Leather Craft Research and Development

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Leather Bleaching and Water

When you buy a freshly tanned hide, it often has that light, almost white, color. For a long time I have tried all different ways of bleaching leather which had been out in the light and have gone darker.

No luck on that one (Has anyone got a suggestion?)

Then I made these two seven by seven inch tiles for display in a store window - two years and when I received them, they had gone from their rich brown honey tan, to a fairly light natural leather color - what you see marked as 'B' on the left(I had not put any dye on them whatsoever).

I had these pieces at a two day demo we were giving, and when I arrived to second day, someone appologised that they had spilled a few drops of water on one. No hassle - I would just let it dry and see what would be needed to restore them.

"They are dry - the spill happened last night" the person said....

I looked closely again and it felt dry - where the water drops had fallen, the leather was back to its darker tanned color again! (Marked as 'A' on the leather)

So I took a brush and with water only, got the darker effect that you see here! I then applied my trusty old Dubbin as a finnish, and that is what I scanned in here!

The 'Vitruvian Man' above, has no beveling in - it is only burned with a pyrography pen.
The modern design on the right has some metalic acrylic colors on the figure itself, but also no other dye. It is bevelled.

Please send me your comments!