Mistake with my dye/oil?

[Warhauk]

I heavily diluted some pink eco flo waterstain to get a light pink color which turned out...slightly worse than I had hoped. After it was completely dry, I applied some neatsfoot oil to it , what I thought was evenly and let it dry. Now it looks like this after roughly 24 hours. I'm wondering if I made a mistake in the process (like maybe I shouldn't have used the neatsfoot at all?) or  did I mess up in applying? Or is it okay like that and maybe will come out alright in the end?  Side note, I'm pretty sure the creasing/scratches were there when I started because I'm using cheaper leather sides and I just didn't notice them until I started the dye process.

[HandyDave]

Id buff the hell out of the pieces and that should help even everything out a little. And sometimes on the cheaper hides youll have alot of that scarring and marks. Even if you cant see any defects or if there very faint marks before you dye and finish they will allways show up big time once dyed. Only way to not have the scars and such is to buy better hides. Depending on whats being made the cheaper scarred leather can give a great rustic finish.

[tsunkasapa]

The scars and such are what makes leather interesting. If you want it blemish free, switch to paper.

[Hags]

Unfortunately,  these are cows, not cats. They rub up against things before and after tanning. After these are tanned, they sit in big piles and the one on top gets pulled off, it can leave a line you wont see until after stain and finish.  You are going to get the occasional wtf? I try to tell my customers this at the onset. Most of them welcome ths handmade, one of aspect of it. Go with it.

Edited December 9, 2021 by Hags
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[Dwight]

I learned a long time ago . . . a "light" coat of neatsfoot oil 24 hours BEFORE dying . . . makes EVERY dye job a lot better.

That is especially on the lighter colored dyes.

May God bless,

Dwight

[donohueleather]

5 hours ago, Hags said:

Unfortunately,  these are cows, not cats. They rub up against things before and after tanning. After these are tanned, they sit in big piles and the one on top gets pulled off, it can leave a line you wont see until after stain and finish.  You are going to get the occasional wtf? I try to tell my customers this at the onset. Most of them welcome ths handmade, one of aspect of it. Go with it.

Agree 100%. When I'm making a project, I'll sometimes wet the leather (very light case) to see where some of that might come up so I can incorporate it. Custom / one off / unique items are that much better when they have their own character. The same goes with applying colors / dye. (other than paint) when you apply dye to different leather, you'll get different results, even on the same piece, it's just how they absorb.

I say embrace it.

For what it's worth, I apply neatsfoot first, then dye. It seems to use less dye as well or maybe just goes on more evenly than otherwise.. I also use round pads for applying dye where I can (the kind you use for waxing your car), they apply a very even coat whether it's Feibings or Ecoflo.

If you REALLY have to have super consistent color.. you can buy pre-dyed / finished leather panels for the project. More $$$ per piece, but it'll be the same color throughout.

[Warhauk]

I appreciate all the input. It really does make me feel a bit better about the scarring, because personally I agree but I'm just not sure what general expectation is and don't want to be putting out low quality work. My specific concern was actually about the dark stain look that came from the neatsfoot oil and, those 2 pieces are actually going to be mostly bwhing another front pocket and I will be able to hide most if not all of that darkness, I was just wondering if it was something I did wrong. As for applying neatsfoot before dying, I have tried that on a few pieces but they are still stiff after I dye them. How do I soften them back up?