Of dye and such

Jeremy Barnard

Jeremy Barnard

Joined
Jun 15, 2006
Messages
853
I've tried both eco flo and fiebing dye. I can not figure out how to get an even finish with these wool daubers. It always has streaks where I go back and fourth applying the dye. I even tried to wet the leather. Any tips?
 
I use the Eco-flo dyes and I apply them with a piece of the blue heavy duty paper towels. I usually go over the leather a couple of times until the color evens out. It works pretty well for me. Here are a couple of pics.
photobucket-13263-1317168286863.jpg

photobucket-7599-1317168240819.jpg
 
Eco flow will never go totally even without a lot of fuss and muss, I've gotten it to work somewhat well out of necessity because of the color needed.

As for the Fiebings, if your using the spirit dye, you can get an even color (with practice) in a couple of ways. I've heard that dampening the leather well with water and swirling the dye on quickly will work. I haven't tried it but I've seen the results. Another is a touch of mineral oil on the dauber, swirl a touch of oil on the dauber and dip it in the dye then swirl it on the leather in concentric circles, evenly and quickly. It will look uneven at first, but will dry evenly.

The best overall solution, and a little more expensive, is the Fiebings Pro Oil dye. It goes on evenly. Use the concentric circles and swirl the dye on evenly. Try to get enough in the dauber to not have to stop in the middle of the project to reload. The dye slowly lightens and evens as it cures in.

Do not use back and fourth motions, you cause stripes that way, always use the swirls that overlap a bit.

Hope this helps a little.
 
I buy the regular Fiebings dye and add about a teaspoon of olive oil to the bottle (small size). This saves the cost and still gets the advantage of an oil added to the leather. Before doing the dye, I totally wet the leather to the point of having it drip. Then the dye is applied without much concern for circular motion. Has worked well with all colors on good veg-tan leather. Does take longer to dry, but you can speed that up by putting the piece in a food dehydrator for a bit.
 
As mentioned above, thats how those dyes are. The best result I got was when I used large piece of wool so that I didnt have to run to many times through the leather nad the leather was damp. On the other hand since I know how they work, I use them when I want to get that uneven, rustic look. Some customers actually ask for that.

Best
Mat
 
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