Water Burnish after Dyeing and Bleeding Problem

[graybullleather]

Hello all, 

A friend and I just went into the business of making leather goods. We are starting out with belts and are trying to figure the process that is going to give us the best results. I've done a lot of searching on these forums and across the internet to find the solution to my problem and thought it may be easier to just ask.

We ordered a pre-dyed bridle side from Waterhouse and had them cut into 1.5" straps. Here is what we have done so far: 

1. Beveled edges

2. Dyed with Fiebings Pro dye

3. Burnish with gum trag and applied carnauba cream to outside. 

Problem: I wore one of the finished belts today and noticed some color bleeding onto my shorts. We have done about 5 belts with the above process before noticing this problem and now have about 15 that have been beveled and dyed and we don't want to take a step further so we don't mess any more belts up and waste more money. 

The plan is to burnish the currently dyes edges with water, let dry, and apply 50/50 Firbing's Acrylic resolene/water to the front, back, and edges using a brush (or sponge?) , let dry to prevent color bleeding, and do final buff with old t-shirt or sock. 

Questions:

1. How does the above process sound of saving these straps? Will this save our belts and prevent any further bleeding?

2. Will burnishing the currently dyes edges with water mess up the application of the acrylic resolene? We tried a little dry burnishing, but it is extremely time consuming. 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2016 by graybullleather