Leather Question!

Setzer

And no, it's nothing BDSM related.

So, I have these leather gloves I need to make lighter.



Kind of an "eh" picture, but they're really close to a chocolate color, maybe even a shade or two darker. I want to get them somewhat closer to this color:



What I'd like to know is if there's some type of technique I could use (chemicals, leaving them out in the sun, throwing them in an oven, etc) that could make them lighter. They were a tad expensive and kind of hard to find, so I'd like to stay away from "I heard this works.." or "I don't know if this'll do it, but you could try.." if at all possible. :P

Thanks in advanced!

Capn_Jack_Savvy

Alcohol is often used to strip leather dye/stain off of the leather but that depends upon if the leather was dyed on the surface or all the way through the dermis and the suede underneath.

The leather looks very thin and stretch. Take some alcohol (70%) put it on some papertowels and test if the stain comes off. Do this on the insdie of the glove so you can hide the mistakes. If it works try it on the outside like on the fingertips.

Setzer

Aye, aye Cap'n. I will try that out!

EDIT: Eh, no dice. It smoothed the area I tried it on a bit, but otherwise nothing.

Darth Mule

Pretty much the only thing you can do is paint them. The thing with leather is that what you can do to alter the finish depends on how they are tanned. Veg Tan leather (what belts, armor, and most heavier leather goods are made from) can have the sealant removed with alchohol or acetone and can be dyed another color, but only darker. Most garment leathers (what your gloves are made of) are chrome tanned, which permanently seals the color in and pretty much waterproofs and chemical proofs the leather. Dye may sit on the suface and slowly rub off. Which can be messy. I have found that sharpies and other permanent markers will work wonders in changing the color of garment leather, but (again) you can only go darker, not lighter.

As far as paint goes... I recommend the Angelus shoe paint as it is much more flexible than the Nu-Life/Magix spray.

Capn_Jack_Savvy

Here is just an example of how I lightened areas on my goatskin Indy jacket just by using alcohol 70%. It takes a few seconds for the alcohol to soak into the leather but eventually you will see the dye on the cloth/papertowel that you are using.

Also after you let the gloves dry be sure to use some sort of leather softener/rejuvanator to prevent the gloves from drying out and cracking the leather (over time this may happen). It is always good to treat the leather or even clean them with saddle soap. Some leather treatment solutions may darken the leather so be careful not to "undo" everything you just did.

Dr. Jackon's Hide Rejuvanator is good! I use it on my Jack leather and Indy leather.

Paracord Junky

i've had luck leeching dye out of leather by soaking it in hot water. i'd recommend trying that before any harsh chemicals like alcohol.

Darth Mule

You guys. There are different leather treatments that behave in different fashions. Not all types of leather can be treated the same to the same effect. Also, different leathers behave differently to dyes/removers. Just because the dye lifts from your goatskin jacket, does not mean that it will lift from what are likely lambskin gloves.

On the upside, all you risk from dabbing some alchohol on your gloves is to dull the finish a little if it doesn't remove any dye. I would, however, try alchohol before water. If you soak your gloves in water, the leather may buckle and they may become stiff.

Do your gloves happen to say what type of leather they are made of on the label?

Setzer

Actually, yeah. They're goatskin.

Capn_Jack_Savvy

Ta-dah! Goatskin. It probably means that the leather has been stained all the way through. If alcohol won't work there is probably not going to be much other method to "lighten" the color. I have used alcohol for many years now when it comes to distressing or lightening leather that I have stained or it was stained when purchased. I stand by alcohol to lighten when it works.

It is possible to leach the stain out of the leather with hot water but when leather dries it will shrink and you may not be able to get the gloves back on.

foxbatkllr

As has already been mentioned, it can be extremely difficult to lighten leather and often impossible. However, I have had a little bit of success leaving some leather out in the sun for a day. You can try turning the gloves inside out and leaving them in the sun to see if an inconspicuous spot on the inside of the glove turns lighter.

Setzer

I can't do anything too drastic on the inside, the most being a ring around the wrist, since the whole inside is lined with silk.

And since it's silk.. I'd rather not tear it all out.

Hm. I'll try the hot water trick, and see what I can do about giving them some sun. Thanks for the suggestions!

Darth Mule

I think you missed both Captain Jack and my warning not to try the hot water. You might shrink your gloves.

Setzer

Nah, I saw. I'm thinking I can dip a little bit in, probably around the wrist, then see how much shrinkage vs. color-change I get. Then I'll see if some sunning works, probably on the same spot with the other glove.

There's about a half-inch of leather that wraps around on the inside, so I figure I can do controlled experiments there. I must say, though, the failure of the alcohol has me not too expectant.

ArtisanProps

NO! NO HOT WATER!

Don't do it man! Didn't we learn anything from the OJ case?

"If the gloves don't fit, you must acquit"

Setzer

Alright, alright. No water.

I'll try sunning a little bit, and if that doesn't work, I'll call it an effort.

Ramirez

Instead of hot water can't you just use cold water?

I have a brown leather jacket which i wear on my motor bike and from wearing it in the rain it's faded quite nicely in some places.

Capn_Jack_Savvy

Water is water. Remember leather is skin and what does skin do when it is wet? It soaks up the water. Hot water will just deform the expand the leather quicker. Cold water will do the same but take a little longer for the leather to expand. If you do the water route I would recommend wearing the gloves until they dry. This way as they shrink you will still be able to maintain the shape as they dry onto your hands.

The problem with making leather color lighter is that once a darker stain is used it is difficult to reverse the process without destroying the leather. It sounds like the goatskin leather which is pretty thin may have been treated with a sealer. If the sealer is used (wax or other product) the dye color is locked into the leather. Only TIME and possibly the sun will do the trick for you!

Where do you live? Google leather store in your area maybe Tandy and give them a call on how to complete your project. They may have a product that can strip the color away. You never know!

Setzer

Hm. Looks like the closest one is in Allentown which is about 2 hours away from me. I could definitely try them out, though. Thanks for zee tip-age.

Risu

I'm friends with the owner of the local Tandy and I've asked her that question myself. She says there's no product that can lighten leather. And as far as leaving it in the sun goes, I don't know about chrome tanned leather, but veg tanned gets darker in the sun.

Setzer

Under very, VERY careful scrutiny, it turns out the rubbing alcohol did in fact work. It was just really hard to tell. So, if I rub in the same spot for about 10 minutes, I figure I should make some progress.

Now, the problem seems to be that whatever spot gets alcohol on it, it dries out a bit, and gets a bit harder and not as smooth. There some type of product I can use to help treat it?

Risu

Pecard's leather dressing. It works great. I'd suggest the colorless kind for your use.

Ramirez

I'd still try dunking them in cold water and letting them dry out naturally. You have nothing to loose.

Maybe Hot water will shrink them but my jacket hasn't shrunk from the rain and it has gotten suppler over time.

Capn_Jack_Savvy

Dr. Jacksons Hide Rejuvanator!

Risu

That looks like it's probably basically the same stuff as Pecard's, even comes in a similar jar. Both will probably work great.

TK-2126_MD

So how did the glove come out?