Dye, Seal, And Burnish Leather Shoes

[Katski323]

Background:

I have an old pair of leather shoes with an ugly color. I decided I was going to dye them. After a seemingly sufficient about of research I decided to take a go at it.

What I Did: I applied some household rubbing alcohol with a new kitchen sponge to deglaze the leather. I was unsure of what level of deglazing to aim for, whether to barely take off any sheen or attempt to take off some of the old dye. When I "thought" I had reached an even level I proceeded to apply Eco-Flo leather dye (I believe it is water based) with a wool dauber till I was satisfied with the color.

What I noticed:

icame back to it a few days later, and noticed places with the old died did not accept the new dye as even as the rest (duh). After another round of research I decided I would "strip" all the dye from the dye leather with fine steel wool. I have yet to apply the dye after stripping.

My questions:

1) do I need to condition the leather? (because the rubbing alcohol is so drying)

2)how do I seal the leather after dying? I have read that mink oil, bees wax and acrylic resolen are good options.

My goal is to waterproof the shoes(expecting to wear them almost daily), and I am wanting to get a burnished toe look. (for the burnishing I am guessing bees wax with a slicker?)

Please let me know your recommendations. Money is a constrant (or else I would have just boughtthe enew shoes I wanted).

Thanks in advance.

[DavidL]

Rubbing alcohol needs to be replaced by acetone. The finish needs to be skimmed off with finger nail or carefully with a tool. Sanding should not be done with sandpaper probably not a good idea for steel wool. With acrylics you paint light color then the darker over, dyeing may need something similar.

[Katski323]

Background:

I have an old pair of leather shoes with an ugly color. I decided I was going to dye them. After a seemingly sufficient amount of research I decided to take a go at it.

What I Did:

I applied some household rubbing alcohol with a new kitchen sponge to deglaze the leather. I was unsure of what level of deglazing to aim for, whether to barely take off any sheen or attempt to take off some of the old dye. When I "thought" I had reached an "even" level I proceeded to apply Eco-Flo leather dye (I believe it is water based) with a wool dauber till I was satisfied with the color.

What I noticed:

I came back to it a few days later, and noticed places with the old dye did not accept the new dye as even as the rest (duh). After another round of research I decided I would "strip" all the dye from the dyed leather on the other shoe with fine steel wool. I have yet to apply the dye after stripping.

My questions:

1) do I need to condition the leather? (because the rubbing alcohol is so drying)

2)how do I seal the leather after dying? I have read that mink oil, bees wax and acrylic resolene are good options.

My goal is to waterproof the shoes for daily wear, and I am wanting to get a burnished toe look. (for the burnishing I am guessing bees wax with a slicker?)

Please let me know your recommendations. Money is a constraint (or else I would have just bought the new shoes I wanted).

Thanks in advance.

UPDATE 12/13/15

Apologies for the many typo's in the previous post. Posting from the mobile browser was a bad idea.

I will be conditioning the leather, my current plan is mink oil. Any other ideas?

After the suggestion to try acetone in place of the rubbing alcohol I was able to get a much more even stripping, on both shoes. The one had only the original dye and was able to get the last stubborn spots and blend in the remnants. On the shoe with the new dye, the acetone quickly removed enough of the new dye to even out the old dye underneath. Both shoes accepted the new dye very well, and I was able to get even, matching colors between the two shoes.

I have noticed the leather is not as supple as I would like it to be. I plan on liberally applying mink oil. I am assuming the mink oil will waterproof the leather. But will it seal the dye?

If I plan on burnishing, at what point would I do this.