Couple of questions about Fiebing's Pro Oil Dye

[EfrainBG]

Hi, everyone!

I'm planning on purchasing a 4 oz bottle of Fiebing's Professional Oil Dye (walnut).

I have two questions:

 - First, what's the average coverage I can get from one of these bottles?... I understand it depends on how many coats I apply, but, for the sake of discussion, let's say I can get my target tone/color in two passes.

- And, second, Do I HAVE TO dilute it if I'm going to apply it with a sponge or dauber? The description says "Use with Fiebing's Dye Reducer to thin for spray dyeing or dilute colors."

- And an extra one that just came to mind: does this product leave the grain exposed or covered? (I've seen acrylic dyes leave a very thin kind of plastick-y film on top of the leather)

[TinkerTailor]

Coverage will depend on colour, tannage and many other things so it is difficult to give a definite answer. It will also differ greatly with technique.

Most people dilute for a couple reasons, one is to get more even coverage. It is very hard to get an even dye job with one application unless spraying or dipping. You will get streaks with a dauber or a sponge. Multiple coats solve this because the streaks blend into each other with each layer. If you were you dye it in multiple passes with full strength dye, there will be way too much dye on the surface, and you will end up buffing it for ever to keep it from rubbing off. Another reason to thin the dye is you may a thinner consistency for your application method. Another reason to thin dyes is to build up colour for effect. Fade dye jobs are done with thinned dye. I carved some maple leaves on an iphone case and i dyed them with multiple (8-10) washes of mahogany dye thinned to 12:1 with a drop or two of red or black thrown in here and there.

Some colours also do interesting things when thinned. Fiebings regular Red dye thins to a really bright fuchsia......After a couple coats it goes red.....Dye is an interesting beast and a never ending source of experimentation.

Thin with isopropanol, standard drugstore rubbing alcohol. Also used for cleanup.

No, pro oil dyes, and dyes in general should not leave a film if applied correctly. With dyes, the goal is to get the color down into the fibers and leave the grain exposed. Part of the technique is to buff off any dye left on the surface after it dries. Paints cover the grain.

Also, steer clear of the usmc black. It seems no matter how long you buff, it still rubs off in many cases....

[EfrainBG]

Really beautiful work in there, TinkerTailor!

I do have noticed a more even spread when using diluted dyes... not Fiebing's though. Maybe that's why I've noticed that film I talked about... who knows if these are really dyes or pigment or paint or whatever other stuff they're trying to pass as dye.

When you buff off the residual dyhe, what do you do it with? just a clean rag or sheep skin or do you use some product?

Thanks a lot for the prompt answer!

[TinkerTailor]

32 minutes ago, EfrainBG said:

Really beautiful work in there, TinkerTailor!

I do have noticed a more even spread when using diluted dyes... not Fiebing's though. Maybe that's why I've noticed that film I talked about... who knows if these are really dyes or pigment or paint or whatever other stuff they're trying to pass as dye.

When you buff off the residual dyhe, what do you do it with? just a clean rag or sheep skin or do you use some product?

Thanks a lot for the prompt answer!

Thanks. That is my personal phone case and took a long time, longer than I could charge a customer for. Like the case would cost double what the Iphone did.....I wanted something I could pull out and show people a few different techniques. The penny is actually a rivet and the on the other side the penny is the backer for the snap. I made this hardware. If you look close, the thread color is candy striped. That picture is before i finished the edges on the camera hole. On the topic of finish, I admit I am having some rub off from the background , which is tandy water based leather paint, even with multiple coats of resolene to try to stop it..grrrrrr...(I should know better..).

I buff with old t-shirts and bed sheets.

One of the reasons why people use fiebings is they don't mess with recipes. Tried and true and consistent.  Tandy has changed formulation on their in house products over the years, sometimes better and sometimes worse. Leather is such a fickle beast and there is nothing worse than getting half way through a project, running out of a product and then finding out it is either discontinued or totally reformulated. Incidentally, because these products are used in industrial environments, the chemical constituents are listed on the MSDS sheet for them, available by googling if you want to know if it is dye or paint. That is how we know there is no oil in oil dye. I speculate that it is actually an indication that it is oil compatible, meaning you can make dye neetsfoot oil. This is just a guess.

