Paint is not working well with my dyed leather. Help!

[Jerr]

So I am making one of tandys baseball kits, there are two pre-cut pieces of leather. I dyed one blue and the other red. I then stamped a name into each piece and I took white acrylic paint that says it is for leather use, and I attempted to paint the stamped letters white. Problem is the letters on the blue one dried baby blue and the red one dried pink. I figured it was just because of the dye maybe it wasn't dry enough so I would add another layer. I did and it did not help, I have since done approximately 7 layers, letting each one dry and then doing another and still my letters are pink and baby blue, I want complete white. Any suggestions for how I achieve this? or how many different layers I should expect it to take?

[Rockoboy]

Once your dye bleeds through the 1st layer, it will keep bleeding through until ... forever!

If you can start again, I would mask the lettering before dye is applied, then remove the masking and carefully apply the paint.

Keep your first attempt as a test piece/reminder/evidence etc.

Disclaimer: I have only used leather paint on a couple of occasions, so while I understand house paint principles, I could be way off the mark with leather paint. Hopefully somebody with real knowledge will be along soon.

 

After better information came through ...

I am happy to see that people who know what they are talking about, stepped up with good advice. It appears that leather coatings are so far removed from paint coatings that I have experience with.

I have seen stains and marks bleed through domestic acrylic paint coatings after 30 coats with no trace of reducing the amount of staining, until the painter used the correct undercoat. 

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Rockoboy
After better information came through

[mikesc]

What was/were the dye(s ) ( brand etc ) and what was the paint ( brand etc )  specifically..

Normally if you are going to paint over dye, to be safe ( especially with white over strong colour dyes ) you'd want to seal the dye first..with acrylic sealer.

[Jerr]

9 minutes ago, mikesc said:

What was/were the dye(s ) ( brand etc ) and what was the paint ( brand etc )  specifically..

Normally if you are going to paint over dye, to be safe ( especially with white over strong colour dyes ) you'd want to seal the dye first..with acrylic sealer.

The paint is decoart white patent leather. the dye was from tandys off the top of my head I cant think of the name but its the main brand they have there I think fiebing. So do I need to scrape the paint off and then put a coating on and repaint? if so will resolene coating work? I have that but I don't know what the acrylic sealer is.

[ABHandmade]

The question is - does the paint fall unevenly and you get streaking, or do you manage to achieve a smooth color, but is it not white, but baby blue / pink?
Could you attach a photo?
Based on my little experience, 5-7 layers of quality artists acrylic paint are enough to get pure white on area that was previously dyed with any color. To get a uniform color, I use a special acrylic diluent and a very small amount of water.

Edited June 21, 2019 by ABHandmade

[mikesc]

Not being in the USA, I don't know either your paints nor your dyes ( but, the reason I asked was so that others , ( who might know them ) could advise..But..I do know ( from the MSDS ) that resolene is a water based clear resin..so applying it pure ( neat ) to the areas that you want to paint, should seal in the dyes ( clear acrylic resin is another name for acrylic sealer ) ..Let it dry well ( at least 24 to 48 hours.than paint your white over it.

ABHandmade ::waves:: ( who I think has used the paints that you mention , I see has posted while I was typing) so..he may well have advised..  :)

[fredk]

Try sealing what you have done with two coats of 'Pledge with Future Shine'** polish which is actually a thin acrylic varnish. No more than three coats as it will start to be thick and become inflexible

** or what ever it is currently called - they keep changing the name!!

[Northmount]

After applying dye, let it dry 24 hours, buff off the dyed area until no more comes off, your white rag stays white.  If you used Tandy's ecoflow stuff, it is water based and many solvents will loosen it up and mix with the solvent (that is in your paint).  So as mentioned above, it may need to be sealed before adding the paint.

Do some testing on a scrap piece of leather, same type as you are using.

Tom

[mrwatch]

acrylic paint is some what naturally  transparent. Did you try acrylic white Gesso primer. Many paints are beginner grade and mostly filler and less pigment. Winsor & Newton professional grade is best. I have not painted leather.  

[robs456]

Make sure it's dry then buff the dye to remove excess.

Then you can seal it with a finisher if you wish but the acrylics should act as a sealer.

Put a light gray base coat. I tend to always do this but it's very important when painting white.

Make sure the base coat is dry then start putting thin layers of white, drying thoroughly between coats. Keep going until happy. 

Finish by putting on a few coats of clear or regular finisher if you don't have clear acrylics. This may not be required if the item won't see any use and abuse...

I use an airbrush so the multiple layers don't add up a lot of thickness, if you use a brush make sure you make your coats as thin as possible and don't build up brush marks. 

Here's an example of some cardholders I painted with this technique, note that I added a tiny bit of yellow to the white, otherwise the white shines too much I think. (The left one sold, the right one seems to be 'too violent'...)