Fiebings Tan Dye

[jpowell1989]

Bought the Tan leather dye by Fiebing's but it looks way darker than it should. I'm ok with the color but was expecting something lighter. Do I need to continue to buff the hell out of it? Or did I apply too much dye?

[electrathon]

dilute it with alcohol

[jpowell1989]

should i apply it straight to the leather with a cloth?

[electrathon]

I either dip dye things or apply the dye with a piece of sheepskin. I almost always need to dilute it or it will be way dark. Wear gloves.

[jpowell1989]

ok i'll give alcohol a try. I'm just hoping it will not make it splotchy.

[whipstitchwallets]

I use fiebing's tan dye non-diluted all the time, and even after I apply mink oil it isn't that dark. I dip dye and wipe off the excess. Has that item dried for 24 hours?

[jpowell1989]

it has not.

[Chief31794]

I dilute all feibings dyes at least 1:1 some even more except Pro Oil Black, that I leave undiluted. I have cut Medium Brown 10:1 with the 10 being the alcohol, but that was for a particular look. Most of them work and look really nice at 1:1 or 2:1 and it makes the dye more economical. I think that diluting them at least 1:1 makes them penetrate the leather better, but I have no scientific proof of that.

Chief

[snubbyfan]

Give it some time to dry, it should lighten up a bit with time.

The holsters were dyed straight from the bottle and the sheath was diluted.

These two holster were dyed from the same bottle of saddle tan. They're made from two different hunks of leather.

[Jaymack]

I dilute Fiebings tan dye 2:1, and 4:1 when I'm applying antique on top of it.