Re-dying finished and tooled leather products

[Bobadouba]

Hey everyone, 

we’ve been vending our leather goods at craft fairs and festivals this year and we’ve ran into an issue with the dyes fading after sitting in the sun.

I’ve researched a few products that can protect against this UV damage but I’d like to hit them with dye again before protecting them. 

My question is, what would be the process for pulling off the finish so that I may accomplish this? 

I imagine using denatured alcohol would take it off but I feel like I may just end up with sloppy gooey mess of resolene and antique spread over the whole piece. 

Anybody have any experience with anything like this?

Thank you everyone!!!

[Handstitched]

I've never had to remove ' Resolene' ,we don't get that here in Australia.  Is that like Neatlac ? 

I have removed a   sealer using  alcohol spirit like acetone on an old handbag, .....  it wasn't pretty, but it worked. 

However, saying that , after cleaning up the mess I made and letting it dry, and re-applying an antique dye & sealer,  it didn't turn out too bad. But it was a darker dye than the original . 

I too do markets, fairs,  country shows etc.  I do make sure my stock  is out of direct sunlight, even if it means moving some stock around during the day as the sun moves around, or adding extra shade to my stall. 

HS 

[Norton Custom Leather]

Fibbing's has a Deglazer that I use every time I need to refinish anything that needs the finish removed.

[Bobadouba]

Thank you so much for the responses. I’m going to give both of these a try on something small. See how it goes. I think we can also adjust our setup a little in order to minimize damage. Thank you, again. I really appreciate your time and help. 

[mikesc]

Remember, anything that can take off a finish is likely to be very bad for your health if you breathe it*..and is probably inflammable with a low flash point..
So..only do the "removing" outside, or in a well ventilated room, with a fan or similar set up to "suck" the vapour away from you..
Get a volatile solvents mask..3M do some good ones with cartridges, the cartridges are good for around 8 hours before you need to change them, you wont notice by any vapour smell that they need changing, so make a note of how much time you are using them , when not using them and the mask keep them in a sealed zip lock bog..

alcohol spirit like acetone

acetone is not an "alcohol spirit"..acetone and alcohol are not the same thing at all..

[ScoobyNewbie]

Great advice. Thanks!

[Norton Custom Leather]

Scooby, have you ever used acetone on leather? I have not is why I ask, tho i would caution using it. I have used acetone on many things like metal & oil based paint. 

 

[fredk]

11 hours ago, mikesc said:

Remember, anything that can take off a finish is likely to be very bad for your health if you breathe it*..and is probably inflammable with a low flash point..
So..only do the "removing" outside, or in a well ventilated room, with a fan or similar set up to "suck" the vapour away from you..
Get a volatile solvents mask..3M do some good ones with cartridges, the cartridges are good for around 8 hours before you need to change them, you wont notice by any vapour smell that they need changing, so make a note of how much time you are using them , when not using them and the mask keep them in a sealed zip lock bog..

With Mike's warning.

I use cellulose thinners to cut through industrial finishes.

On work I have done meths will take off resolene, then I use the cellulose thinners to remove the dye.

I recently had a chap want some car fittings done in black; duly done, then he changes his mind and wants them in mid blue. Meths to take off the resolene then cellulose thinners to remove almost all the black dye - what was left was just a darkening of the leather.

cellulose thinners dries out the leather something wild so it needs a good feeding with nfo afterwards

[ScoobyNewbie]

No, I haven’t. I’ve only used acetone to clean paint off windows, as nail polish remover, and that’s pretty much all. I haven’t had anything but blood on my leather projects so far. I don’t (or haven’t yet) tried to refurbish a bag that needed that level of cleaning. Or any bags yet at all. Made one from a pattern, but that’s all. 

Why? Does it sound like I know what I’m doing? Nope. Strictly seat of my pants and projects for myself or vict... loved ones. All worthwhile info has come from these guys here and the guys at Tandy. I haven’t even really done much YouTube study. Amazing stuff out there, and in here. 

