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Staining Leather help

I have a new leather sheath thats a very light tan color. I would like to make it a dark brown, an uneven aged look would be fine. So, is there a cheap and easy way using something I may have around the house to darken up this sheath? Thanks.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michael Squier on May 23, 2015 at 7:21

Thaks for the tips and advise, shoe polish sounds like agood one, but havent poished a shoe in 20 years and that was black, lol. Not looking to buy anything so Ill see what I can put together here.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on May 23, 2015 at 17:19

Thank you for striking up this conversation Michael. I am getting ready to make a sheath from a light colored leather as well, and would like to make it darker. I may invest in some leather stain, based on what everyone is saying here. Not sure the shoe polish will get the results I want, but that is the only method I will try. of the ones mentioned here.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on May 23, 2015 at 19:21

Melting the shoe polish enhances deeper uniform penetration into the leather & minimizes the effort .. just saying.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on May 23, 2015 at 20:55

Brew coffee. Strong coffee can be used as a leather dye. Brew the strongest coffee you can, double the amount of grounds you would normally use, then simmer in an uncovered cooking pot to reduce it to one-third its original volume. You can also use leftover brewed coffee, reduced on the stove top, or instant coffee mixed boiled in water. Allow to cool. Mix coffee with a small amount of commercial leather conditioner before applying to leather. Coffee is a subtle pigment, but can revitalize a faded tan leather sofa by giving it a richer brown hue.

Go natural. Red onions can be boiled down to make a shade of blue. You can also make a brown dye from the green outer skin of fresh walnuts; crush the walnut skins underfoot and boil the pigment out of them. Natural dyes will give leather a more subtle color than commercial pigments and are most suitable for doeskin or other naturally pale leathers.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_5175798_make-homemade-leather-dye.html

Permalink Reply by Bryan OShaughnessy on May 23, 2015 at 23:04

Jan Carter said:

Brew coffee. Strong coffee can be used as a leather dye. Brew the strongest coffee you can, double the amount of grounds you would normally use, then simmer in an uncovered cooking pot to reduce it to one-third its original volume. You can also use leftover brewed coffee, reduced on the stove top, or instant coffee mixed boiled in water. Allow to cool. Mix coffee with a small amount of commercial leather conditioner before applying to leather. Coffee is a subtle pigment, but can revitalize a faded tan leather sofa by giving it a richer brown hue.

Go natural. Red onions can be boiled down to make a shade of blue. You can also make a brown dye from the green outer skin of fresh walnuts; crush the walnut skins underfoot and boil the pigment out of them. Natural dyes will give leather a more subtle color than commercial pigments and are most suitable for doeskin or other naturally pale leathers.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_5175798_make-homemade-leather-dye.html

You've done this before, haven't you?

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on May 23, 2015 at 23:57

I've used coffee and tea to stain bone knife scales. but you need to be careful, the tannin in them can also caruse stains on the steel, even stainless.

Permalink Reply by Michael Squier on May 24, 2015 at 11:17

Jan its like you read my mind. I have 2 black walnut trees here and those husks stain anything they touch very dark brown. I may have to try that.

Just for arguments sake I tried some wood stains on a piece of tanned leather, results were not great. It seems to sit on the surface and not get very dark. If you put it on thick and let it set it dries in lumps and is hard to het the excess off. So skip the wood stain. For the record I used both an oil stain and a waterbased stain.

Permalink Reply by James Cole on May 25, 2015 at 1:06

Michael, It may be different now, the formulas may have changed, but I seem to remember from the Tandy dying book that after a couple of years the leather would get stiff and hard.

Be aware that shoe polish sits on the surface and doesn't penetrate.
Jim

Michael Squier said:

Just curious, why would wood stain make the leather hard? Its oil based.

Permalink Reply by Ms Data on May 25, 2015 at 8:46

So Michael? When you have some limbs come off those black walnut trees what do you do with them???

Michael Squier said:

Jan its like you read my mind. I have 2 black walnut trees here and those husks stain anything they touch very dark brown. I may have to try that.

Just for arguments sake I tried some wood stains on a piece of tanned leather, results were not great. It seems to sit on the surface and not get very dark. If you put it on thick and let it set it dries in lumps and is hard to het the excess off. So skip the wood stain. For the record I used both an oil stain and a waterbased stain.

Permalink Reply by Michael Squier on May 25, 2015 at 9:22

Ms. Data , I cut them up into usable pieces. Candle holders, knife scales, guitar necks for my cigar box guitars. No firewood

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on May 25, 2015 at 10:41

I think I am going to go with the olive oil at this point. I tried a little on a test pc. and like the results so far. I may play with it for a couple of days, before I make my final decision. I will post before and after pics when I am done.

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on May 25, 2015 at 13:46

Three coats and you'll love it.