Dyes and stains and how to resist...

[Cubbie]

How’s it goin everyone! Here with another question!

I’m working on a piece that I’m goin to inlay black for the background and want to stain the rest of the piece in tan. This past weekend I bought eco flo dyes in black and in tan. Not sure if I picked up the right stuff or not. What I was thinking was doing the inlay/background in black with a small paint brush, apply a couple coats of super shene as a resister then adding the tan dye to the rest of the piece. Now would this work, Or do I need to return the tan dye and pick me up some sort of stain vs the tan dye???

Below is what I’m workin on...

 

 

Edited May 1, 2018 by Cubbie

[YinTx]

First bet is to always practice on a piece before putting anything on your final product, otherwise you can guarantee the results will not be what you are looking for.  I have been trying to get antiques and resists to work well for me for almost 6 months, and am only now finally getting some semi decent results.

That being said,  there are many that will tell you Eco flow is difficult to work with.  I have just discovered that it is *different* to work with.  Others will tell you Fiebings is the only way to go, and some will simply say don't bother with antique, it'll just streak and ruin your nice tooling.  This should reinforce the need to practice until you decide for yourself which way you want to go.  The stains and dyes are not antiques, and aren't intended to highlight tooling.

Not sure if I followed your post correctly, but it seemed as if you intend to put resist then dye.  Resist will not stop dye from penetrating the leather, only antique.  And different resists do so to differing degrees.  Tan kote, Clear lac, Resolene, Block out, Pro resist, Bee Resist, etc all will give you different results.

I think if you are going to use antique, this could work for order of operations:  (anyone else could chip in here)

Dye the backgrounded areas the color you want.  Use a brush to accurately apply dye.

Dye any other areas colors you want.  Allow these to dry well, overnight or better if you can.

Apply resist where you don't want antique to stick.  again, dry as above.

Apply antique using sheepswool, immediately wipe off.  Use a damp towel if need be.

Allow to dry. 5-10 minutes for Fiebings antique paste,  

Apply finish coat such as Tan kote.  Expect some of the antique to come up again.  Allow to dry.  Apply another finish coat.

Allow all that to dry for a day or so if you can, then put on a final top coat of Resolene or Tan Kote, or Acrylic finish of some kind.

Again, no matter what, do some sample pieces, even if you just knock out a square foot of basket weave and cut it up into pieces and try different things on each piece.

Hope this helps some.  Lots of info on this website on different ways to go about this process.

YinTx

 

[Cubbie]

AWesome thank you for the info! 

I’m wanting to do the background in black using the eco flo dye but wasn’t sure if using the eco flo tan dye after the black has dried, will have the colors mix. Which is why I was thinking using a resister like super shene on the piece before i add the tan dye would help it out. I’m thinking i need to return this eco flo tan and get me a bottle of antique by the sounds of it.

 

Edited May 1, 2018 by Cubbie

[YinTx]

If you put down black dye, then resist, then antique, you should get a good look without blending the black into your tan.  While you are at it, consider the Fiebeng's, as I think you may find it easier to learn with.

I have used some acrylic antiques and have been happy with how they turn out as well.  Best of luck, and look around this site to see how folks are antiquing their work.  I think there is a whole section dedicated to dyes, stains and antiques.

YinTx

[JLSleather]

If you're going to use DYES, I usually dye the whole thing the lighter color and then background the black over it (actually, I prefer the look of the chocolate dye there).  But the order isn't critical.

But you start using STAINS, it begins to matter which is first.  Some stains tend to be resistant to dyes penetrating through them, and tend to be more opaque when applied over the dyes.  In that case, you would want to keep the distinct colors separate.

I don't like antiques, so I only use them about twice a year - when somebody threatens me with a check so big I agree to do it (I have been known to make TWO - one the way they asked and one WITHOUT antique - and they generally prefer teh NO antique when they actually see it).  Point is, even after wiping off, dyes don't penetrate well over the pastes.  In the case of dyed background, you would do that first, then antique the design.