Dying Leather (Bull skin)

[ChayaRo]

Hi ,

Does anyone here have any knowledge or tips on how to get a nice glossy finish when I dye the skin?

[Rahere]

We'll need to know a lot more before we can advise or explain, I'm afraid. What skin is it, how's it been tanned, what are you intending to use it for, for example. A plasticised chrome tand

 and a veg tan used for tooling are very different things, and the finishes needed differ correspondingly.

[JohnnyLongpants]

In general, you will want to dye it, not apply too much oil to it (as oil can make it difficult to make it shine), and then either coat it with diluted Resolene or shine it up with cream polish (shoe cream) and paste polish (shoe polish)... depending on the type of glossy finish you want.  You can also coat with Resolene after polishing.  Search Youtube for videos on the specifics of shoe shining, as  they are shining leather shoes.

... unless you are looking for something like a patent leather finish, in which case you will be dealing with either linseed oil or urethane to obtain the sheen.

[ChayaRo]

On 6/15/2021 at 7:13 AM, Rahere said:

We'll need to know a lot more before we can advise or explain, I'm afraid. What skin is it, how's it been tanned, what are you intending to use it for, for example. A plasticised chrome tand

 and a veg tan used for tooling are very different things, and the finishes needed differ correspondingly.

Thanks for your reply, 

It is a bulls head skin

We are looking for a result for both - chrome and vegan . 

We are trying to dye the skin both ways right now. 

it is intended to become  religious wearable product.

[ChayaRo]

On 6/18/2021 at 3:11 PM, JohnnyLongpants said:

In general, you will want to dye it, not apply too much oil to it (as oil can make it difficult to make it shine), and then either coat it with diluted Resolene or shine it up with cream polish (shoe cream) and paste polish (shoe polish)... depending on the type of glossy finish you want.  You can also coat with Resolene after polishing.  Search Youtube for videos on the specifics of shoe shining, as  they are shining leather shoes.

... unless you are looking for something like a patent leather finish, in which case you will be dealing with either linseed oil or urethane to obtain the sheen.

Thanks for your reply! 

The most important thing for us is that the color and polish finish stays on for long . 

It iis a product used to wear on the arm and gets a lot of sweat, therfor we need something strong that wont rub off the polish .

we tried the shoe  polish you suggested ,  thank you for that but it didnt stay on for long. 

We would like to try the linseed and urethane as well but would like to know if it is for long time stay in your opinion

Thanks! 

[Rahere]

Ah, now I understand. Tefillin?

Working to that hypothesis, you're talking about small production volumes, so something like this https://www.autotanner.com/auto-tanners/stainless-steel may be a starting point, or lab-scale kit like https://www.unuo-instruments.com/leather-tanning-drums-ui-ft800/. Veg tanned most certainly, and using waxes to reach a high polish. It's laid down in layers - in the Army, we'd call it bulling. We use shoe polish in a flat tin, rather than liquid.

What they're after has very source-defined requirements, and they're producing two grades of leather, half-inch straps and a stronger box leather.. A veg tan is preferable, both for sourcing and polishing, this is old-school work. Chrome leather can offer an artificially high-gloss product, but the "artificially" is the no-no.

Another question might be to expand the issue of wax polishes. Beeswax would be a fine starting point. Any prefered natural colourings, folja? Apply in thin layers, abd buff strongly to melt it into the grain of the leather pores.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Rahere

[JohnnyLongpants]

On 6/23/2021 at 4:34 PM, ChayaRo said:

Thanks for your reply! 

The most important thing for us is that the color and polish finish stays on for long . 

It iis a product used to wear on the arm and gets a lot of sweat, therfor we need something strong that wont rub off the polish .

we tried the shoe  polish you suggested ,  thank you for that but it didnt stay on for long. 

We would like to try the linseed and urethane as well but would like to know if it is for long time stay in your opinion

Thanks! 

Why don't you tell us specifically what you are trying to achieve, because your original question was so broad and vague that it would be nearly impossible to give a targeted answer specific to your situations and requirements.

If you want a glossy finish on a piece of leather (without saying whether you wanted aniline translucent-type dye or and even, surface-only, opaque type dye), and that happens to be bull--which, we will assume, is cow instead of the myriad of other species of animals from which they make leather, since 'bull' mostly just means that it is from the male of the species...

I don't know if you are dyeing shoes or dyeing automotive interiors.

So, my last answer is this: use leather-specific acrylic surface dye aka acrylic paint (but only acrylic paint that is specifically made for leather).  Examples include Angelus and Wood-N-Stuff Leather Restore.   After you apply a few thin coats, use a very fine abrasive surface to smooth out the layers you have applied, and then applied a glossy topcoat that is made by the same company.  Use only one company's products for this and be sure to follow all directions without skipping anything, including prep or sealer.

Linseed oil has its own problems.  Among them, the rags you use to apply it can spontaneously combust.

Shellac can work great, too, but it is sensitive to alcohols.  

Urethane has its own problems.  Among them, you need respirators to apply it via a spray gun like automotive paint and if the respirator is not used,  just a few seconds of exposure can cause permanent, irreparable, brain damage.  But it will last the longest.

See the challenge?  If you want a permanent solution that can be applied to an un-specified surface without giving any indication of what it will be exposed to, then it is very difficult to answer the question correctly the first time because we have to guess your experience level, what material you are actually using, how sophisticated your setup is (home hobbyist or large-scale manufacturer), etc., etc., ad nauseum.  

Even the solutions I gave you will not last forever.  What you SHOULD do is buy leather that already has a finish that matches what you want.  That way, leather chemists and experts can use industrial processes and safety procedures to create those finishes.  Maybe that's too expensive and you are doing this on a shoestring.  How would anyone know?  All of that information was left out of the request.

Shoe polish works great... assuming you apply it correctly.  But it will not last forever.  Neither will the leather.  Again, what are you trying to achieve?

In fact, none of these solutions will work forever and none of them will stick forever unless you get into a plastic or vinyl-based product.  That creates its own ethical, pollution, moral, and environmental concerns.

Even rocks wear away.  Better questions will get better answers, but they won't be from me.  Can you see the difficulty or frustration someone trying to answer you could face?

[Rahere]

I'm hypothesising from his availability pattern and reticence that he's producing an orthodox Jewish religious article of prayer which consists of long straps and very small boxes. The Beth Din religious courrt sets fairly generous specifications, but faith group leaders can be very picky indeed on the source and processing of the materials. His volumes aren't likely to be large, therefore, but organic quality will be a very valuable premium. Bought leather will not work, nor shoe polish, but if I'm correct the haberdashery business of William Gee will know exactly what dyes and glues will work.