Sealing/ leather care

[MichelleWall]

Ok, so I’ve been working leather for a year or so and am still learning a lot. What do you put over top of your leather projects that you paint so that it doesn’t crack? I went to Tandy leather and they just told me to use the satin shene but I don’t think that’s enough. Or maybe I’m not doing enough coats 

[Northmount]

@MichelleWall Moved your post to Dyes, Antiques, Stains, Glues, Waxes, Finishes and Conditioners

Have you looked through this part of the forum?

Tom

 

[MichelleWall]

@Northmount no I haven’t yet. Having trouble figuring out where everything is lol

[Alaisiagae]

What brand of paints are you using?

[Danne]

15 hours ago, MichelleWall said:

Ok, so I’ve been working leather for a year or so and am still learning a lot. What do you put over top of your leather projects that you paint so that it doesn’t crack? I went to Tandy leather and they just told me to use the satin shene but I don’t think that’s enough. Or maybe I’m not doing enough coats 

I think you need to share a little bit more information here. Do you dye leather? or do you paint on it with acrylic paint like Angelus? 

 

[Northmount]

1 hour ago, MichelleWall said:

Having trouble figuring out where everything is

If you go to the home page and scroll down, you will find the forum names along with descriptions.  There is also a search box upper right.  When you get into the search you have options as to what search parameters you want to use.  You can also do Google searches like this:  "site:leatherworker.net finishes top coat" without the quotation marks.  The site parameter restricts Google to searching the site specified.  Add what ever parameters following that you want to search for.  It is a Google search so follows all their standard conventions.

Tom

[MichelleWall]

On 8/19/2020 at 11:35 AM, Northmount said:

If you go to the home page and scroll down, you will find the forum names along with descriptions.  There is also a search box upper right.  When you get into the search you have options as to what search parameters you want to use.  You can also do Google searches like this:  "site:leatherworker.net finishes top coat" without the quotation marks.  The site parameter restricts Google to searching the site specified.  Add what ever parameters following that you want to search for.  It is a Google search so follows all their standard conventions.

Tom

Thanks!

 

On 8/19/2020 at 10:25 AM, Danne said:

I think you need to share a little bit more information here. Do you dye leather? or do you paint on it with acrylic paint like Angelus? 

 

I’ve dyed the leather using the eco Flo brand and then painted with acrylic paint. Then put the satin shene over top 

On 8/19/2020 at 10:08 AM, Alaisiagae said:

What brand of paints are you using?

I have been using regular acrylic craft paint. Someone on here told me a while back that the only difference between the paints is price. But I have been investing in the eco flo brand paints since then

[Danne]

15 minutes ago, MichelleWall said:

Thanks!

 

I’ve dyed the leather using the eco Flo brand and then painted with acrylic paint. Then put the satin shene over top 

I have very little experience with dye and painting leather. But if you have painted on your leather with an acrylic paint like Angelus, I would say you need an acrylic finisher on top. And Eco-Flo satin shene (Which I guess you use) is an acrylic finisher, if it's good enough for sealing your acrylic paint is something someone else have to answer. Also have a look at the brand of acrylic paint you use, what finish do they sell. If you use Angelus they have a couple of different acrylic finishes. (matte, satin, normal and high gloss) 

Edited August 20, 2020 by Danne

[Alaisiagae]

The Cova-Color paints are different from craft paints, they are not the same. Cova-color is formulated to be more flexible and not crack when dry. At least, that's what I was told by the Tandy employee when I asked about it. It's cool that they now carry Angelus, that seems to be the gold standard, but I'm still happy with my Cova-Colors. Before I bought cova colors, I tried to use craft acrylic paints (for outdoors items, so it was viscous), but that paint would fade when I dyed the piece and I think it didn't play nice with the finish either, from what I recall. 

I've used Neat-Lac on leather with painted portions, it works fine for that purpose, too. First I neat-lac the painted areas so they'll resist the dyes more, and then I apply dye to everything with my wool dauber, and use a paper towel to quickly wipe dye off the painted bits. Probably not the most effective way to do things, so I'm all ears for tips and tricks. Thing I learned: don't paint after dyeing, especially a dark dye. I put on, like, 10 layers of white over a mahogany dye and the paint just turned pink forever.