Leather Dye vs Antiquing

[Sleepywise]

Hi all!

I'm fairly new at leathercrafting and would like to explore dyes a little more. For my last project, due to budgetary constraints I simply used an antique gel as my dye, which I thought worked surprisingly well. I realize antiquing helps to give dimension to tooling whereas dyes are more uniform, but if I was going to antique anyway is there a specific reason to dye beforehand as well?

Thanks :D

[simo289]

Late to the party, but i stumbled on this looking for something else.

You might have already found your answer but here's me 2 pence anyway...

 

If you like the colour of undyed antiqued leather, then no, there's no need or reason to dye first.

The only reasons to dye before antiquing would be to get a differnt colour (most antiques are shades of brown) or to get a different shade/tone of brown. Worth noting that antiquing will darken the dyed colour some, how much depeneds on the shade of antique you're using

[Handstitched]

16 hours ago, simo289 said:

The only reasons to dye before antiquing would be to get a differnt colour

Might chime in here.

Exactly . I have done that. Eg. I put red  or yellow dye etc.  on before antique dye to change the tone  and/or to match the colour  a particular repair or  for a particular  project.

HS 

[lisanclark]

Absolutely! Dyeing your leather before antiquing helps to create a much richer, more vibrant color that will stay true even after antiquing. It also helps to create a protective barrier around the leather which can help prevent it from drying out. Additionally, dyeing beforehand can help you achieve a more consistent and even look when antiquing, as the dye makes it easier for the antique to stick and adhere better than if you were to just use an antique gel alone. Hope this helps!