Durability of dye that has been airbrushed

[ffjdh]

I am in the process of making some firefighter suspenders and I am trying to figure out the best way to dye them.  I would like to make the suspenders brown and have been told the best way to get a nice even dark brown is to airbrush the dye on to the leather.   My worry is that by airbrushing the dye onto the leather only the outer most parts of the leather will have dye and with some minor abrasive use the user might wear through the brown dye on parts of the suspenders.   Has anybody had issues with items that they have spray dyed wearing down past the dye?

[Boriqua]

I do a combination of spray and dauber for instances like yours but were I really concerned and had the facilities .. cant beat dip dye if you are looking for supreme longevity.

If you go spray and dauber I like to give the leather a nice wet even spray then I will go in with a loaded up dauber. I let the whole thing dry and follow up with an additional spray. I have stuff that gets put on the floor, bags, and is subject to abrasion from cement and such and shows scratches but has never gone through the dye using this method even after years of heavy use.

But ... I am thinking  a fireman is going to put some hard use on their gear! However arent the suspenders under an outer garment?

[JLSleather]

My wife uses a wallet daily which was airbrushed with leather dyes.  Years later, still looks good.

But that isn't heavy use under harsh conditions.  If you want suspenders to look good like "for show", then either way would be fine.  If you want suspenders that look good AND will 'take a beating", I'd probably cut them from drum dyed english bridle leather.

 

[DuaneBallard]

Airbrush them with a few heavy wet  coats. It just applies it much more evenly than the dauber.  

[ffjdh]

7 hours ago, DuaneBallard said:

Airbrush them with a few heavy wet  coats. It just applies it much more evenly than the dauber.  

Do you usually thin the dye out 50/50 with denatured alcohol or do you spray at full strength?  Also do you wet the leather beforehand with denatured alcohol or spray the leather dry?

[Art]

When I spray, I go 50/50 or more (more DEA).  You can build up a weak dye by spraying again, you can't undo heavy dye concentrations very well.  For stuff that gets heavily used, I use drum dyed and specify struck thru (which are 10 sides minimum).  Spray dyed or airbrushed are not durable and scratch off easily.  For DIY durable dyeing, go with dip, you can use weak solutions and leave it in longer to get it struck through.  You can also do it as many times as needed to get the color you want.

Art

[DuaneBallard]

20 hours ago, ffjdh said:

Do you usually thin the dye out 50/50 with denatured alcohol or do you spray at full strength?  Also do you wet the leather beforehand with denatured alcohol or spray the leather dry?

I use my dye full strength.