Fuller's earth tips needed...

[TomVDJ]

Hey all. I want to age a black leather wallet with fuller's earth, but I'd like the weathering to be permanent. Any tips on how to proceed, keeping in mind that it's a leather wallet I want to age? Especially the "make it permanent" part is bothering me. Aging the wallet with the fuller's earth is not that difficult, but keeping that effect is not so easy, since most if the fuller's earth comes of quite easily when handling the wallet.

Would something like hair spray fixate the fuller's earth? Giving the wallet a clear coat of varnish doesn't look like a workable option to me. Any tips are more than welcome!

 

[airhead]

Tom - You probably know that most cat litter is made from fuller's earth clay and can be quite easily ground to a powder (skip the scented kind - look for natural clay as the ingredient). I've never tried to make the dusting permanent, but you might try spraying or painting the wallet first to give the clay something to stick to, then dusting with F.E. It is possible that you could "grind in" the clay to unprepared leather and achieve a weathered effect. Just a thought - hope this helps.

David

 

[Lightning]

If I was going to age a leather wallet I'd go after it with sandpaper. Fullers earth would stick better to the rough bits, but since it's used to simulate dirt/dust, which also isn't permanent, it's always going to come off eventually.

 

[TomVDJ]

Mmm, sanding the wallet first seems a very good idea! Would ne nice if I could fixate the dust, though. If people have other tips, they are always welcome.

P.S. Didn't know that some cat litter is made of fullers earth, but I already have the fuller's earth. It's not that expensive so I think getting a bag of cat litter would be more expensive (certainly if I still have to invest time to grind it up ;-) ).

 

[Moviefreak]

Mmm, sanding the wallet first seems a very good idea! Would ne nice if I could fixate the dust, though. If people have other tips, they are always welcome.

P.S. Didn't know that some cat litter is made of fullers earth, but I already have the fuller's earth. It's not that expensive so I think getting a bag of cat litter would be more expensive (certainly if I still have to invest time to grind it up ;-) ).

When I would do wallets, I sand edges and wear along edging that could be caused by credit cards and other items that you carry. Then I toss it in a ziplock bag with Fullers Earth and shake it up. Once done, I remove it, wipe excess off until I reach the desired look, then I take either hairspray or flat artist fixative and hold the can back real far, and just mist the spray and dust the wallet ever so slightly. Not enough to feel the spray texture, but just enough to hold some of the FE in place. But again, ever so slight of a must as it doesn’t take a lot to actually hold the FE dust.