I have found a new sewing thingy you guys might like. I was in a sewing store the other week, and they had something called machingers. They are white, I think nylon gloves, with rubber tips for gripping needles. The tips work okay, but I wrap my fingers in paper towels or Kleenex or any other absorbent paper product available, pull on the machingers, and “bam”! No more blood on the highway!

Thanks fredk.

Edited October 19, 2018 by ScoobyNewbie

[Bobadouba]

1 hour ago, fredk said:

Meths to take off the resolene then cellulose thinners to remove almost all the black dye -

Not sure if meth is legal here. J/K.

Not sure exactly what kind of products we’re talking about here, though. I’ll do some research and try to figure what those products would be. Thank you again!!! You all are amazing.

[fredk]

3 hours ago, Bobadouba said:

Not sure if meth is legal here. J/K.

Not sure exactly what kind of products we’re talking about here, though. I’ll do some research and try to figure what those products would be. Thank you again!!! You all are amazing.

Sorry; I keep forgetting the language barrier.

Meths , short for methylated spirits, a wood alcohol, bought from every chemists [drug store] or even supermarket. Here it is dyed purple.

Cellulose thinners, aka lacquer thinner, for cellulose based paints which are mostly used on cars

[Rockoboy]

23 hours ago, Bobadouba said:

Not sure if meth is legal here

Meths or methylated spirits is also known as denatured alcohol.

[ScoobyNewbie]

I’m pretty sure he was making a joke guys.

[Sheilajeanne]

22 hours ago, fredk said:

Sorry; I keep forgetting the language barrier.

Meths , short for methylated spirits, a wood alcohol, bought from every chemists [drug store] or even supermarket. Here it is dyed purple.

Cellulose thinners, aka lacquer thinner, for cellulose based paints which are mostly used on cars

LOL!  Like they say, the United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language!  I had to think for a bit about meths, but eventually figured it out, as it is often called methylated spirits or methylated alcohol here in Canada.

[Gabriel Rasa]

I wouldn't recommend acetone -- yes, it'll take off the finish, but it's extremely caustic and it'll take off the top layer of your leather too. (I mean -- just think about the fact that there are literally no gloves that acetone won't eat through (butyl rubber will buy you the most time, but even that will lose in the end), and then think about what it's doing to the leather.) I used it on a project I wanted to re-dye, and I wish I hadn't, because it visibly, permanently dulled the surface. Even resolene couldn't bring back the shine afterward.

I haven't tried Fiebings deglazer (it's not legal where I live), but from what I've heard, it seems to be the tool for the job. (And everything else Fiebings makes is on point, so I believe it.)

[fredk]

Your acetone is quite different to mine.

I just checked the label on my bottle of industrial acetone. There is no mention of it being corrosive, to skin or anything. The label recommends its use for; removing fibre-glass resin from tools [which I use it for], as a strong de-greaser and as a nail polish remover. I also use it for cleaning up superglue bottle tops and spills, as a superglue release, and for cleaning adhesive gum off scissors and knife blades. In use I put some on a cloth and apply to the tool - I've never worn gloves with it and I have all the skin on all my fingers

[Gabriel Rasa]

2 minutes ago, fredk said:

Your acetone is quite different to mine.

I just checked the label on my bottle of industrial acetone. There is no mention of it being corrosive, to skin or anything. The label recommends its use for; removing fibre-glass resin from tools [which I use it for], as a strong de-greaser and as a nail polish remover. I also use it for cleaning up superglue bottle tops and spills, as a superglue release, and for cleaning adhesive gum off scissors and knife blades. In use I put some on a cloth and apply to the tool - I've never worn gloves with it and I have all the skin on all my fingers

Wild. O_o

The stuff I have causes an endothermic reaction with gloves, goes cold and shreds nitrile in under a minute. (I was using it to dilute alcohol-based dyes for dip-dyeing for a while, hence the gloves, cuz I didn't want to walk around with pitch-black hands afterward. XD) When I was using it to strip the sealant off the aforementioned project, I wasn't wearing gloves, just applying it with a rag and doing my best to keep it off my hands, but where it did get on me, it left a super-thin layer of dry, whitish skin. Not a big deal for the user, since skin cells replenish themselves so quickly, but leather can't exactly do that, so it's not something I'm keen to use anymore.