Fiebings Pro Oil Dye vs Alcohol Dye 

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Thank you for sharing your experience. Unfortunately RU-vid will not allow sharing of pictures in comments, or if they do I do not know how to do it.

glad the video was helpful!, Thanks for watching!

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1. If you use the alcohol dye you can use some denatured alcohol to dilute it. Just make sure that you do your dying jobs in a well ventilated area as it stinks really bad. Denatured alcohol will really extend the amount of dye that you are using per each color. The alcohol dyes are very concentrated. 2. You should consider getting small leather patches like he did in the video and play with dying different colors on to each piece of scrap leather to get your colors the way that you want. 3. Make sure that you pay attention to the ratio of how much dye to denatured alcohol as this will help you when mixing in the future. 4. If you dye something to dark when using alcohol dyes you can still lighten your work some when you put the finish on or even before that you can take a rag with denatured alcohol and use it on the leather that you dyed. 5. Use mink oil to put the moisture content back into the leather. If you get swirl marks on your leather from using alcohol dye you can make them go away by rubbing the leather with some of the denatured alcohol on a rag or when you put the finish on the leather. I have found that the finish will mix the colors some. 6. If you don't want to be stuck just using Fiebings products which are fine you can use Zelikovitz or Angelus. There are even other brands of dyes for leather you can just use google and type in Fiebings dye alternative. Hope this information helps you.

Didn’t he accidentally use the alcohol dye for the third coat on the pro dye uncase leather?

@@gggilligan9770 Yes he did at 19:25 OOPS :)

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if you have the room to dip dye your projects using Pro-Dye you get very consistent results in just a matter of minutes

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Technically they both contain alcohol.

@@MichaelMaysLeatherworks yep and I thin Pro dye to get lighter colors with 93% rubbing alcohol. Works great to get an even color without getting too dark. Notice how neither one of your dyes went on even. I thin the Pro dye and get the even color without being dark brown before it gets evenly colored. Light brown without thinning becomes dark brown before you can get the colors even! An airbrush setup is the best way to get an even color, but not everyone can do that.

@@MountainFisher thank you for the info. I recently picked up an airbrush and compressor and have noticed that it goes on much more even, but you do not get nearly as much penetration into the leather.

@@MountainFisher Thanks for all those gems of advice. Do you thin it with a certain ratio of the alcohol to dye, say 1:1 for example?

@@jakemccluremd I ttypically do just that 50-50 and I use the largest applicator to the job. I mostly make belts and use a foam paint brush the same width, but if making a wallet I use the dauber. I do the edges of my belts with unthinned Light brown dye with a dauber and dipping the dauber onto a paper towel first so it doesn't apply too much. A friend uses Q-tips because he says he never screws up and time doesn't matter. I've used that method with alligator and croc belts where I can't allow bleed over.

Thank you for your comment. I have also found that using an airbrush allows you to get much lighter colors without diluting the dye.

Thanks Seth, the colors actually hold pretty true. I still have the pieces and I have noticed no change. Thanks for the question.

in all honesty the best way to get light shades of any color is to use an airbrush.

thank you!

He completely messed up the test 🤦‍♂️

with leather dyeing, it can be very inconsistent from one hide to the next. I have found that what works on one doesn’t always work as well on another. The only thing that I’ve changed is doing a small dye test on every new hide that I get

Thank you very much for your kind comment & for watching!!

Casing leather is when you dampen the leather and allow that moisture time too absorb into the inner fibers.

I would use pro dye and seal the piece with acrylic resolene

Michael Mays Leatherworks Thank you! I’m working on a test piece now. The piece on the shoe that needs the dye is rough almost like suede. I’m also waiting on a Fiebing’s dye that is made for sports and outside conditions. I’m still going to use the resolene and cut 50/50. I will take all 3 test pieces and torture them and see which one holds up the best with the least color transfer/bleeding. I appreciate your help! 👍🏻👍🏻

thank you for watching ash leaving a comment! Glad to see your findings were the same

I think Pro oil is best for veg tan anyway! Doesn't dry the leather as much(from what I researched). I'm new to leather so the people from the leather community are a godsend for beginners like me!

Thank you for your question. When you dye leather it dries it out considerably. After dying a project I will buff it really well to remove any leftover die, and then apply Aussies leather conditioner. Once my project is dry I will use my airbrush and apply a few layers of acrylic resolene with a few hours of drying time in between.

yes you can. test it on a scrap piece first. You should be able to dye any other color black. I would recommend only using a pro dye and making sure you clean the leather well before dying it. I would also go the route of dip dying to allow for even distribution of dye throughout the leather piece.

@@MichaelMaysLeatherworksreally thank you for the answer. I would try that tomorrow then.

Thank you for the question. This is happening because you are not sealing your projects. After dying I will normally lightly apply a bit of neatsfoot oil or Mink oil, as dying will remove natural oils in the leather which can lead to a more brittle final project. I then allow the project to sit undisturbed for 24 hours. I then buff with a soft cloth. I then apply a coating of Acrylic Resolene using my airbrush from harbor freight. I will allow a few hours of drying time, buff, then apply a 2nd coat of resolene. Allow to dry for 24 hours.

