barbedwireboutique Report post Posted March 23, 2016 So I have been working on my first real full project... A set of spur straps for my husband, but when it came to dying the leather the coat just doesn't want to apply evenly, even though I cleaned the leather with rubbing alcohol first. I used fiebings oil dye light brown, if that helps at all? Just hoping to salvage the oops at this point. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thor Report post Posted March 23, 2016 Who recommended rubbing with alcohol? Oiling it prior to dyeing is something that is recommended at times. I never clean leather with alcohol. If at all I use oxalic acid. Anyhow you will have to use darker dye now as you can't get this out again. I'd use dark brown around the flowers and leaves, making it a two tone color and also promoting your tooling better. Besides, nice job on the tooling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
electrathon Report post Posted March 23, 2016 Is it dry in the photo? Often times it will drastically change color as it dries. what I would do is take the remainder of your dye and dilute it about 20% with alcohol. Put the dye in a flat pan. Dip your piece in and submerge it, don't be slow, keep it moving. This only takes a few seconds. Remove the piece and pat it dry with an old towel. Lay it flat, every little while pat it again, do not rub. When it is almost dry oil it with a light coat of oil. Let it dry for a day. Coat with wyo-sheen, antique with fiebings antique, clean up the antique with tan-kote. Try this process on a scrap first. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike516 Report post Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) I'm throwing this out there because I don't think people talk about this much. Not sure about dyes but this looks like what happened once to me with a Feibings stain. Maybe someone else can tell you if this applies to dyes. As it turned out, after going crazy trying to figure out what had happened and save the piece, someone mentioned it looked like what happens when the stain freezes in the bottle. If that happens, the stain is ruined forever and will never give a good coat and will crack on the leather. Edited March 23, 2016 by Mike516 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barbedwireboutique Report post Posted March 23, 2016 It wasn't totally dry, but there wasn't much change when it did dry. I tried to fix it a bit on my own and here's how it all looks this morning. Where do I go from here? Maybe just do the outside a bit darker on the sides that aren't as dark? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike516 Report post Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) Have you tried/considered any of the suggestions mentioned above? Edited March 23, 2016 by Mike516 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barbedwireboutique Report post Posted March 23, 2016 I'm going to try doing the darker dye around the flowers and leaves. Next project I am definitely going to try the dunk method. I'm very nervous about dunking it now though, because won't the dark spots that I don't want to get too dark get darker, as well? Or will it completely even it out? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
