Leather woes...

[Ttaskmaster]

Heya,

Two issues I'd like to ask about...

1/. I have a leather pouch, about 25 years old. At some point, somebody saw fit to paint it BLUE and it has now gone a little stiff and very dry.
How can I remove the blue paint/stain and restore the leather without knackering it?

2/. I have another leather pouch, which I was considering colouring OD.
What's the best way to achieve this?

 

[oblagon]

Heya,

Two issues I'd like to ask about...

1/. I have a leather pouch, about 25 years old. At some point, somebody saw fit to paint it BLUE and it has now gone a little stiff and very dry.
How can I remove the blue paint/stain and restore the leather without knackering it?

2/. I have another leather pouch, which I was considering colouring OD.
What's the best way to achieve this?

1. Goof off graffiti remover will take the paint off the leather without damaging it. You might want to pick up some leather wipes from Target as well to re-hydrate the leather after you clean all the paint off.

2. What's OD? You can order leather sprays online (try NU-life or Magixx leather dye/paint) they can be found here
http://www.joesshoeservice.com/products.cf...6375Z36&c=9
http://www.timpson.com/online-store/produc...p?product_id=95
If you're looking at dying the leather pouch you can pick up dye from Joann Fabrics that should work. If you dye just make sure that the water is boiling hot, it will help it bond to the leather better.

 

[Darth Mule]

To remove the paint from the old pouch, if it is actually paint, you can use acetone to get it off (acetone fingernail polish remover works). I'd try to do a small spot first to test that it won't destroy it. After you've removed you may want to use a leather conditioner on it to revive the leather.

For the coloring the other pouch, it would depend on several factors.
What kind of leather is it? Veg Tan will take dye, other types will pretty much take paint only.
What color is it? You can only go darker with dyes, but you can paint any color.

 

[Ttaskmaster]

Cheers guys,

OD = Olive Drab. Military Green. Something like that.


The BLUE one looks to have been either painted with something that has a 'varnish' finish or possibly dyed and then faded in sunlight. I can't imagine dye having a glossy finish to it, though. It's just weird...


The other pouch is an old military issue one, looks to be the same leather as my M3 repro holster and almost dead on the same colour. Quite old, in reasonable condition but with slight mould (now removed). I'd guess it's been veg-tanned. Has that natural quality feel to it that chrome tanned lacks.


Are there any products available in the UK that you'd recommend?

 

[oblagon]

Cheers guys,

OD = Olive Drab. Military Green. Something like that.


The BLUE one looks to have been either painted with something that has a 'varnish' finish or possibly dyed and then faded in sunlight. I can't imagine dye having a glossy finish to it, though. It's just weird...


The other pouch is an old military issue one, looks to be the same leather as my M3 repro holster and almost dead on the same colour. Quite old, in reasonable condition but with slight mould (now removed). I'd guess it's been veg-tanned. Has that natural quality feel to it that chrome tanned lacks.


Are there any products available in the UK that you'd recommend?

The leather paints I mentioned are both available in the UK. I know a lot of guys have used it with success on the clone forums.
Also Rit dye should be available at any craft shop if you decide to go that route.

Leather can be dyed and retain a glossy finish (designed car interiors for awhile). Have you tried a scratch test to see if the blue is the original color or not?
Either way it can be painted or dyed a different color over top of the existing, but as mentioned before it's more difficult to go lighter when dying.

 

[Ttaskmaster]

You can get them in the UK?
Cool!!


Blue is definitely not the original colour. I spoke with the original manufacturers and they confirmed that they've never made anything in blue. Also, only the outside of the leather is blue. The inside is still 100% mid-brown.

It came with a shoulder holster that's a bit more telling - this has a white elastic strong-side strap. Bits of white still show where it hasn't been coloured properly. The blue is far more patchy/blotchy on the holster and I can scrape the splashes of it off the metal furniture (press studs etc).

It might not even be paint. It's almost like it's been 'washed' in some kind of watercolour or liquid shoe scuff touch-up...


I'll have a crack with some nail polish remover and see how that goes.

 

[Darth Mule]

Whoa! Hold on now. Don't boil your leather, it will turn rock hard as the heat saps all the moisture out of the hide. Bad Bad advice. Unless that's what you're going for of course. A lot of medieval armor was made with the boiled leather method.

Also, RIT dye isn't what I'd use on leather. You can, but you have to mix it with denatured alcohol and basically turn it into leather dye. You'll have to check leatherwork or craft stores for the proper stuff. In the states our major leather dye maker is Fiebings. Not sure what you guys have over the pond. You basically brush it on or spray it on and wipe the excess off. Rarely do you submerge leather in anything when dying at home. If you have a leathercraft shop in your area, they are usually pretty open to showing you how to use their products.

The paints oblagon mentioned are okay for a quick fix, but can sometimes look plasticy. I'd recommend Angelus brand paint over the new life. Again, you'll have to google where to get it in the UK.

Painting WILL be your only option when going lighter (from black to brown for example). If you want to turn brown to black however, you may use dye. Dye will always go darker, though keep in mind that dye is transparent and can sometimes be affected by the color underneath. The basic rule though is that dye will always look better than paint and should always be the first choice if the project allows.

 

[NoTsOsErIoUs]

I'm pretty sure Magixx spray is the trade name for Nu-life here in the uk.
Never seen Nu-life available only Magixx and a google search revealed it to be the trade name here.

 

[Darth Mule]

They are one in the same. They were previously Magixx here too

 

[Ttaskmaster]

Well, I gave it a bit of nail-polish remover... a fairly hefty amount and a good scrub, actually, on a discrete area. I have blue fingers, but that's about it. Reckon I'd need the whole bottle to clean this crap off.

Having messed with it, it seems like some prop junior has simply coloured the stuff in using the filament from a permament felt pen/board marker eek

 

[Darth Mule]

First check to see that your fingernail polish remover has acetone in it. If it says. They do make it now without.

If not, it could be colored with a permanent ink pen, in which case it will be harder to clean. You may end up just having to dye over it.

Forgot to mention that with dye or paint, you should first break down the surface finish of the piece you are recoloring with the acetone. Rubbing alcohol works too, but only for breaking down the sealants and waxes. It won't remove color.