Michael Mays Leatherworks Thank you very much for that. I’ll be sure to follow that advice.

How long will it take to buff out??

A soft cloth or a bit of sheep's wool works great.

Thr pro dye doesn't leave a lot of dye on the surface. A quick, light buff over the dyed surface is all it takes. If using the standard dye it takes a while. You need to buff lightly until you see no more dye bleeding off.

Michael Mays Leatherworks thanks for the tips, very much appreciated 🙏🏼🙏🏼

@@deanbriggs5058 no problem, anytime.

I compared two different dyes in this video. I need you to be more specific with your question. Are you referring to Fiebings dye in general? I know others like EcoFlo, but personally I prefer Fiebings.

The standard dye applies much darker and in my opinion over saturates the leather.

Thank you so much! a lot of time went into this video.

Michael, thank you for taking the time to watch the video and leave your comment. A follow-up video showing the use of diluted dyes would be interesting. I will put that on my list of video ideas. Please Subscribe if you haven't already as I do have more videos planned.

@@MichaelMaysLeatherworks Great, am subscribed. Please consider the fixed location labeled tubs idea. I watched the pea being moved from one shell to another but handled it ok. :)

No, but good eye. I edited a piece out where I moved the leather test pieces . Thanks for watching

My mistake!

@@antioch84 not really a mistake you would have been correct. That just shows you were paying close attention. My kids came in while I was recording and messed up the flow of my video. So I edited out a short piece.

@@Amazonian11 Yes mate agree with you its ok to make mistakes but to dispute what can be completely seen is well sad

Acrylic resolene

Yes, pro dye is oil based, standard dye is alcohol bssed.

Ok thanks

@@bigg4089 anytime!

@@MichaelMaysLeatherworks Both are alcohol-based. They both use alcohol as the carrier. The difference is that they put a powdered pigment into the regular dye, and they put an oil-based pigment in the pro dye.

Me moving the pieces got cut out in editing. Good eye though, & thank you for watching!

Yes the dye can be thinned, I always thin when airbrushing dye, but for the purpose of this video I wanted a straight comparison out of the bottle.

@@MichaelMaysLeatherworks Oh ok, I just wondered why you mentioned the darker appearance so many times. I figured, I miss something 👍

@@edsnowden4990 with any dye, especially if you are trying to get lighter colors the more you saturate the leather to get even coverage the darker your overall color will be once the dye dries

@@MichaelMaysLeatherworks each layer adds more pigments, right. I'm just starting out, dyeing leather by myself. Trying to figure out which kind of dye and thinning ratio will fit my purposes. I think I'll mess around with some dyes in combination with conditioners and finishes...

@@edsnowden4990 if you are trying to achieve a lighter color then use a pro dye and applied using an airbrush. This will not over saturate the leather and we'll give you some very nice effects

This has been addressed in the comments. Thank you for watching.

any type of dye will make your leather stiffer. The pro dye does not produce nearly as much stiffness in the dyed piece.

That was addressed in earlier comments. The pieces had been moved but that part was cut out in editing. The right dye was applied to the correct pieces. Thank you for watching and for taking the time to comment

They are both alcohol carriers. Regular (not Pro) uses a powder based dye colorant. Pro dye on the other hand utilizes an oil based dye colorant, that's the game changer !!

@@MichaelMaysLeatherworks Thank you. I ordered the Pro Dye, for my motorcycle saddlebags. Hopefully will do the job. I'm about to order some Fiebing's Mink Oil Paste for definition, but not sure what kind of oil shall I use as preparation, before the dye. Mink oil or any regular leather oil?

I actually found the pro dye, dried much faster and evenly than the non-pro dye in every single occasion.

Thanks for watching

Fast forward button? Light bulb moment.

Personally, I appreciated all 47+ minutes for his voice alone. 😊

Thank you for watching & for the comment. Read the other comments please, this has been addressed a few times already.

I use an airbrush also, but that technique was not the point of this video.

@@MichaelMaysLeatherworks Your right I was surpised at the different colors.

The coats had plenty time to dry between applications. Thanks for your comment.

Whoosh...

actually that’s a great question. I offer many color options to my customers, but time and time again when asked what color they would like they chose a shade of brown or black. With this being the case I thought it was a fitting choice. thank you for your comment!

I’ve already addressed this

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Although since you have not watched the video and cannot speak up the quality it’s hard to state that 47 minutes is too long when covering such a diverse topic.

Lol, when starting RU-vid we all have to start somewhere. I hope my layouts and production quality have improved.

Angelus does make great paint for leather. This video only compared 2 dye types. Thanks for watching.

If you had read through the comments this has been addressed; there was no mixup.Thank you for watching .

@@MichaelMaysLeatherworks Sorry if I was mistaken. Have you tried airbrush application.. I haven't yet but intend to. Regards Mark.

@@markedwards2005 yes, I plan on making a video on using an airbrush to apply dye and top coats. An airbrush allows you to get many wonderful effects on leather.

That wasn't the purpose of the video, thanks for watching.