tkillian Report post Posted February 5, 2018 I was doing some leatherwork for the local scout troup and I was using dye and leather donated by a leather shop. In the picture you can see my first dye test on the left, where I stamped a scrap of leather and tested the dye. Everything looked great and was what I expected. About three weeks later I was ready to dye the sheaths I had made and the dye came out completely different as you can see on the right of the photo. The test piece was two coats and the actual sheath was about 4 coats, the leather just keeps soaking up the dye. Does anyone have an idea of what might of happened? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mattsbagger Report post Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) Are the scraps and sheath from the same piece of leather? All leather takes dye differently. More coats of dye = darker dye. Edited February 5, 2018 by Mattsbagger Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted February 5, 2018 Has the leather been stored anywheres its been able to dry out? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tkillian Report post Posted February 5, 2018 The scap and sheath leather are from the same piece. The leather has been sitting in my basement so maybe it has dried out, but I do leave all my leather down there and haven't had this happen before. Thank you for the responses, I appreciate other sets of eyes on this issue. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted February 5, 2018 Deep stamp impression, two coats, high sheen looks like high moisture & oils content Shallow stamp impression, leather soaking up 4 coats of dye looks like dried/drying out leather to me Try giving it a light coat of neetsfoot oil. Let that soak in for a couple of days and try a test piece again Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YinTx Report post Posted February 5, 2018 Looks like the stamped and dyed piece on the left has additional finish on it. Perhaps neatsfoot oil, maybe some Aussie, and a top coat finish like an acrylic finish or a neat lac type finish. I suspect you will be able to get them to come out the same if you finish them the same. YinTx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alpha2 Report post Posted February 5, 2018 You didn't at any point leave the test piece laying in the sun, did you? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tkillian Report post Posted February 5, 2018 Thank you for the ideas. I will try the neatsfoot oil. The dye really seemed to soak into the leather. The only difference with finishing is the first sample piece was buffed. Thanks again for the input. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YinTx Report post Posted February 10, 2018 On 2/5/2018 at 1:27 PM, alpha2 said: You didn't at any point leave the test piece laying in the sun, did you? No, I think I left it somewhere laying in a box. Not sure I'll ever see it again. If I ever come across it, I'll be sure to snap a photo for posterity. YinTx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
