Simeon54 Report post Posted April 30, 2015 Hi all, I'm new here and new to working with veg tanned leather. I'm making some experiment with a piece of hide I was given, which means I don't know it's provenance, nor if it was treated with something previously. I have been doing some dye tests on it, and they look good. However, when I use Fiebings dye prep it seems to stain the leather somehow. Does anyone know why this might be? Please see images. I managed to spill some of the dye prep, which is what caused the largish splodge in the centre and also it drip down the bottle which I place on the leather and caused that dark square stain (yes, I know, VERY shoddy behaviour!) However, the more even staining is just caused by my wiping the dye prep over the hide with a cloth. I tried to find some Oxalic acid to clean with that, but failed (in the UK in my town). I'm back in the Netherlands so will look there for some. Many thanks in advance for any help. Simeon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gump Report post Posted April 30, 2015 I have tried to use Fiebings no.5 dye prep, and had terrible results also. It caused the dye to go all blotchy and not absorb at all in some places. The bottle doesn't say which type of dye it is for, and I use pro oil dye and spirit based dye and it doesn't work worth a damn. The ammonia smell is awful too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
club49 Report post Posted June 29, 2016 Wow, that doesn't look good. I also tried the dye prep. It made my leather a shade darker then without the prep. Otherwise I didn't see any difference. I don't know how big a piece of leather you are working with. Try putting prep. on your whole piece, brush it in with a small brush, wipe off excess and dye while it is still wet with the prep. I wouldn't do it with a large piece of leather, I wouldn't take the chance. I only used it on belts. I called Fiebings, they told me to dye while it was still wet. If you put the prep. down and let it dry, that might be the problem.Good luck, do a test piece. Jim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Simeon54 Report post Posted July 31, 2016 Thanks for getting back to me, club 49. I just stopped using it. I wipe a piece over with Oxalic acid, to clean, then dye straight after. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
