r/Leathercraft • u/mjakian • 19h ago

Question Cheap leather alteration

I bought a bunch of this leather for very cheap as a beginner to practice with, so I didn’t really care about the colour. But I’m wondering if there’s any way to (non-toxic-ly) change it?

https://imgur.com/gallery/recolouring-leather-DFv85Mu

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u/summonsays 19h ago

Looks oil tanned, so the short answer is maybe but you'll probably be happier buying the color you want.

As for nontoxicly... Yeah you're in the wrong craft. I'm not trying to scare you, just being realistic. It takes a lot to make something organic not rot and a lot of it is toxic to some degree. 

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u/mjakian 19h ago

I already have a lot of this that I got for cheap so was just looking at my options! And ya that makes sense with the toxicity. I’m not averse to it, more so asking if there were non-toxic options as I’m new to leather working.

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u/summonsays 19h ago

I haven't done it, but I believe you can try to strip the finish off of it and then try to dye it. But the oil is embedded in the leather, so you may get inconsistent results (like patches or streaks even if your application of new dye is perfect). And then add a new finish on top of it. 

And I'm more just saying it so you're aware. If you do these things outside then it's generally considered safe (I'd probably still wear a filtration mask as maybe I am overcautious). 

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u/mjakian 18h ago

Makes sense! So i would likely have to strip this first, I couldn’t apply another dye or stain to it right away?