Members Jack142 Posted January 9, 2017 Members Report Posted January 9, 2017 I am getting back into some doing some leatherwork, I haven't worked on leather since 2009. And guys this is a hobby, I am a little rusty on my technique. I have some Fiebings dye, that I purchased before 2009, and I now suspect it is too old to use. I tried some some leather samples and the dye is going on very unevenly, I get total real dark almost black spots and then some spots with the correct colors. I have two bottles of Fiebings, one is a tan and the other is a medium brown. I suspect they are too old and need to be replaced. I am wondering if I am correct in my assumption. Quote
Members Mattsbagger Posted January 9, 2017 Members Report Posted January 9, 2017 New myself but I would try putting some denatured alcohol in the dye and mixing it up good and give it another try. Alcohol evaporates and you probably have Super concentrated dye. I know tattoo ink does the same thing when the base the pigment is in evaporates. Worth a go anyways. Denatured alcohol is cheap dye ain't. Lol Quote
Members LeatherWorthy Posted January 9, 2017 Members Report Posted January 9, 2017 Id go with Mattsbagger as well. I dilute most of my stuff 5:1 with either denatured alcohol or Fiebings Dye reducer ( Which I suspect is identical to my wife's fingernail polish remover) lol. Quote
bikermutt07 Posted January 10, 2017 Report Posted January 10, 2017 I like Matt's advice as well. Just remember. You added to it. You won't be able to make it exactly the same next time. So, don't wind up running out of the stuff half way through a project. Welcome back to the fun. Quote
Members Instinctive Posted January 10, 2017 Members Report Posted January 10, 2017 (edited) How old is the leather? It may be too dry? A tip I got from my local leather guru was to always dampen the leather a bit either with neatsfoot oil or even water before applying the dye. It opens the pores on the leather surface and helps the dye absorb in to the leather. My favorite technique lately has been to apply a lcoat of neatsfoot oil with a piece of sheep wool. Let that soak in for an hour or so. Then using the oil saturated sheep wool, apply the dye (put the dye on the sheep wool with the oil). It's been giving me an amazing "worn" look to the leather with the Fiebings medium brown spirit dye. Let it sit for 24 hours before you do anything else with it. Edited January 10, 2017 by WRLC Quote
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