Dying Leather Boots

**Birddog** · 2nd July 08, 03:16 PM

Hey all,
I am considering dying my chocolate brown boots to black. I haven't dyed leather before, so looking for some tips. They are very good thick but soft leather. Thanks!

**James MacMillan** · 2nd July 08, 05:10 PM

Ask almost any U. S. Armed Forces Veteran over the age of 50 who lives near you to come over to your house and help out. Virtually every service member who has ever shined shoes or boots for an inspection is forced by circumstances well beyond his control to become a master of the art.

There are many ways to do it, but the following way works for me.

You will need the following items: Rubbing alcohol, Black edge and heel dressing, black shoe polish, rags, soap and water.

1) Wash the boot with soap and water and let dry.

2) Wipe the shoe or boot down with alcohol to cut the edge off any wax build up that is there – no need to let dry.

3) Apply the edge and heel dressing and let dry. It will look blue or purple, but don’t worry.

4) Apply black shoe polish, and buff.

There you go. Done.

You can go from any color to black, You can not go from black to any other color.

**DWFII** · 2nd July 08, 05:47 PM

Dying leather depends on the finish of the leather more than anything else. Some leathers (some premium leathers included) have what can only be described as a "paint job" on the surface of the leather. Other leathers are "naked grain." A rough and ready rule of thumb is that if you can see the pores in the leather, the leatheh is dyable with little or no complications. If your leather is very soft, chances are good it falls into the latter category.

James's advice is sound with one exception--shoe polish doesn't have much of any real dye in it and because it is wax based it is not intended to actually dye the leather--it cannot penetrate. You can certainly add some pigment and colour to a piece of leather with shoe polish but for the most part it will be only on the surface and not very permanent. The same alcohol that is recommended to cut the wax will cut and remove the colour provide by the polish.

But more importantly the colour will not be opaque. To get that you need to actually dye the leather.

If the leather is "painted" you need to remove the colour with acetone. If not, the alcohol will do fine as a prep. Then a bottle of Fiebings or Lincoln leather dye is spread over the leather and allowed to dry. A follow up of some sort of conditioner is recommended.

The advice that you can go from any colour to black is sound with the possible exception of white or other pale...and mineral based...pigments.

**Birddog** · 2nd July 08, 06:36 PM

Jay had a good point, if I was to do it with combat style boots. Though I will add this for anyone else thinking of doing this:
For my combat boots, we would saddle soap the hell out of them to get the old dye out. Then dye them, then polish them until we were happy. I agree with DWF on this; if you do not dye the boot first, it would not do much good.
This is along the terms of what I was thinking with these particular boots. They are my hand made "renn" boots, excellent leather, no "paint job". I'm not really a leather worker, but I guess that I would describe them as naked grain.
Thanks for confirming what I already thought I would have to do.

Kevin

**James MacMillan** · 2nd July 08, 07:13 PM

OOOoooooooo - Then you are talking about rough-out leather, and that is a whole other thing.

The stuff I said, doesn't really apply, as you wouldn't want to polish them. Now you will want to dye the leather and then seal it.

In my method for regular shined boots, the polish seals the color in and it doesn't rub off. With rough-out, you need to seal it somehow, or it will continue to rub off on things. I have seen leather sealant, but I don't know if it is recommended for rough-out.

Now I think you may need to check with someone who does this for a living.

**12stones** · 2nd July 08, 08:37 PM

I know next to nothing about leather working, but if you have a local Tandy store, they're always more than helpful about giving free tips and advice. You might try to give them a visit. Oh, they'll help you spend your money too.

**DWFII** · 2nd July 08, 08:56 PM

I'm not really wanting to toot my own horn here, but if it makes any difference, I am a shoe and bootmaker of 35 full time years. That said, there are many ways to skin a cat and my words are certainly not written in stone.

**James MacMillan** · 2nd July 08, 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by DWFII

I'm not really wanting to toot my own horn here, but if it makes any difference, I am a shoe and bootmaker of 35 full time years. That said, there are many ways to skin a cat and my words are certainly not written in stone.

Well - give the advice! Now that you know that he is talking about rough-out leather. How exactly would you do it? I admit to only changing the color of smooth leather.

35 years is enough qualifications for me!!!

**DWFII** · 3rd July 08, 05:43 AM

Originally Posted by James MacMillan

Well - give the advice! Now that you know that he is talking about rough-out leather. How exactly would you do it? I admit to only changing the color of smooth leather.

35 years is enough qualifications for me!!!

Jay,

Actually rough-out leather is not significantly different from "smooth-out" (full grain). In fact, rough-out is often just full grain turned inside out. In those instances where it is not, it is often the layer just below the corium (the "grain" or smooth side that has been split away. "Splits" as they are called are generally regarded as poor quality.

So in a real sense, the advice I gave initially would be just as valid for a rough-out.The only differences in the way a rough out would be dyed would be that the alcohol prep would not be needed. And any conditioner that might be applied probably out to be applied from the inside so as not to matte down the nap.

The only caution I would have is to note that if the rough-out is actually a "split" there might be some bleed-through--staining of socks or legs--even after the dye is completely dry...depending on the quality of the dye, the quality of the leather and the amount of dye used.

**James MacMillan** · 3rd July 08, 06:45 AM

OK - I'm still not clear. When I dye smooth leather, I buff the dickens out of the smooth side, and see very little if any bleed through to the rough side. I have never seen the dye rub off on my sox.

Is there a recommended way to seal the rough side, to prevent the rub-off effect? Do some brands of dye bleed less than others? Or would you wash the dyed leather with soap and water after the dye process? I remember in my distant youth having suede shoes that we used metal brushes and bunny bags to keep clean. To a much limited extent the same is done with the current batch of suede combat boots when the youngsters are gettig ready for inspections.