Cleaning/prepping Leather Before Dyeing. (Knife Sheath)

[theonechrissharpe]

Hey everyone.

I am in the midst of making my first sheath, and finished wet forming it last night. After following certain videos and such, when using the butt end of my burnishing tool to help with moulding and pushing in the edges of the leather around the knife handle it almost looks like there is light dark streaks as if the leather is now dirty...

Will this show up when I dye the leather in the next stage, or should I do something to correct this.

And my tool was not dirty if anyone asks. It's brand new.

Thanks in advance.

[Scorpion Wood]

You inadvertently "tooled" the leather during forming with your tool. As to whether it will show up after dyeing really depends on the color you use. Darker hues most likely not.

[theonechrissharpe]

Hey scorpion.

Thanks for the quick reply. I was planning on dyeing dark brown.

[chiefjason]

If you want to try cleaning it use denatured alcohol. Similar to commercial de glazers. But yeah, sounds like you burnished it a bit. If that's the case it's now know professionally as "character". Leather has to have some character to it.

Edited October 17, 2014 by chiefjason