Fiebings Green Spirit Dye

leatherman

leatherman

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Just took my happy self to the local Tandy for an emergency supply pick up and found out that Fiebings is no longer making Green Dye!!!

Anyone have or know of a good supplier of Green Spirit Dye? I really hate the thought of using the water based mess, but any port in a storm..... :p
 
Sorry I have no idea or suggestions , but I'm interested in knowing what green dyed leather looks like , how dark is it ?
Do you have any photos that you could share ?
I'm slowly trying and experimenting with different colours , so I'm interested in seeing some green .


Ken
 
I didn't know Fiebings made green dye or do you mean green paint? KT Sorry my fault I just saw it. KT
 
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The shades you can get from the dye run the gambit from very light to a nice dark emerald. Add an antique over that and you get some great effects. Some of these are antiqued and some not. :) I had to grab some water based dye, I'll report on that after I get some swatches done. :D













 
Leatherman There is some Fiebings green oil leather dye on ebay for sale. KT Leather looks good.
 
vaalpens said:
You can always try http://angelusdirect.com/. They have lots of colors and I have heard good things about them. I have not used Angelus dyes yet, but is on my to-do list.

My local Tandy store does not stock all the Fiebing's colors. http://springfieldleather.com/ still has the green listed.

Good luck.
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Thanks for the heads up! :)
kid terico said:
I didn't know Fiebings made green dye or do you mean green paint? KT Sorry my fault I just saw it. KT
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kid terico said:
Leatherman There is some Fiebings green oil leather dye on ebay for sale. KT Leather looks good.
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Ah hah! Thanks for the lead, I'll go take a peek! :D
 
Whoo, shipping is a killer on that stuff! Hazardous materials charge. Bah! :p Better that than nothing. :)
 
Sweet! I'll be searching those out. :)

UPDATE on the water based dye. So far so good, its a different technique all together to get this stuff to go even. I'll post my findings soon, hopefully to help out those who want to explore this avenue.
 
After an all night sit to let it dry, so far the green water based dye is looking good. :) I have a picture to download soon.

Seems the key to this stuff is to be consistent and level with your applications. Each one should be heavy, flooding the leather very well and evenly. Use an overlapping swirl, moving quickly and evenly. The liquid will try to puddle, its important that you continue to go over the area till its even.

One session is all it took, with the spirit dye I had to go over it in several sessions after each application was good and dry to get it dark enough. And after all that I had one very dry piece of leather.

I've got some testing to do on the swatches, I want to know how far this stuff penetrates and how resistant it is to abrasion.

More to come! So far I'm not disappointed. :D
 
Here's what it looks like so far, before the final finish, and possible antique highlighter.



The photo is a little off, it actually looks darker in person, I didn't notice till I posted it. I'll try to get a better pic.....

EDIT: I edited in the more true to life picture. :D
 
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One other thing that is very important with any dye and/or stain. Clean Your Leather! That chunk of animal hide has made a journey from the tannery to you and most likely several hands. Oils and dust get into the pores of the leather and will act as a resist.

Tap water, especially if its really hard water like we have here out of the aquifer, will show itself in the dyeing stages as a lighter spot. If you wet a small area to put your makers mark, you will see that as a blotch of lighter dye. Using hot water out of your water heater seems to lessen the effect, but a gallon of R/O or better yet distilled water is a cheap insurance.

Clean leather is a good thing. :)
 
leatherman said:
The shades you can get from the dye run the gambit from very light to a nice dark emerald. Add an antique over that and you get some great effects. Some of these are antiqued and some not. :) I had to grab some water based dye, I'll report on that after I get some swatches done. :D













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Those are some cool color effects, I've heard great thing from those dyes, living in So. Cal they don't sell oil dyes or spirit dyes. I've had to use water based. But I like the colors you get from them, took some time getting use to.
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Very true, the water based dyes are maddening at their best but I think I can make them work in a pinch. With some serious tenacity and watching the application process closely I think the possibilities are good so far.

Now that said, I dont know if I can get those nice soft transitions in water based dye yet, but the possibility is there. The slow dry rate is encouraging because that is what makes the oil dye so good at making transitions that arent hard edged.

I will be getting a few more colors in the near future for testing those effects. I need at least two more colors to get the ball rolling.

Also, I took quite a few classes in my Art studies at Texas Tech on pigment types and this stuff is eerily familiar in the way it acts and how I can manipulate it. So the dry pigments I can get from the art suppliers for printmaking and other arts is looking rather interesting. I might be able to apply some paint techniques, dry brushing and blending/washing, the vistas are starting to open to breaking out of this leathercraft box! I dont have to or need to buy or use leather craft only pigments! :D
 
Daaaaang... I just now saw this thread. Dude, those are some stunner for sure. You know I love the inlay.

Not sure if you found a source for the dye, but green Fiebings spirit was in my first order from SLC. That's a huge bummer that they are no longer making it, it's so pretty. I think I'll order a couple of bottles. That reminds me, does dye have a long, or short shelf life? I ask because my local cobblers carry a few spirit based colors, but they look fairly old. Great prices ($4 out the door for a 4oz bottle), but I don't want to buy them if they are too old. I grabbed some yellow (yes I'm weird), but haven't cracked it open yet.

Again, beautiful work man!
 
Has anyone tried mixing a bit of brown with the green dye to make an OD color? I've always been curious how that would have turned out....
 
Strigamort said:
Daaaaang... I just now saw this thread. Dude, those are some stunner for sure. You know I love the inlay.

Not sure if you found a source for the dye, but green Fiebings spirit was in my first order from SLC. That's a huge bummer that they are no longer making it, it's so pretty. I think I'll order a couple of bottles. That reminds me, does dye have a long, or short shelf life? I ask because my local cobblers carry a few spirit based colors, but they look fairly old. Great prices ($4 out the door for a 4oz bottle), but I don't want to buy them if they are too old. I grabbed some yellow (yes I'm weird), but haven't cracked it open yet.

Again, beautiful work man!
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Thanks! :) Yea, old dye is a crap shoot. If its not opened then you might get a good one. Spirit dyes tend to settle out and that is ok but some if left to sit too long will form crystals that absolutely refuse to mix back in. I have two old dye bottle that have these crystals in them, sounds like little pebbles in the bottle. If the seller doesnt mind you doing it, shake the bottles and listen for the little rocks. They do make a rattle.
Goose_52 said:
Has anyone tried mixing a bit of brown with the green dye to make an OD color? I've always been curious how that would have turned out....
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Ah! If I get some water based brown in hand I'll give it a shot. So far I've been intrigued by the stuff and its similarity to water color in application, but thankfully water fast after it cures in and sealed. That would make for an interesting offering if it works. If you try it before I get to it please do post your results.
 
Good to know. I'm shaking the bottle of yellow like a maraca and it feels fine. Nice too, I don't usually feel this festive right before a(nother) long shift at the factory. :D
 
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