Does Leather Need To Be Sealed To Prevent Bleed?

[DavidL]

If i had regular veg tan, clean it with oxalic acid, oil with conditioner, dyed it light brown, buff the dye, add a conditioner again (neatsfoot) or some sort of fish oil, and then add waxes and hand burnish with box wood.

Would this prevent:

bleed off of the dye?(is resolene or a sealant important to prevent dye running off)

water resistance/ sweat

most importantly prevent most stains like, water or dirt.

1. Does a sealer like atom wax, or resolene cut 50/50 make a huge difference in bleed off? Im curious because in a short video of baker leather in england they only showed wax or what they call dubbin being added to the leather.

2.It would make sense that after a full day of dyeing and buffing the leather thoroughly that the dye won't bleed off once the the conditioner and waxes are introduced (no resolene). Will the dye reactivate after touching water, sweat, or conditioners?

Edited September 24, 2014 by DavidL

[Dwight]

In the "old" days, . . . bees wax and / or oil alone were the only things that could / were used on leather by the majority of makers. Bees wax and neatsfoot oil make a wonderful paste that I use by itself, . . . even with black, . . . had have had no real serious bleeding problems.

That is not to say it will never happen, . . . and I wouldn't wear that black belt for at least the first 10 times with a pair of white pants. But my "cowboy" holster is made that way, . . . no problems.

My "recipe" is a 50 / 50 mix of neatsfoot oil and virgin bees wax, . . . measured by weight, . . . boiled together in a jar suspended in a crock pot of hot water until it all liquifies, . . . pour it out in muffin papers, . . . use it like Kiwi shoe polish.

But if the item will allow it, . . . I prefer Resolene, . . . it is my first choice.

May God bless,

Dwight

[DavidL]

In the "old" days, . . . bees wax and / or oil alone were the only things that could / were used on leather by the majority of makers. Bees wax and neatsfoot oil make a wonderful paste that I use by itself, . . . even with black, . . . had have had no real serious bleeding problems.

That is not to say it will never happen, . . . and I wouldn't wear that black belt for at least the first 10 times with a pair of white pants. But my "cowboy" holster is made that way, . . . no problems.

My "recipe" is a 50 / 50 mix of neatsfoot oil and virgin bees wax, . . . measured by weight, . . . boiled together in a jar suspended in a crock pot of hot water until it all liquifies, . . . pour it out in muffin papers, . . . use it like Kiwi shoe polish.

But if the item will allow it, . . . I prefer Resolene, . . . it is my first choice.

May God bless,

Dwight

Thanks dwight. Always a great answer when I'm stumped.

If a customer that wanted water protection but not with the un- natural gloss of resolene what would you personally use to finish?

[Dwight]

Most likely the wax/oil, . . . but then again the answer is tainted as those are about the only two I use. Kind of an either/or situation.

I have used bag kote and don't really like it, . . . the spray stuff doesn't do it for me either, . . .

There really isn't anything that perfectly is water proof that I've found, . . . they all are "water resistant" to one degree or another. Both of these are pretty good.

May God bless,

Dwight