How To Brighten Up A Dyed Finish?

[NorrinRadd]

Hi everyone! I hope someone can shed some light on an issue I've found:)

basically , Is there any way to make dye ( I use fieblings spirit) stand out more? For example, I've got red, and purple dyes, but once applies they are both quite dark, Is there anything you use on leather like a primer? To get a brighter finish? I ask because I've been asked to make a plaque, and it will need some very light, bright green, and before I go and buy some green I'd like to know if there is anything else I'll need.

I've tried looking around but keep hitting a brick wall, Thanks for reading!

Edit: Just noticed this double posted, Not sure why, Sorry about that.

Edited July 21, 2014 by NorrinRadd

[dkbutcher]

I'll try to answer to the best of my (very limited) knowledge...

Dye is not paint, it is soaked into the leather and I would guess that is why most colors get dark when you put them on the leather. You can't do any sort of primer with dye because it is a dye and not paint... so why not use paint instead of dye? There are acrylic (I think) leather paints that you could use instead of dye or you can use paint in spots that you need it. Look at the firefighter helmet shields for examples.

Someone might know of a way to make dyes pop out but I don't know how. If I was doing it I would use paint in the areas that you need the bright colors but then you would also need to work at getting it to look good with the other dyed areas.

Dave

[NorrinRadd]

Thanks for your response:) I do use acrylic paints normally, but I feel like once you use them, as they sit on the leather, rather than in it, You sort of lose the grain of the leather, And the piece I'm doing with have the majority of it as light green, so I wouldn't want it to lose all of that leather feel, Ofcourse There might be other finishes/acrylics that are better than the ones I use, I've not used any specific to leather, maybe I should^^

[anhurset]

If your acrylics are sitting on the surface and obscuring the grain then you're either not thinning them, or not thinning them enough. You should by thinning your acrylics roughly 1:1 with water. Feibings dyes can also be thinned (with denatured alchohol) to lighten/brighten them up.

[billybopp]

Leather dyes straight from the bottle are pretty strong stuff. You can get better control of them, and somewhat brighter shades, by diluting them and then building up color in layers. Fiebings dye reducer does a great job, and I've read that you can use denatured alcohol to dilute as well but haven't yet tried it myself. My greens are mostly on leaves, where I use a heavily diluted yellow first (something like 10:1) with diluted green (about 3:1) on top of it and get some pretty nice colors that way atop veg tanned leather. "Painting" with dye is much like working with watercolors in that it's built up in layers and is never opaque, so underlying colors will show through and change the colors with overlying layers. Used the right way, it makes for some very nice stuff!

You'll not get the really brilliant colors with dye that you can with acrylic. Dye simply has a different look and seems always to be a bit more muted, but you can do pretty well with it and keep the look of leather. Since dyes penetrate, they are always the choice for anything that might see hard use. Surface scratches are not so much a problem. Acrylics can be easily damaged since they mostly lie on the surface, but give brilliant colors.

Bill

[NorrinRadd]

Anhurset: I've never thinned them down, I didn't even think of that, Thanks, I'll give that a try out!

Billybopp: Thanks for your post too, I do thin down my dyes with isopropyl, I have too really or it doesn't give the result I want, and I'd rather go for several layers to gradually approach the color I want^^

I'm still pretty new so it's nice learning new things:)

[DavidL]

Also try oxalic acid or lemon juice to whiten the leather first then apply dye. Same technique artist use, painting a light colour first then paint over with the darker colours. Helpful for troublesome colours like red or yellow

If your acrylics are sitting on the surface and obscuring the grain then you're either not thinning them, or not thinning them enough. You should by thinning your acrylics roughly 1:1 with water. Feibings dyes can also be thinned (with denatured alchohol) to lighten/brighten them up.

Would acrylics, if done correctly be permanent and not scratch off even in things like wallets where there is a lot of stress.

[Hi Im Joe]

Also try oxalic acid or lemon juice to whiten the leather first then apply dye. Same technique artist use, painting a light colour first then paint over with the darker colours. Helpful for troublesome colours like red or yellow

I never thought to try that! Great idea.

[anhurset]

I've seen carved and painted wallets from the 70s which were used until they died, the paint was faded but still there. That doesn't mean it will hold true for all painted eliments on wallets, you're dealing with a mountain of variables.

[whipstitchwallets]

I use Fiebing spirit dyes also. When I want a lighter color I just apply water with a sponge to the leather before dying. The lighter I want the color, the more water I apply to the leather. I get a more even color too

[Bob Blea]

My wife has a small wallet she made that has a carved butterfly on one side that she painted with acrylic paints. It has survived several years of use in a hip pocket and two trips through the washing machine, and the paint is still intact. It's just needed some oiling after the washing to get it back to useable condition.

[NorrinRadd]

Is acrylic paint the same normally across the board? the Acrylic I have is left over from doing little models, so it's not specific for leather, do you guys use any particular brand?

[DavidL]

Angelus paints is hands down the best acrylic paints with custom shoe painters using it as a standard.

[Colt W Knight]

I had a wallet painted with Acrylic my grand dad gave me, and the leather on the corners wore out. The paint was still going strong.