etc, . . . finally figured the best I could do for my customer was to dip dye them, . . . make it deep, . . . make it uniform, . . . and make it so if they order one for a buddy in 5 years, . . . it will be equal to the one they got back when.

My belts are stiff, . . . hard, . . . practical, . . . and i think they look pretty good too, . . . Feibings oil dye & Resolene are the products I use on the vast majority of my belts.

May God bless,

Dwight

[billybopp]

Just curious, has anybody ever tried dipping in resolene, or some other finish product ... Just the way you would dip dye?

Bill

[cudofcow]

How do you go about dip dying? lol, i'm such a noob. I have a ton of dyes, but i usually just brush them on with a dauber. I've dyed leather black with vinegaroon, its stinky but effective.

[StrigaMort]

Vinegaroon is nasty stuff! Sure does make an even black though, and no chance of rubbing off. Just be sure to neutralize in water and baking soda. Does cool shades of gray which are hard to come by.

Dip dye,from what I've read, is usually a bath of straight or diluted dye that you run the item through. I'd like to hear more about it though, especially about how to keep the mess to a minimum. An open bottle of dye is scary enough, a bucket or trough? Yikes.

[billybopp]

My best advice for dip dyeing is to do it outside if possible, and put down a big ol' sheet of plastic or a tarp to catch any drips or in case of a spill. If you have one, a silicone baking pan (which isn't very good for baking) works well since dye doesn't stick to it. It takes a lot of dye to fill even a relatively small container, so buy it by the quart unless you're going something really small. Have a place to hang the dyed piece over the container to catch the inevitable drip. Oh... And wear rubber gloves!!

Messy, maybe. Effective, heck yeah!

Bill

[Dwight]

First off, . . . for dip dyeing, . . . go someplace like Goodwill or Salvation Army, . . . buy several (at least 3) 9 x 14 (or so) oblong cake pans, . . . about 2 inches deep.

I use something between a pint and 3 cups when I am dyeing a project, . . . belt or holster.

Pour it in the pan, . . . and roll your object around in it if it is a holster, . . . belts I just snake through, . . . trying to allow about a 3 second amount of time that it is immersed. I then hold it level in my hands on one edge and watch it in the light to see that all the dye has soaked in, . . . belts get laid on a piece of cardboard on the BOTTOM edge, . . . just like it would be worn.

If you hang the dumb thing up by one end, . . . the dye will migrate and you will have a "dark to light" colored belt, . . . and you will not be happy.

i have a poly deep sink in my "backroom" over which I do my dyeing, . . . and it looks it. Various and sundry shades of black, brown, blue, red, and many others.

I have a large thick piece of cardboard that spans the sink, . . . the pan sits on it, . . . dyeing done, . . . excess gets poured back into the bottle via a funnel, . . . pan gets rinsed out with hot water, . . . everything then goes back up on the shelf.

Now if you really want to learn how to be careful doing this, . . . wear a real nice pair of $100 tennis shoes, . . . and your favorite light colored Tee shirt. Somewhere in the first few times you do this, . . . you will become fairly proficient, . . . or you will wear spotted clothing and spotted tennis shoes. I change shoes and put on a blue Navy work jacket as well as rubber gloves when i do this, . . . most of the time.

Since that room is off limits to everyone but my wife and myself, . . . she allows the sink to be "as is". But then again, . . . it is the home equivalent of the factory "slop sink".

As far as the question about dipping resolene, . . . my results when I have tried it were not satisfactory to me. It does put on a coat, . . . but it is too thin, . . . and will leave little runny patches, . . . looks ugly. I prefer to brush it on with a Harbor Freight, 1 inch, el cheapo bristle brush.

On the other hand though, . . . several on here and other sites will own up to dipping in a bucket of Mop and Glo. I believe the mix is 50/50, . . . but do a search on here for Mop and Glo, . . . you'll probably find it. Or, . . . send a PM to Katsass, . . . I know he does that.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited July 19, 2014 by Dwight

[cudofcow]

Dwight, i just want to say thanks for taking the time out of your day to answer my questions and that i really appreciate your insight and experiences. I'll have to hit up the local Tandy leather for some resoline, and lucky for me, there is a Harbor Freight nearly across the street from me. I'm going to try this method of dying this weekend.