OT - leather question

[on_the_edge]

Once a sheath is a particular color, how easy is it (or is it really even possible) to change the color of it? Say I have a brown with some lighter and darker streaks so that it compliments the knife handle, but I want to go with straight black. Can this be done?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Yep. You can always go darker. Never lighter.

Black is probably easiest b/c it never streaks so you can put it on with a small applicator. IIRC, Fiebings Somethingorother Shoe Dressing is really just black leather dye.

 

[mikeymoto]

A uniform Black can be hard to achieve so be prepared to use several applications of dye with some vigorous buffing between coats.

 

[leatherman]

It all depends on what was used to seal the leather. If it was an acrylic, your pretty much stuck. You can paint over the sealer, but it wont soak in and will eventually crack.

If its wax then you might be in luck, you can strip the wax with alcohol. Rub it in with a soft cloth, repeat till you get a nice even dull color on the leather. Let it dry thoroughly, now you can dye. If you start to see shiny spots in the dye then you missed a spot of wax, repeat alcohol. This is a messy job so do this over something you dont mind getting icky. Dont, repeat DONT use newspaper, remember silly putty? Same thing happens with alcohol wetted leather, lemme tell ya.

A good test for if its wax or acrylic (or shelaq for that matter) is to use the alcohol, it wont have any effect on the acrylic or shelaq.

 

[on_the_edge]

Excellent information. Thank you all for the info! :thumbup: