Dip Method of Leather Dying: Just a Technique

I'm working on a project where I want the leather dyed. Research on the Internet revealed what is known as the "dip" method of dying a piece of leather. My piece kind of small, so I thought I would give this a try.

For equipment, you will need:

1. A container big enough to hold the piece. I just bought some McCormick 3-cup tupperware at the Dollar Tree. A 118mL bottle of Fiebing's Pro fits nicely into this, and other than the green dye, they don't stain.
2. A funnel to pour the dye back into the bottle. Dollar Tree didn't have any funnels, so I bought a set at the local big-box Kroger.
3. A plastic trash bag to use as a drop cloth.
4. A newspaper to use on top of the trash bag.
5. These last two are reusable to a point. Simply fold them up together and store for the next time.

For supplies, you will need:

1. The piece of veg-tan leather you want to dye. Make sure it fits the container before starting!
2. Alcohol-based leather dye. I've been mostly using Fiebing's Pro Dye bought from Tandy.
3. Protective gloves of your choosing. I just get the cheap latex ones at Dollar Tree, although I've started using those annoying plastic ones ($1.25 for 100).
4. Rubbing alcohol for clean-up. I may have to start looking for another source, because the price at Kroger has tripled!
5. At least 3 paper towels. One is used to wipe down the leather after dying; the other two are used during clean-up.

Place the plastic bag flat on the work surface. Place the newspaper on top of the plastic bag.

Put on the protective gloves of your choice.

NOTE: Now that I have used these cheap plastic gloves for dipping, I highly recommend using something better. I literally have a green thumb right now.

Put the container on the newspaper. Shake the bottle of dye, then pour it into the container.

Dip your leather pieces into the dye. Just dip and remove.

Using a paper towel, wipe any excess dye off of the leather. Place the leather on the newspaper, and allow to air dry.

1. Put the funnel into the empty bottle, and pour the dye through the funnel.
2. To clean the funnel and the container, spray with rubbing alcohol and wipe with the remaining paper towels.
3. I do the container at my kitchen sink to catch any potential drips.
4. Store the drop cloth in the clean dying container for future reuse.

NOTE: I don't know why, but the green dye stains the McCormick plastic containers. This did not happen with either the red or the orange. I guess this is now my "green" dying container. At least it only cost 62.5¢. This is making me wonder if I can use leather dye to tint plastic eyeglass lenses. Hmmm . . .

This is the result of Angelus orange dye for a couple of seconds counted in my head. I think it came out pretty good. It was quite dark when I did it initially, but it has become lighter and orangier after drying. Though I'm not 100% happy with the color, I like how this turned out. Next time, maybe just a dip and remove without counting.

The second picture is leather dipped in Fiebing's Pro Red dye. This came out nice. Unfortunately, dip dying kind of obscures the stamping I did. I'll have to figure out a solution for that new problem.

The third picture is Fiebing's Pro Green dye after drying overnight. I tried protecting the stamp with some Tan-Kote. Not sure if I like how it turned out, but the option has been tested.

I know it is going to take some time to figure out proper dip times. However, I found this method of dying leather to be very fast and convenient. It even gets the edges at the same time! Again, though, this is probably best for smaller pieces, like key fobs and bookmarks. As I make more pieces, I'll post pictures and times in an updates section.