How to Do Leather Dying
Dying leather helps produce everything from dark saddles to orange leather pants. Dying can also be used for decoration on leather, especially when combined with tooling, or carving techniques. With a little practice, you can add pictures or designs to the leather, or even change it to a completely different tone or color.
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Instructions
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Prepare Leather for Dying
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Dye the leather after it is tanned, but before it is sewed or tooled. Applying dye before you tool it will cause differences in color depending on the depth of the leather. This can be used to achieve an artistic look or add dimension to a design.
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Clean the leather with a simple cleaning solution. A small amount of oxalic acid (or leather bleach) can be mixed with water to clean the leather. Use only 1 oz bleach to 1 pint water. This "bleaching" will not change the leather, but it will fade any water spots.
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Dampen the area of leather you wish to dye with a small amount of water to aid in the absorption of dye. Do not soak the leather.
Do a Simple Dying Process on Leather
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Prepare the leather for dying by laying it flat. If you are using raw pieces of leather hide, you can stake it.
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Dye large areas by using long, even strokes with a wide brush. You will need to do several coats to achieve a darker color. Make sure to dry the leather between each coat.
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Use different color dyes or special stains to add different looks to the leather. Check out the Leather World Tech website for tips on choosing colors and finishes (see Resources below).
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Remember to flex the leather between each coat of dye to keep the leather from stiffening.
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Finish the leather with oil or finisher. Mink or neatsfoot oil may preserve the leather, but may also darken it slightly. Leather protector sprays, like the kind you use to waterproof shoes, are also suitable for sealing the dye.
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Tips & Warnings
Choose dyes based on how your leather was tanned. Brain tanned leather will not absorb the dye as easily as vegetable tanned leather.
Dye a leather swatch to see how the color will appear on your leather, prior to using the dye for your project. Colors will appear differently depending on the base color of the leather.