A lot of "shoe re-color" products are not dye they are paint. It can be difficult to dye finished leather so paint is used.

Edited November 30, 2016 by TinkerTailor

[EfrainBG]

Well, Sir... again, thanks so very much! I guess it's only a matter of testing the stuff now.

[bikermutt07]

Lately I have been experimenting with mixing fiebings spirit dye with water.

I don't see any difference from using the alcohol. Ymmv.

[EfrainBG]

10 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

Lately I have been experimenting with mixing fiebings spirit dye with water.

I don't see any difference from using the alcohol. Ymmv.

Spirit dye... If I understand "spirit" correctly, that would be any alcohol based dye, right?

 

[TinkerTailor]

10 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

Lately I have been experimenting with mixing fiebings spirit dye with water.

I don't see any difference from using the alcohol. Ymmv.

I believe the alcohol is the solvent that dissolves the dye particles and the solution needs a certain alcohol percentage or the dye particles will drop out of solution. Adding water may drop the alcohol concentration of the solution enough to allow this to happen.  Plus alcohol thinned dyes dry really fast while water based ones do not, another factor to consider. Rubbing alcohol is really cheap. Granted water is cheaper, however, i would guess that if it worked as good as alcohol, everyone would be doing it by now, Kinda like 50/50 reso. That is not a feibings thing, it is a user recipe that works really good....

 

26 minutes ago, EfrainBG said:

Spirit dye... If I understand "spirit" correctly, that would be any alcohol based dye, right?

 

Yup

[billybopp]

The isopropyl rubbing alcohol that you get from a drug store comes in two varieties.  70% and 90% concentration, with the balance being water.  The price difference is small, so I usually stick with 90%.  I don't know if it makes a difference, but for pennies why gamble.

 

[TinkerTailor]

6 minutes ago, billybopp said:

The isopropyl rubbing alcohol that you get from a drug store comes in two varieties.  70% and 90% concentration, with the balance being water.  The price difference is small, so I usually stick with 90%.  I don't know if it makes a difference, but for pennies why gamble.

 

For what it is worth, the bottle of isopropanol in front of me is 99%. Our beer is stronger up here too............

[Bonecross]

I used to purchase small bottles of 99% ISO alcohol from the pharmacy but then switched to Methyl Hydrate in 4L jugs from the hardware store when the pharmacy could not supply enough. Works just as well. I still clean up with the ISO however (Methyl Hydrate does not seem to work for removing dye from my hands and other surfaces).

[TinkerTailor]

I wonder if you thinned your dye with bourbon, could you charge more for the end product? It seems like anything with whisky or bourbon in it sells these days. I saw a 16 dollar bar of whisky soap the other day. Seems to me, soap is meant to take away the smell of whisky on yer skin and clothes, not add it.....

[Mattsbagger]

25 minutes ago, TinkerTailor said:

I wonder if you thinned your dye with bourbon, could you charge more for the end product? It seems like anything with whisky or bourbon in it sells these days. I saw a 16 dollar bar of whisky soap the other day. Seems to me, soap is meant to take away the smell of whisky on yer skin and clothes, not add it.....

THAT JUST MADE MY DAY! HAHA.

[EfrainBG]

2 hours ago, TinkerTailor said:

I wonder if you thinned your dye with bourbon, could you charge more for the end product? It seems like anything with whisky or bourbon in it sells these days. I saw a 16 dollar bar of whisky soap the other day. Seems to me, soap is meant to take away the smell of whisky on yer skin and clothes, not add it.....

   I was thinking the same today... with whiskey, bourbon, cognac, oporto, champagne as color names someone could get misleaded and ask for a refund 

[LumpenDoodle2]

Whiskey dyed leather wallet.

Now, there's a tag line.   Shall we have a bet on how long before such a product appears on etsy?