Leather dyeing
LaNuit1
Specifically I need to dye a piece of leather in white and green, and am
willing to seperate the colors by outlining them with a leather burner if
necessary.
::Madallaine Isabeau de Cat::
Susan Wieland
> Can someine instruct me on how to dye leather?
> Specifically I need to dye a piece of leather in
> white and green, and am willing to seperate the
> colors by outlining them with a leather burner if
> necessary.
From Gunnora -- the real return address is <gun...@bga.com>
First, a resource that you may not be aware of for medieval leather is
the Medieval Leather Mailing list, hosted through www.egroups.com. You
can access and read the back-posts on the list through egroups, andyou
can subscribe to the list and either read it on the web or via email.
There are basically three types of modern leather dyes:
There are acrylic-based paints (such as Tandy's Cova Dye) which do not
penetrate the leather but sit on top. These are the easiest to use.
You simply get a paintbrush and paint the design, being careful not to
smear the paint where it doesn't belong. Acrylic-based leather dyes can
be diluted with water and mixed with other acrylic leather dye colors to
achieve new colors. The drawbacks to using acrylic leather dyes is that
since they don't penetrate the leather, the paint can crack and chip
off. However, acrylic dyes will be the only way you can get a true
white. If you are trying to place two colors side by side, especially
in a tight detail area, it can be helpful to go ahead and color the
detail area and then when the color coat is dry, lacquer it carefully,
avoiding getting the lacquer coat anywhere else. You can use either
Tandy's Neat Lac or Super Sheen or a similar product. The advantage
here is that if you do slip and get the second color on the first, you
can wipe it off with a damp q-tip.
The next type are dyes which are spirit-based, having an alcohol medium
in which the pigment is carried. Example of this type include Fiebing's
Leather Dyes or Tandy Pro Dyes. Sprit-based dyes do penetrate the
leather, and if you're not careful can indeed creep from one area into
an ajoining area that you didn't want it to be in. However, use a small
brush, and avoid having too much liquid on the brush, and you can apply
the paint without creep. The problem most people have with spirit dyes
is that they want to apply too much all at once. It's much better to
apply several light coats until you achieve the needed depth of color.
Large areas can be colored using a wool dauber, but again, avoid
over-loading the dauber with dye and glooping the dye onto the leather.
If I'm dyeing around fine details, such as knotwork, I will often take a
tiny brush and dye the detail first -- often I leave a knotwork design
completely undyed to show the pale tan of the leather. Once I have the
detail the color it should be, I take an acrylic-based lacquer such as
Tandy's Super Sheen and carefully paint over only the detail area. This
seals the area against unwanted creep of another color from an adjoining
area. You still have to be careful, and not overload your brush, but
this helps minimize creep.
With spirit dyes you can dilute with a bit of alcohol to achieve lighter
shades of the dye color. In my opinion, the spirit dyes give you the
best appearance. You see the real leather grain, not a top-coat of
paint, and the colors are usually very good if applied properly. One
problem with spirit dyes is that there is no white spirit dye. It's
difficult to obtain a dye that will color vegetable-tanned leather white
-- commerical processes use a chrome tanning method to get white
leather.
The last type of leather dyes are the oil based dyes such as Fiebing's
Oil Dye. These penetrate the leather even better than do spirit dyes,
and the oil helps condition and make the leather water-resistant. The
drawback to oil-based dyes is that they only come in browns and blacks.
You also don't lacquer over oil-dyed leather -- instead you apply an oil
finish, such as mink oil.
One way that I have done patterns in leather that required white is via
cutwork. I used a very thin layer of vegetable-tanned leather for my
top layer, and tooled my design there, then cut away all the areas that
should be white. Under this I added a layer of white chrome-tanned
leather, and glued the two layers together using Barge cement. Finally,
I top-stitched by hand around each of the cut-out areas, and along the
edges, in order to permanently secure the two layers together. You
could reverse the layers, having the white on top and the other color
showing through cut-outs in the white as well. The nice thing about
cutwork is that it gives depth to the design.
Wæs Şu Hæl (Waes Thu Hael)
::GUNNORA::
Gunnora Hallakarva, OL
Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Ek eigi visa şik hversu oğlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na
Hersis-Ağal
(Ek eigi thik hversu odhlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na
Hersis-Adhal)
TGress1062
Though, have a care using Neat-Lac over surface dyes (Cova Color et. al)
Neat-Lac has the unfortunate property of stripping acrylics off the leather.
You're better off with Super Sheen to cover the acrylics. (This is in my
experience at least)
Fieblings makes a white "dye" that is most commonly used for things like shoes.
The problem with this substance is it is sort of a lacquer, and will crack if
used on something flexible, like a belt.
One other dying technique is the use of Hi-Liter or Leather Glow, both of which
are similar products. Essentially they are a water soluable dark brown dye that
are normally used on more ... er ... mundane type projects to pick up tooling
patterns. I've discovered that a coat of either of these finishes over a coat
of penetratign dye (spirit, or oil based) will produce a more muted tone, and
will, of course pick up any tooling you may have done into the bargain.
Using a coat of hi-liter / leather glow over a painted surface will likewise
mute the acrylics, and enhance the (carved / tooled) design.
Please do be careful if you take this route though. The acrylics are
water-based, as are most hi-liters. Make sure the acrylics are completely dry
before you hi-lite them, or you risk peeling them off the project when you use
the hi-liter.
In service,
Morgan of Caer Graeme,
ShadowCat Leathers
DarkClaw
After many years of leather working I have found that useing a conditioner
that removes any shine from the peice and then 'painting' rather than dyeing
the leather works the best for me. The paint I use is fabric/textile dye
any brand that states for leather on the bottle. Cover the paint with a
satin or 'sheen' to protect it and there you are.
Lady Anastacia
LaNuit1 <lan...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990708114247...@ng-fv1.aol.com...
> Can someine instruct me on how to dye leather?
>
> Specifically I need to dye a piece of leather in white and green, and am
> willing to seperate the colors by outlining them with a leather burner if
> necessary.
>
>
> ::Madallaine Isabeau de Cat::
>