Looking for Top Coat advice

[LionHeart]

Hey guys.  I have been finishing up my first leather belt project and was very pleased with how it turned out.  Problem is, I had it laid out this morning to admire it and got a fairly large drop of water on the face of it.

I began to realize that water stains leather and that this water drop has just ruined my belt.  I tried to lightly sand the stain before realizing how deeply it had penitrated.  I sanded, and sanded, and sanded.  Out of pure frustration I determined that I was going to absolutely get to the bottom of the stain no matter what.

I took out a square blade and began to remove bits of leather until I had created a huge divot.

Sigh, as far as I am concerned the belt is ruined and it is time to start over.  Lesson learned.

What I'm looking for now is a top coat that can be applied to make the next belt be able to withstand water exposure, and hopefully prevent color transfer onto my britches.

I am looking for something that will have the least affect on the color of the belt, and with absolutely as little shine or gloss as possible.

For reference, this is a picture of the belt before I ruined it.  Is there a top coat, protectant, or finish I can apply that would retain a somewhat matte finish and not darken the belt too much.  Resolene seems to be pretty popular but just looking for any suggestions you guys are willing to offer.  Thanks.

[courtney]

Dude! water spots probably would dry and go back to the normal color, or you could have dipped the whole thing in water to even it out and let it dry. Don’t cut stains out! Yeah, there’s a lot of top coat sealants, I’m not sure which ones are matte though

[LionHeart]

I let the belt sit for quite a while in hopes that the spot would dry.  Then hit it lightly with a blow dryer.  It became clear that the stain was there to stay.  Exposing the rest of the belt to water in order to make it the same color would make the rest of the belt just as dark as the stain, thus rendering it way darker than what I am willing to accept.

As sick as I am about it, I'd rather just start over than have the whole belt super dark.  Thanks anyway though.

 

[fredk]

I now prefer Klear/Future/Pledge with Future shine (check the name, they keep changing it!) for sealing and waterproofing leather. 

Despite its name as a floor 'polish' its actually a water thin acrylic varnish. Two or three coats will do your job. The more you put on the glossier it becomes. To counter this you can add some talc powder in the final application, or go over the item with a fine grade, eg 2000, wet & dry grit paper used dry. Thin the Klear/etc with some water, about 3 K to 1w, or 1 to 1. The K dries pretty fast and thinning it will help it soak in before it does.

Also, note: you can never make leather totally waterproof but you can get close to it.

[Spyros]

Μate I don't think you can actually waterproof leather... you can make it repellent to a degree and for a period of time by applying stuff on it but eventually you will need to repeat the process (which, to be honest, 99% of people don't do unless it's a saddle or something).    It's an uphill battle.  Like, how many times have you heard someone say "oh, here's the reminder on my phone, it's been 18 months since I bought my belt, time to service it.  Now where are those instructions ..."  LOL

Most water stains will eventually disappear or blend in overtime with the natural darkening of the leather.  I wear natural color veg tan watch straps finished with just some carnauba cream, and sometimes I remember to take it off in the shower or when I wash my hands, and sometimes i don't.   It gets splashed a lot, and then I take it off and let it dry, and to this day I can't see any visible water stains.    

But, there are countless different types of leather.   If your particular leather stains very visibly and this bothers you, I would simply not use that type of leather again.   Ian Atkinson has a comparative of water resistant finishes on youtube  (I can't remember the conclusion, I love his videos and I've learned a lot but damn they are loooooooooong*).  You can see in the video how water droplet stains disappear over time in most cases.

https://youtu.be/zyTg_hfpNUM 

 

Edit: don't forget to check out shoe finishes, they keep trying to waterproof shoes (and keep failing ). 

*highly recommended when hand stitching and you have a couple of hours to kill.

Edited August 10, 2020 by Spyros

[billybopp]

An acrylic finish does a reasonably good job of promoting water resistance (as mentioned above, water proof is not really possible).  You also mentioned that you do not want a shiny finish such as Resolene (probably the most popular acrylic finish) yields.  A good alternative would be Tandy's Satin Sheen or Angelus acrylic finisher( available in high gloss, Satin, and Matte).

- Bill

[LionHeart]

On 8/9/2020 at 4:24 PM, fredk said:

I now prefer Klear/Future/Pledge with Future shine (check the name, they keep changing it!) for sealing and waterproofing leather. 

Despite its name as a floor 'polish' its actually a water thin acrylic varnish. Two or three coats will do your job. The more you put on the glossier it becomes. To counter this you can add some talc powder in the final application, or go over the item with a fine grade, eg 2000, wet & dry grit paper used dry. Thin the Klear/etc with some water, about 3 K to 1w, or 1 to 1. The K dries pretty fast and thinning it will help it soak in before it does.

Also, note: you can never make leather totally waterproof but you can get close to it.

Thanks Fred.  Got any pictures of projects where you have used this stuff?  Thanks

[LionHeart]

Anyone have any experience or opinion on Zelikovitz Top Coat?

[fredk]

6 hours ago, LionHeart said:

Thanks Fred.  Got any pictures of projects where you have used this stuff?  Thanks

I chose these two as you can just make out the reflection of the semi-shiney surface. The Klear/etc makes the small valet tray water resistant enough for it to work as a drinks coaster