Resolene Will Not Bond To A Certain Area Of The Leather At All...please Help

[billybopp]

Grizz may well be right. I recently ran into a problem with a piece of leather when dying it. The dye was reasonably nice and even for most of the surface, except for an area that looked for all the world as though somebody had wiped something off of the leather with a rag. Which is probably exactly what happened at the store before I bought the stuff.

Bill

[chiefjason]

Interesting idea Bob, I just don't have a penny to spare to experiment right now so i just tossed the piece in the scrap pile...it's a mystery...

If you have any rubbing alcohol give it a try. Nothing to loose. I use denatured alcohol to clean stuff off, a bit stronger. Stronger still would be acetone, i.e. fingernail polish remover. I have a love hate relationship with acrylic finishes.

[thekid77]

maybe something got on it before you purchased it, then just cleaned up so it wouldn't be noticed ???? anything possible I guess. but you did the right thing. toss it and start over !

maybe, I have no idea...I hope I never get a similar piece of leather again :/

Grizz may well be right. I recently ran into a problem with a piece of leather when dying it. The dye was reasonably nice and even for most of the surface, except for an area that looked for all the world as though somebody had wiped something off of the leather with a rag. Which is probably exactly what happened at the store before I bought the stuff.

Bill

Yeah if this is the case, whatever was on there did not leave any visible trace...

If you have any rubbing alcohol give it a try. Nothing to loose. I use denatured alcohol to clean stuff off, a bit stronger. Stronger still would be acetone, i.e. fingernail polish remover. I have a love hate relationship with acrylic finishes.

I alcoholed the daylights out of it, let it dry, and still the same problem. It will absolutely not take the resolene.

I wonder if there might be fat depositis in certain hides that prevent resolene from bonding???

[WyomingSlick]

I appreciate that you are trying to determine what went wrong here. The answers above about simply chucking the piece are worthless. Like the old Roman said, Those who do not learn from their mistakes, are bound to repeat them." Learning from your mistakes and shortcomings, and striving to improve, are not only important in becoming a better leather craftsman, it is an attitude that will serve you well in all aspects of life.

You say that the "spot" did not take the resolene. Are you judging that strictly by the final appearance? Resolene is supposed to be a more or less waterproof finish. Did you test to see if the area was waterproof afterward? Or scrape the surface to see if there actually was resolene on it?

If there actually was no resolene deposited; then it seems likely that there was something already on the leather that prevented the resolene from adhering to the leather. From the looks of it, the area is on the edge, so it should extend into the piece that you cut your part from. Have you taken a good look at that piece? Anything on it? Does part of it look differant from the rest?

If you determine that there actually is a resolene coating on the "lack luster" area, then you are looking at either an application problem, or, a problem inherant in the leather itself. Leather, being a natural byproduct from an animal, is not a totally uniform and consistant material. Which is exactly why leather is selected and graded for quality. It is possible that there was a blemish there due to the animal suffering an abrasion or burn there which resulted in an area differing in pore structure and/or surface texture. Such a fault may result in an area that does not look the same with finish due to differances in refraction and reflection, much the same way that a rough board will not exhibit the same final appearance as a finely sanded/scraped board, when both are varnished the same,

You may even want to repeat your dyeing and finishing steps on the leather scrap that was adjacent to the bad area, and see what you can learn from that.

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