How To Calculate Amount Of Paint Needed For Acrylic Dye?

[HC009]

Hi all,

I can't find any way of working out how much acrylic dye I will need for 2 hides of leather - does anyone have any tips please?

[camano ridge]

1st off we need to make sure we are using correct terminology. To the best of my knoweledge acrylics are paints, they are usuaully used for decoration not to cover a whole hyde. When dying largge portions of leather the dye that is used is usually water or solvent based not acrylic. WHen you say 2 hides, the term Hide would tecnically mean the whole skin of the cow etc. Normally leather is bought by the side, shoulder etc. Yes the whole hide can be boughtalso. Just trying to clarify if you are indeed talking about a whole hide and if you are trying to paint or dye the hide?

[HC009]

I am talking about 2 shoulders of leather and I want to dye the whole thing a pale colour - pale blue. I have a fiebings acrylic dye in white and am mixing it with other acrylic paints to get a nice shade of blue. Am I doing something wrong. Because I need to dye the whole shoulder front and back and then obviously I will cut pieces out of it. I need to make the dyes custom made as the colours that are sold are not to my requirements.

[DavidL]

nothing is wrong with airbrushing leather or carefully painting leather, most people will use dye, but acrylics, the proper type, will be able to withstand years of wear.

Mixing dye and acrylics together may be an issue, so it should be tested on a small area first. If only mixing acrylics then something like angelus acrylics will hold well vs store brand discount acrylics. Angelus has several different shades of colours and can be tinted with white or black like you suggested.

[HC009]

Hi, thanks so it is ok what I am doing - if there was a better way I would like to know. I am also using angelus paint they are nice and matte.

[DavidL]

airbrush would work best, anything like a badger 250 airbrush ($25) using the aircan provided with the airbrush is a better option then hand painting the entire hide with a brush. Try thinning out the paint with water until its consistency is like milk and fire it through the airbrush allowing 3 light passes, from there seal with resolene using the airbrush. By brush you need to do the wash technique and need some degree of skill to pull off a flawless even coverage.

For more info search on youtube for airbrushing for beginners. If your interested in more high end airbrushes for artwork too, a paasche talon is good for the money ($78), paasche h or vl (38-60) or a bit higher in price is an iwata th trigger action (110) which I have been eyeing for a while now. There is also another called mr.hobby with trigger action (100).

I would recommend a paasche if your willing to spend more than the badger 250 as they are made in USA. Do remember that you need a compressor ($50-100).

[HC009]

Thanks so much for your reply. That's a real help as I was wondering about airbrushing the leather before. I shall check out the makes you talk about. Do you think that painting it is a really bad idea then? I mean I was thinking it's the best bet as how many coats of airbrushing will a hide need? Hey, noone has answered my question yet HOW MUCH PAINT DO YOU USE TO COVER A SHOULDER OR RATHER HOW MANY ML'S OF PAINT PER SQUARE METRE?

[DavidL]

I really don't know to be honest the exact amount, but the ball park would be roughly the same amount of as it takes to dye leather. With the airbrush you could probably do 20 sq feet with less than it is for dyes because the airbrush puts out a thin coat.

My advice is to buy the larger angelus paint bottles and then you won't have to worry about how much paint to use. I presume your using the small bottles of angelus paint and one bottle is on the border of painting 2 shoulders with an airbrush, with a brush not likely . For long term using a cheap airbrush with a cheap compressor can save you on the amount of paint you are putting out and will have a pay off in time and eventually costs of paint overtime.

[Spinner]

Keep in mind, acrylic paints will not penetrate the leather and can not be tooled through so painting should be the last step, not the first. If you paint it and then cut the parts out a) you will have a ton of waste the edges of the cuts are likely to crack and possibly peel at the cut lines as it will have no adherance at the sides. Simply spraying another coat to the side edges after will not correct this.

Coloring in this method is be faster, more cost effective and have better longevity if you cut the parts out first then airbrush them separately.

[HC009]

Thank you David and Spinner you are a genius - I know how to do it now! - cut out the bits first THEN spray them. Definitely going to get this spray gun now and learn how to use it. Many thanks.