What's going on here?

[Chief Filipino]

Hello Everyone,

So I bought some Eco-Flo Range Tan Leather Dye from Tandy to try out. I am working on a long wallet and the exterior piece is 2-3oz veg tan and the interior pieces are 1-2oz sheep veg tan. I put two coats of the leather dye on (not drying in between) all the pieces and let them dry. A few hours later I get this curling happening. I also think that I have some shrinkage that happened because my exterior/interior pieces, which should be pretty much the exact same size, are about 1/8" size difference. So what is happening? 

I did not wet the pieces down before hand, which I thought later that maybe that would help it all dry at about the same rate. 

Is it the Eco-Fo? 

Or is it the leather itself?

Is there a big difference  in behaviors between sheep veg and cow veg?| 

What did I do wrong? 

Thank you for the help! 

[garypl]

That dye dried out the leather and thus the curling.  I would treat the pieces with a good coat of NFO and flatten them out with a weight overnight.  Probably not much you can do about the shrinkage because pieces of leather may shrink at a different rate.

Gary

[immiketoo]

If you moisten them from the back and then slick them, you might get some of the size back as they will stretch while slicking.  Just make sure you don't over do it or they will be too big or not square anymore.

 

[Tugadude]

This happens to me sometimes, particularly on thinner leather and with Fiebing's Oil Dye.  I think it is just a natural phenomenon.  I am in the construction products industry and believe me, you wouldn't believe what can happen to products like concrete while they are drying.  Concrete tends to shrink, but curl up around the edges, not too dissimilar to what you are experiencing, albeit quite a bit less!

I agree with wetting and slicking the backside.  Should it stretch you can always cut it square again.

[Chief Filipino]

3 hours ago, garypl said:

That dye dried out the leather and thus the curling.  I would treat the pieces with a good coat of NFO and flatten them out with a weight overnight.  Probably not much you can do about the shrinkage because pieces of leather may shrink at a different rate.

Gary

Would NFO before dying help prevent this? 

 

38 minutes ago, immiketoo said:

If you moisten them from the back and then slick them, you might get some of the size back as they will stretch while slicking.  Just make sure you don't over do it or they will be too big or not square anymore.

 

Sounds like it's worth a try! 

30 minutes ago, Tugadude said:

This happens to me sometimes, particularly on thinner leather and with Fiebing's Oil Dye.  I think it is just a natural phenomenon.  I am in the construction products industry and believe me, you wouldn't believe what can happen to products like concrete while they are drying.  Concrete tends to shrink, but curl up around the edges, not too dissimilar to what you are experiencing, albeit quite a bit less!

I agree with wetting and slicking the backside.  Should it stretch you can always cut it square again.

I used some Fiebings Pro Dye (which I'm assuming is there newest recipe for oil dye) on another wallet and it got some waviness/slight curling, but not like this. Concrete curls?!?

[garypl]

21 minutes ago, Chief Filipino said:

Would NFO before dying help prevent this? 

 

I have never tried NFO before dyeing - but I have read on this forum about mixing NFO and dye to color leather.  I suggest experimenting on some scrap leather and see what works for your purposes!

Gary

[immiketoo]

Oil before dye will help the color set better and reduce streaks to a certain degree, but I don't know about the potato chip effect.  When dealing with thin leather, I place it under glass or weights to prevent curling.

 

[Chief Filipino]

On 7/3/2018 at 8:37 AM, garypl said:

I have never tried NFO before dyeing - but I have read on this forum about mixing NFO and dye to color leather.  I suggest experimenting on some scrap leather and see what works for your purposes!

Gary

I'll experiment and see what I get! Thank you!

 

On 7/3/2018 at 9:42 AM, immiketoo said:

Oil before dye will help the color set better and reduce streaks to a certain degree, but I don't know about the potato chip effect.  When dealing with thin leather, I place it under glass or weights to prevent curling.

 

The glass idea sounds good but I think I'll have to wait until I have an actual shop space/room instead of my teeny space I have at the moment. 

[immiketoo]

I just bought a glass cutting board without texture from the grocery store.  Its the same size as my slab and it works for most projects. I have also been known to use brass weights or my leather weights to hold pieces flat til they dry.

[TheCyberwolfe]

I was taught to oil before dye, and I haven't had much problem with edge curl. I don't do a lot of thins stuff, so maybe that's helped me.

If that sheep leather reacts like that to surface dye, perhaps a dip-dye method would help.