Veg Tanned Leather Changing Colour In The Sun..

[276ccm]

After moving from the cold north of Norway to the Barcelona sun in Spain, I have experienced a little "problem".

The veg tanned leather taking a lot more effect of the sun I´m used too. How do you guys prepare the leather after tooling it, so the sun won't continue to make it much darker, more fast than it needs too.. any tips for this?

Adding a picture of a little test piece which shows the leather two days in the sun.. the light part was covered with a little box.

[DoubleC]

I've had the same thing happen here in VT over a longer period. Spain must have a lot of sun Best you can do to save this piece is lay it out in the sun and shade the darker pert, maybe with painter tape and let the rest catch up. I don't know of anything that will stop the sun from tanning leather. Maybe someone else will. Cheryl

[276ccm]

Thanks for tips Cheryl, but this is just a piece of scrap leather to test how the sun will affect the veg tanned leather.

I´m going to put it some more days in the sun with the same box over it, to see how dark it´ll get, or if it will only get more and more dark. I was most interested in finding a way to stop the darkening process.. I´m more concerned with the finished and tooled seats I´m in the process of making.

Marius

[Red Bear Haraldsson]

I do not believe there is any way to stop it. I've never seen leather 'tan' the same way twice. I believe you'll play merry hell trying to match those two lines together. There are just too many variables. I've watched one piece turn a fabulous nut brown (everyone has that ONE friend whose skin just tans beautifully (My Daughter)) and watched another piece off the same hide turn into that color reminiscent of the redhead who /tries/ to tan (Me.)

I wish you the best, but I do not believe you're going to get repeatable results.

[276ccm]

Thanks Red Bear :-)

I would never trying to match those lines hehe

Will the leather turn more and more dark, and black on the end for just staying in the sun? Or does the process more or less stop..

I´ve made some seats that in some years turned almost black, for the grease, sun, rain and dirt.. but it took some years. I´m afraid the seats will turn more or less black within some weeks under the Spanish sun for few months in use.. I guess in that case I have to ask customers to cover their seats in plastic when not used.

I guess it´s too much fat in sunblock :-)

[Northmount]

It would appear that the UV rays of the sun do the tanning (same as for human skin). There is a leather binder sitting inside a glass window where the exposed leather has bleached to almost white. Glass for the most part blocks UV. Infrared passes through, so it would appear that the IR bleaches while UV tans.

So it may be possible to reduce the rate at which tanning occurs by using a finish that blocks UV. Anyone got any permanent sunscreen/sunblock? Can't leave a wet sticky residue!

Someone could do a little research so see what finishes are UV resistant. 2 parts to this, 1. UV won't cause the finish to breakdown, 2. blocks UV from penetrating.

Tom

[bullmoosepaddles]

Most automobile leather treatments have UV protection. Do a Google search for auto leather treatments that include UV protection and then find the company info. You would have to contact the individual manufacturers and simply ask which of their products would best serve your needs, conditions and leather type. Most reputable companies have good customer service departments. And are willing to help potential customers find a product that serves their needs.

Either way I don't see it as a one time event. The customer will have to continue to treat the cushions through their life span. But it shows dedication of the seller if you can tell them how to care for the cushion they just bought at the point of sale.

Good luck.

[276ccm]

Thanks a lot for the advices! I like to be dedicated to my customers and I always give them a box of leather "grease" to treat the seats, so I can just as well include this, if I find anything suitable.. I´ll do some more research on this :-)

Thanks again!