Finishing A Veg Tan Belt

[gandgphi]

I dyed a veg tan belt last night using black EcoFlow dye from Tandy. I was told I should use leather balm with atom wax to finish it by the employee there (I’m new). I let the belt dry overnight and applied atom wax to a scrap piece I had dyed as well. The color is completely coming off. I even buffed the scrap piece before applying the finish. Am I doing something wrong or is it just a bad product I’m now stuck with?

[alpha2]

Black is some pretty stout stuff. And Eco-flo works as you would expect something labelled "eco" to work. Hint: you can't get any of the good stuff in California. Not allowed. Allowing 24 hours to dry, buffing until you're totally expended, might work. 

Next, Tandy is a great resource. If you don't have any other other resources. It is what it is. I personally frequent 3 separate Tandys on a regular basis. But I go in having done my due diligence on this forum. Spend some time on this forum on the dyes and finishes area. Fiebings is usually accepted to be superior to Tandy branded stuff. But, USMC black is not up to that quality, especially if you don't want it to rub off. The other blacks are better. (Seriously, I asked my USMC veteran brother "tell me about black", he said "black is black"). Experience is way better than a minimum wage clerk at Tandy. They have some great stuff there. They also have some worthless stuff that they are more than happy to send home with you. Different stores and different clerks vary considerably. There is some great info here...but you WILL have to make some mistakes on your own. It's just the way it is. As you get some experience, and make some mistakes, you'll pick up some great info, which you will be able to pass along to the next person. I'm here for both reasons...picking up hints and passing along what I've learned, the hard way. Finally, by all means avail yourself of YouTube. There are videos on there that will save you a fortune in wasted leather, materials, and time.

Ian Atkinson, Bruce Cheaney, Don Gonzales, Armitage Leather, (Nigel Armitage), and J.H. Leather are some of my favorites for youtube videos. You could spend a fortune on classes, (still not a bad way to go, providing you have the time/money), but this is absolutely free online, and you can stop, rewind, watch again and again).

One more thing...better tools equals better work. Better leather, equals better work. Better instruction equals better work. MORE PRACTICE, equals better work. By all means, buy some cheap nasty leather to practice with, then buy some good stuff, but only after trashing some cheap, nasty leather to practice with. Good leather/tools will NOT make up for lack of practice. 

Enjoy the journey!

Jeff

[battlemunky]

Damn Jeff ( @alpha2 ) , that is about as solid advice as it gets.

Edited November 26, 2017 by battlemunky

[bikermutt07]

Yep, ditch the Eco flow. Every thread I ever read here about Eco flow was concerning problems with Eco flow. I have never used the water based products and after all the reading here, I never will.

Get a bottle of fiebings black pro (oil) dye. I have read many times about people dying the leather a dark color first, then applying the black. I would let the black set a day or two. Then buff the heck out of it. Once you did that, apply a light coat of Aussie and buff again. 

[bikermutt07]

I just did my first belt this weekend. Walnut color and finished with Aussie. I was wearing it the second day. No bleeding. To buff it I used a piece of canvas and ran the strap through my hand several times.

[Sheilajeanne]

Ditto on Alpha's advice!

Fiebing's oil based dyes are my go-to dyes. Eco-flo sucks!

 

 

[TxLeather]

44 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

 

Fiebing's oil based dyes are my go-to dyes. Eco-flo sucks!

 

 

This!

[YinTx]

Ok, so the OP has a bottle of ECO Flo dye he'd like to be able to use, presumably.  ECO flo dyes work differently than Fiebing's.  I have used both with success, and won't hammer on either, since I am fully aware that my capabilities are what tend to limit my results.   There are some who swear by the ECO Flo brand as much as those who swear by the Fiebing's.

All that being said, how did you apply the dye, gandgphi?  Perhaps we can see if it was applied incorrectly, or maybe using the atom wax is the wrong thing.  Certainly wouldn't have been the first seal coat that I would have thought of for Eco Flo.

YinTx

[OLDNSLOW]

it is sad that he is behind Cali's iron curtain, but if you know if someone outside the curtain could get you a bottle of good stuff and ship it to you, you could try it and find out what works best.  Depending of where your at in the state maybe a ride up to Vegas or Reno or even a trip over the cascades for just a fun weekend and pick up a bottle or 2 of what you think you might use.  But I would hate to think it would call for a jail sentence just for a bottle of good leather dye, I don't even think it would be up there with some good hooch and no tellen what kind of trouble that would bring  sheesh. 

[alpha2]

So, hootch and Fiebings Dye are mutually exclusive?

Edited November 28, 2017 by alpha2