Lizzyd Report post Posted July 19, 2015 Hello, I'm totally new at dyeing leather and could use some advise from the experts. I have a piece of tooled leather that I would like to dye to get the look pictured below. What is the best way to go about doing that? Also, would you recommend oiling the leather prior to dyeing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
electrathon Report post Posted July 20, 2015 Oil the leather after dying. To try to duplicate the effect I would seal the leather well with a non water soluble finish (clear laq). I would then use a water soluble paint over that and immediately wipe it back off with a damp sponge, leaving residue behind like an antique. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lizzyd Report post Posted July 22, 2015 Would I seal it afterwards as well before oiling? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
electrathon Report post Posted July 22, 2015 Dye, oil, seal, antique, seal. How I would do it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ENC Report post Posted August 1, 2015 It looks like block dye (paint) removal. Wrap a layer or 2 of t-shirt around a block, 2x2 works well, dampen it to help the paint you remove absorb into the cloth. After dying and sealing everything, thin the paint a little and put it in the low areas and then quickly remove what slops onto the surface with the damp cloth on the block. It will remove the paint from the high spots. The same Idea can be used to applying a dark dye to the surface. Dye the entire piece a light color (red or yellow for instance), then use a dauber to lightly apply a darker dye ( dark brown, black) to the block and t-shirt, drag it across the surface. The block keeps the darker dye from getting into the tooling. The 2x2 and t-shirt works well for removing paint, something thinner like a credit card on edge seems to work better than the block when applying dye to the surface. Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimdad Report post Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) the "green" portion looks like standard faux copper patina paint. Modern Masters has a set for just this purpose, where the base paint is imbued with copper particles, and an accelerator can be used to achieve the patina. (http://www.worldpaintsupply.com/modern-masters-metal-effects-reactive-paint-copper-16-oz/)%C2'> store like AC Moore have something similar. Short of that, acrylics with a copper finish aren't difficult to find either, and many craft paints have a color actually called "patina green" here's the link for the set from modern masters, as an example. Never used this particular type though, so it's not an endorsement of quality Edited August 5, 2015 by Jimdad Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
