Super Shene Problems

[indidana]

I use super shene as a protective top coat. My issue is that it "erases" the stain. It picks up dyes and stains so that it's not in the cuts and tool marks anymore. I just spent a couple hours dying an owl to perfection, then stained the background and used super shene as the top coat and it not only removed the stain from the tool marks in the background, it removed dye that I had put three layers of super shene on to avoid this problem. Needless to say, it looks like a child made it.

[Colt W Knight]

Wipe another coat of antique on top of the super shene to see if that helps.

How thick did you apply the clear coat?

Edited September 3, 2015 by Colt W Knight

[indidana]

I didn't use antique, just hi-life stain. Won't I just end up with the same problem with the second coat of color when I apply super shene to it? Not only that but I dyed an owl, flower and leaves; one coat of stain messed them up more than I'd like, two would ruin them. I feel like I'm doing something wrong there.

I poured a little super shene on a sponge and applied a thin layer because I knew it was going to take some dye off. I didn't even bother with a second coat, I just washed the entire thing and started over.

I'm waiting on a shipment of supplies to come in. I got acrylic resolene. Is it as good as everyone says?

[Colt W Knight]

Wiping on a clear coat you will almost always have problems with smearing or smudging.

The safest way to approach it is to apply your stains and dyes, let it dry thoroughly ( about a day) then spray on light coats of the clear.

If you are using Tandy brand leather finishes - In my opinion the vast majority of them suck. The antique gels are okay. I like to use Fiebings for dyes and I use water based acrylic paints to add color other than black or brown. I use an air brush to apply dyes and clear coats. Eliminates the extra darkening from dauber application of dye and prevents smearing and smudging when applying the clear.

If you are applying a water based stain or dye - a water based clear coat will dissolve the stain or dye. Always test on scrap to get an idea how a combo of products will work.

Acrylic Resolene works just fine, but it will work a lot better if you thin it 50/50 with water and spray it on. You will struggle just wiping it on. I use Mop n glo, which is very similar to acrylic resolene.

Edited September 3, 2015 by Colt W Knight

[indidana]

Thank you for all the tips! I had a feeling tandy's water based products weren't very good but haven't looked around for anything else yet.

[Colt W Knight]

Paints, dyes, and stains are essentially made up of 1)pigment 2) binders and 3)thinner

Pigments are the colors

binders fix the pigment into place

thinners are what hold the pigment and binders in solution

Dyes and stains typically do have any kind of chemical curing that fixes them into place. Dyes are typically alcohol or water based, and the water absorbs into the substrate and carry the dye with them. Stains do not penetrate as much, and sit on the surface.

Paints and clears come in water based, spirit based(alcohol), lacquer bases ( uses acetone as a thinner) and oil based ( uses mineral spirits as a thinner). Some of these finishes have chemicals in them that make them cure chemically. Some finishes ( like lacquer or shellac) are evaporative finishes. They do not cure chemically. The thinner simply evaporates. Evaporative finishes can be stripped or recoated easily because the thinner in the new finish reactivates the old finish and makes it go into solution again. This is why wiping on a lot a leather finishes will result in streaking or smearing.

Edited September 3, 2015 by Colt W Knight

[indidana]

This is the owl. I dyed and stained it, one coat of super shene then washed it off as much as I could with a wet sponge. The owl has a second coat of dye, no second coat of stain yet. I'm going to stain it tomorrow then try acrylic resolene on it. What's the best way to stain it without ruining the owl and flower /leaves ?

Edited September 3, 2015 by indidana

[Colt W Knight]

Can you post a picture?

[indidana]

I did, I don't know why it won't show. It's there when I edit the post.

[Wild Bill46]

Just A Thank You to Colt For your answer here.

All this is in my head from years of Sign lettering,

but I could not get it out so clearly, good job !

Thanks my friend ! ------ Wild Bill46