Leather dye technique

[RJLamie]

I'm looking to dye some veg leather to make hand bags.  What is the best products and or techniques to get the most uniform color.  I'm looking to pink, light gray and beige.

[DominickTuroski]

I've been trying to get the most out of my fiebings alcohol and oil dyes. The oil dyes work great. No mess needed. The color comes out even and clean, but may be a bit toned down depending on the color. This would be a very easy and clean option.  What I like to do now which requires a lot of fuss is using the alcohol dyes and a lot of neatsfoot oil to make a really nice uniform dye and also really nice texture

This is my process, others may have different opinions but this gets a really nice finish and color for me. (This is on just tandy craftsman oak veg tan so it works on even cheaper stuff) Also it can get pretty messy so maybe put on some gloves if you're concerned about that.

First I slightly dampen the piece of leather. load up a sponge with water and just go over the piece once. Don't drown it. Next I use a piece of sheepswool and get that loaded up with neatsfoot oil. (sponge would probably work fine as well) Go over the piece with the oil, let it sit a few seconds and wipe off and work in the excess. On the same piece of wool, add some of the dye of your choosing. Remove a bit of it by just wiping on some scraps or paper towel, up to you, and go over the piece again with that dye/oil sheep wool. Work in the dye let it sit and then work wipe off the rest with a towel. If you want you can go over this with more oil and buff it out to get a nice waterproof finish or depending on how it looks just leave it.

This has worked really well for me for british tan, oxblood, saddle tan, kelly green, navy blue, and even eco flo gel antique (with modifications to the process for the antique) The colors you chose may not work out as well on the leather because of them being lighter so probably test it out on some scraps first. 

Best of luck on the project, and show us some pictures!

[CaptQuirk]

I have been diluting the Fiebing's with water, and using a large ziplock, pour the dye into the bag, throw the leather in, shake it up. After a couple seconds, you should have decent coverage. Lay the leather flat on some newspaper, so that it dries evenly.

[immiketoo]

1 hour ago, RJLamie said:

I'm looking to dye some veg leather to make hand bags.  What is the best products and or techniques to get the most uniform color.  I'm looking to pink, light gray and beige.

For pink, dilute Fiebing's oxblood dye at least 50% with denatured alcohol or isopropyl alcohol.  The shade of pink you get depends on the ratio it is reduced with the alcohol.  Additionally to get the most even coloring, spraying with an airbrush or dip dyeing will give the best results.

Light grey can only be achieved by diluting black dye as described above, and as thin as it is at that point, the color of the leather will show through giving your grey a taupe color.  

Natural veg tan is already beige so if you're looking for old lady undergarment beige, you might be better off looking for chrome tan leather.  You picked some difficult colors and all of them will darken with time on veg tan leather, especially with how thin the dyes will be. 

[GoldenKnight]

Angelus brand has a Light Rose dye that has worked well for me in the past when I needed items dyed pink.  (Usually around November, for Breast Cancer Awareness month items.)