Club Obi Wan

Hey, guys, I just Pecarded my leather bag strap the other night since it felt like the one side was starting to get a little dry. After leaving it sit overnight (and then another night) I'm noticing that as I use an old white T-shirt to buff and clean of the excess, I'm getting a little color bleed on the shirt. I even worked over the strap to try to "bleed out" the extra color (if that makes sense). I know someone mentioned this not so long ago, but do I need to find another product to "seal it" after having used Pecards? I want to put this strap bag on my bag, but I don't want to rub off any brown on my shirts, either. Any suggestions?

bink

I believe the Pecards is what folks have been using to seal it. I would say, perhaps some acetone would remove just a bit of color from the inside of the strap, then a heavy coat of pecards....?

Just a thought

Indy J

The first time I treated my homemade strap, the same thing happened. I just kept buffing it over the span of a few days until no more dye rubbed off, and it's been fine since. I even wear mine without a shirt a lot and it's unaffected. However, if you don't trust it, I believe Lee Keppler recommends using Mop n Glow as a sealer.

I took mine (which is a Noel Howard)and sanded the back a little. Then used Pecards brown 3 times. Then I took a lighter to it to darken the back to better match the front. Then Pecards brown again. Then regular Pecards. Doesn't seem to bleed at all.

AC

I used Pecards shoe oil once, then the brown Pecards. Buffed it off, let it bleed, no problem anymore.

Don't mind me, sir. I'm just borrowoing your brick wall.

Thanks, guys! The strap was already broken in quite nicely when I got it with the bag. I did, in fact, use a bunch of Pecards on the strap and let it sit for a day or two. I proceeded to rub it down, but maybe I just need to keep doing so until I get the bleed to stop. I have some Pecard boot oil. Would you recommend I put some of that on top of the previous Pecard treatment or just stick with the Pecards that's on it now and keep rubbing away at it?

bink

Bink,

I would just let that side of the strap dry out for a week or two. Sounds silly but I would wipe it down really good with a cotton cloth and then let it dry out.

I know that too much Pecards of any kind will make it really greasy. And, that doesn't sound like the direction your want to go.


Pyroxene

After all the applications I applied, mine is not greasy at all. I let it soak in for 24 hours for each application. Then rubbed it really well at the last. Plus using the lighter in the middle helped it dry out some.

No bleed, no greasy feel.

AC

Yeah, I've been rubbing it down on and off over the weekend and the bleed issue is becoming less and less a problem. I have some boot oil, but I haven't used that yet, just the Pecards I use for my goatskin. As for the strap being brand new, I got the bag and strap used form a member here, so it already had some time to "loosen up" a bit. Besides, I like to distress most of my gear the natural way--by using it! I'll keep working at thre strap. I need it for Friday, but I can be patient until then. Thanks, guys!

bink