Making Dark Brown Leather Belt Lighter Brown?

[Mannie Bothans]

Greetings,

I have a belt that looks like the one shown at http://www.thewhipstudio.com/1_2_images/DCP01467.JPG but I would like to make it look like the lighter brown color we see in KotCS.

Does anyone know how to make a dark brown belt look lighter in color? I don't really want to sand it down and restain it, I was just wondering if anyone here had ever used anything on leather that would lighten it up a little. I know Pecard dressing will darken most leathers-- but is there anything out there that will lighten it a shade or two? I like the belt, but I was wondering the best way to make it just a smidge lighter.

I could probably sunbathe it to get the dye to fade, but is there any other way?

[Michaelson]

Have you tried soaking it in warm water to see if the dye will release? It may be water soluable enough to allow you to lighten it up that way.

If it's indelible dye, that won't work.

Regards! Michaelson

[Mannie Bothans]

Thanks. If that does the trick, it means I will need to bathe it in some mop-n-glo or maybe I'll check out the Tandy website to see if I can find somethin' to apply after I get the color right to keep it from bleeding onto my clothes (if it's water soluable, my sweat would not make it very happy).

Have you tried soaking it in warm water to see if the dye will release? It may be water soluable enough to allow you to lighten it up that way.

If it's indelible dye, that won't work.

Regards! Michaelson

[Michaelson]

Believe me, more than one individual has discovered (to their horror) that the leather item they THOUGHT was dye 'tight' WASN'T the first time the item got wet!

In this case, it could work to your advantage if it is.

Regard! Michaelson

[Mannie Bothans]

Thanks for the heads up! If the dye is tight, I wonder what the differenceis between deglazer, dye reducer, and dye solvent.

How shiny does neat lac make leather?

[Michaelson]

I honestly don't know.

Drop 'K on the run' a PM. He does a LOT of leather work, and might be able to offer some insights, I'm sure.

Regard! Michaelson

[TheMechanic]

Denatured alcohol and acetone/lacquer thinner will take anything off the leather. I've used both to lighten leather over the years. The denatured alcohol is less potent than the acetone, so I would try that first. Sometimes the leather is a weird color under the dye so after you strip it down some sanding may be in order to get to the color you want.

For example, sometimes the leather under the dye will be orange which you may be able to dye over or you may have to sand through it and then re-dye.

[Michaelson]

...or, you could ask TheMechanic....

Regards! Michaelson

[indygr]

...following the super-detailed description of The Mechanic I would also suggest you to rub the inner part of the belt with a white cloth soaked with salty water. In that way you can simulate the effects of the sweat...and repeat it as many times as you wish.

For the aging procedure just follow the members' suggestions

Indygr

[Mannie Bothans]

Well, I soaked it last night in warm water...

and the dark, shiny, almost shellaced-looking layer came off the belt. It still hasn't fully dried (it's very humid here), but it looks like some parts and splotches of the belt are going to be very dark and some are going to be way too light, but most is going to be just right.

Because I know I can make it darker (with Pecard dressing, etc) I wonder what it would do if I applied a light tan dye to the belt, to try to smooth out the ugliest blotches and lighten the whole belt. I'll need to Neat Lac (or something) it to seal it when I have it looking right, but I don't know what that will do to the final color, either.

I might just have to try that saltwater trick. By "inner part of the belt" do you mean the backside?

[K on the run]

Denatured alcohol and acetone/lacquer thinner will take anything off the leather. I've used both to lighten leather over the years. The denatured alcohol is less potent than the acetone, so I would try that first. Sometimes the leather is a weird color under the dye so after you strip it down some sanding may be in order to get to the color you want.

For example, sometimes the leather under the dye will be orange which you may be able to dye over or you may have to sand through it and then re-dye.

My experience exactly, It's very hard to "uncolor" dyed leather unless you apply a new layer of color on top. That is not a good solution in this case.

Normally leather darkens when you apply leather dressing, it doesn't matter whether it is light or dark dressing, the leather goes dark for the same reason a light colored tee-shirt gets dark when it gets wet.
Try to remove as much color with alcohol of acetone. Be carful (for a great number of reasons) the treatment will dry out the leather so you will have to work some Pecards or other leather dressing back in to it.

You might consider keeping the belt as is and get a more KotcS SA belt for those KotcS moments

Good luck
K

[Mannie Bothans]

The belt may not still be completely dry, but BOY is it so much lighter just after saoking in the water, but the coloring is very uneven. I'm not sure where I am going from here, but we'll see what I can do.

Well, I soaked it last night in warm water...

and the dark, shiny, almost shellaced-looking layer came off the belt. It still hasn't fully dried (it's very humid here), but it looks like some parts and splotches of the belt are going to be very dark and some are going to be way too light, but most is going to be just right.

Because I know I can make it darker (with Pecard dressing, etc) I wonder what it would do if I applied a light tan dye to the belt, to try to smooth out the ugliest blotches and lighten the whole belt. I'll need to Neat Lac (or something) it to seal it when I have it looking right, but I don't know what that will do to the final color, either.

I might just have to try that saltwater trick. By "inner part of the belt" do you mean the backside?

[Mannie Bothans]

Here it is now:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27236920@N06/2595822281/

Here was the original look:

http://www.thewhipstudio.com/1_2_images/DCP01467.JPG

[K on the run]

That looks great, Michaelson was right.

-K

[Holt]

yes that looks great!
I did the same with my Todd's belt.

removed the color with acetone and sanded it down to a more LC look.
I also reworked the buckle to be more square like the LC/CS version



bests
Holt

[JimL]

Hello Holt.

What method did you use to 'square' the buckle on your belt?

I just received the belt myself, and would like to re-shape it before I do any other work with it.

Thanks in advance...