How to remove/blend tape mark from veg tan leather

[ivanlc]

Hi. 

Have some veg tan that I want to make a piece from. Been in a loose roll in my garage for a couple of months and I put some Gorilla tape on it to keep it together (probably daft, but didn't have any string handy). 

Is there any recommended way of blending it in? If not, would some kind of repeated dyeing procedure hide it?

TIA.

[Mattsbagger]

Is it tape residue or is sun discoloration? 

[ivanlc]

Hiya. I'd say it was more light discolouration, as the leather's been in my garage for about 4 months with the tape around it.

There doesn't appear to be any tape residue around the mark. 

And as you can see, there's also natural discolouration to the left of the tape mark, hence why I'm keen to know how discolouration in general is usually dealt with.

[Mattsbagger]

Can't really get rid of it. You might try a light coat of neetsfoot oil any try putting it in sun to tan (like your skin does) in the sun. If dyeing black or other dark color it might get hidden. Always store leather out of the sun or at least grain side in. Others might have a better idea.

[Weaver Leather Supply]

I would try to unroll it and let it sit in the sun for a few hours and see if it all evens out.  Depending on where you are the sun this time of year may not be strong enough and may take more time than that.  

[ivanlc]

Heh heh. Sadly, being in the UK, ain't gonna seeing much sun at this time of year...! 

I got a hold of some NFO recently, so will give tanning it in the sun a try when it gets warm again in the new year. 

... But i don't suppose leaving the leather in front of a fireplace (a good distance away, of course!) after coating it with NFO would do any good...?

[Bob Blea]

I've had some success dealing with this sort of problem with my antiquing.  I apply a lacquer resist and then apply and wipe off my antique.  This darkens all the leather a little bit, and it also leaves a little variation in the color of the untooled leather.  If you are careful about how you wipe it off, you can blend in the 'suntanned' areas a little bit and make them less noticeable.  It's even easier if that area happens to fall into a tooled area.

Here's an example of a custom notebook I've made, and as you look at the spine you can see a little variation in the coloring due to the antique.  Also where it has been backgrounded around the state of Texas the coloration varies a lot due to the texture of the backgrounding.  If you made a project where those marks are in a backgrounded or tooled area I doubt they would be visible once you were finished.  I've also had areas that are darker due to light exposure and I've cut out the leather so those lines end up around where my lacing holes will go.  Between the antique effects and the lacing I can't see the difference in coloration of the raw leather.