Colourfast black leather strips?

[ledermaus]

Hi.

Please can someone advise me here. I make bags and would like to use leather for the shoulder straps. However I have ordered from three different suppliers (in Europe, I’m in Germany) and every bit of black leather I have received bleeds. It’s especially bad when wet but even if I rub with a dry cloth it’s still coming off.

Since a shoulder strap is obviously a high friction area I don’t want to use this leather and risk people ruining their clothes.

I have been applying several coats of Resolene (diluted 50/50) and it’s still not great. I wouldn’t be confident it would hold up in the rain. And anyway it is pretty labour intensive and adds a lot of fuss to the bag making process.

So am I crazy for expecting colourfast black leather here? Does it exist? Is there something I should be looking for when ordering?

Thanks for reading..

[Colt W Knight]

My solution was to airbrush findings pro oil dye black, then finish with a few coats of thinned acrylic sealer. 

Regular black dye seems to never stop bleeding, especially if you use a daubwr or dip. 

[fredk]

I've not had this problem of bleed afterwards.

On black I use thinned black Resolene mostly. Resolene is available in 'clear' and black. By using the black version I'm not only sealing the dye previously applied but also adding to it

An alternative for you would be to buy factory dyed leather and cut the strapping from it.

Sounds like your present suppliers aren't very good at the dying

[JLSleather]

HOW MANY straps?  I get pretty good results using pro dyes (fiebings).  No rub off.

But if you're making multiple black straps, it may work better for you to just order drum dyed leather (comes already black).  Wickett/Craig skirting is quite nice, and available in a wide range of thickness.

[ledermaus]

Ok, thanks a lot guys. Some useful points to bear in mind.