Dyeing has gone patchy

[CutThumb]

Hi there,

Hi, I’ve dyed this 6oz  eg tanned leather, three coats applied with a dauber. It’s Fiebings oil mahogany. I’ve also applied one coat on the flesh side, after burnishing it. It’s patchy, and there are variations in the surface reflection when held up to light. Do I just keep coating it? It wasn’t 100% dry, after casing, when I applied the first coat. I waited 4-5 hours between coats. Any advice would be great, as would pointers where I’ve gone wrong. TIA.

[battlemunky]

I've had this happen myself. I think it is just something that happens and is either extremely hard to control 100% or impossible. Sometimes dying is just inconsistent.

[CutThumb]

  On 10/24/2018 at 12:55 PM, battlemunky said:

I've had this happen myself. I think it is just something that happens and is either extremely hard to control 100% or impossible. Sometimes dying is just inconsistent.

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Thanks. I thought I’d gone wrong somewhere, but that’s reassuring. I’ll give it a couple more coats and see if I can rescue it!

[CutThumb]

  On 10/24/2018 at 12:55 PM, battlemunky said:

I've had this happen myself. I think it is just something that happens and is either extremely hard to control 100% or impossible. Sometimes dying is just inconsistent.

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So two more coats, and a lot of conditioner, and it turned out ok, phew. Just sold it for £40.

 

 

[Jack1970]

When I first saw it I was going to recommend buffing it like crazy but it looks like you got it all worked out.  Nice work!  Turned out great!

[Sheilajeanne]

My thoughts would be the patchiness might have been due to the leather not being completely dry. Parts of it were likely dryer than others, thus the patchiness.

Anyway, glad you rescued it!

Um, what is it, exactly?? 

Edited October 28, 2018 by Sheilajeanne

[immiketoo]

This happened because of the inconsistencies when using a dauber.  They are heavily loaded at the beginning and lose dye as you move it.  There are very few colors that will apply smoothly at anything less than 100% saturation.  This is why people gravitate toward dip dyeing or air brush.  Lighter tones are possible with thinned dye when dipped and sprayed.  It CAN be done by thinning and daubering (made that word up), in circles, but I've never had the patience to figure it out.

Looks like you had good luck with full strength.

[CutThumb]

Yeah I’m finding the daubering (!) a bit of a chore. I need to investigate other methods. I’m going to try dipping next.

It’s a notebook. I made one for my wife and put it on Facebook, and have quite a few orders. The design was from a guy who wanted three runes put together. I don’t actually like it! But he was made up with it, so I’m happy.

[fredk]

As well as dipping try regular household sponges. The ones you can get 10 for £1 at Home Bargains, Poundland, Tesco etcetera

For bigger stuff and more than one in a dye session dipping is the way, but if you have only one, two or three items of modest size, thinned dye put on with a sponge is handier

[CutThumb]

  On 10/28/2018 at 11:42 PM, fredk said:

As well as dipping try regular household sponges. The ones you can get 10 for £1 at Home Bargains, Poundland, Tesco etcetera

For bigger stuff and more than one in a dye session dipping is the way, but if you have only one, two or three items of modest size, thinned dye put on with a sponge is handier

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That makes sense. I tried a REALLY cheap sponge a while back and it disintegrated, so I’ll level up and get something with a brand name

Aside from the patchiness this stuff had a weird, almost metallic, sheen to it after the third coat, caught the light funny. I guess it’s all a learning curve eh. 

[Dwight]

It is not a 100%, . . . absolute, . . . "dyed in the wool", . . . cure:  but it comes awful close.

I ran into this problem some time back, . . . and found "my" solution.

1.  24 hours drying time from the very last stroke or stamp on a cased piece of leather.  No heat, . . .  just room temperature (70 or so F).

2.  Apply a light coat of neatsfoot oil, . . . and let dry another 24 hours.

3.  Dip dye everything, . . . I use Feibings oil dyes and spirit dyes, . . . all are cut 1 to 1 with thinner.

I no longer have hardly any of that splotchy and streaky looking dye jobs.  They are basically uniform, with the exception of the grain of the leather.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited October 29, 2018 by Dwight

[CutThumb]

  On 10/29/2018 at 1:55 PM, Dwight said:

It is not a 100%, . . . absolute, . . . "dyed in the wool", . . . cure:  but it comes awful close.

I ran into this problem some time back, . . . and found "my" solution.

1.  24 hours drying time from the very last stroke or stamp on a cased piece of leather.  No heat, . . .  just room temperature (70 or so F).

2.  Apply a light coat of neatsfoot oil, . . . and let dry another 24 hours.

3.  Dip dye everything, . . . I use Feibings oil dyes and spirit dyes, . . . all are cut 1 to 1 with thinner.

I no longer have hardly any of that splotchy and streaky looking dye jobs.  They are basically uniform, with the exception of the grain of the leather.

May God bless,

Dwight

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 Cool, thanks. I’ll try this with my next piece. What do you cut your oil dye with? Hope it isn’t something you can only get on the States!

[Dwight]

  On 10/29/2018 at 3:19 PM, CutThumb said:

 Cool, thanks. I’ll try this with my next piece. What do you cut your oil dye with? Hope it isn’t something you can only get on the States!

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I use Feibings dye reducer and thinner.  Some folks on here apparently use everything from water to diesel fuel, . . .

After messing around with some of their suggestions, . . . I went back to this formula, . . . works great.

When I buy a bottle of dye (4 oz), I buy a bottle of thinner for it.  Open one, . . . open the other, . . . pour em into my bottle for that dye, . . . shake well, . . . good to go.

Yeah, . . . they probably save some money, . . . but with this formula I don't have to guess, . . . wonder, . . . worry, . . . or hope, . . . "how will it turn out???".  AND, . . . I don't throw out as many  junk pieces because the dye was the wrong color, . . . wrong shade, . . . splotchy, . . . etc.

May God bless,

Dwight