rubbed too much?

[L. McAlpine]

I just finished sewing up one of the few sheaths I've done and noticed a couple marks on the front .So i decided to rub them out with a smooth piece of antler after dampening them a little. When I was done I noticed the places I had rubbed were a darker color and I thought they would go back to the same color as the rest after they dried out but they didn't. I'm concerned that when I dye the leather the two places I rubbed will look different than the rest. Am I correct and if I am is there anything I can do to keep that from happening before I dye the leather. Thanks for any help

 

[NoahL]

You rubbed enough to compress the fibers of the leather and possibly burnish the area, so yes, it will stay a different color. I dye before molding to help minimize this effect.

~Noah

 

[HELLGAP]

you could re wet the leather and try to blend the area a little more. If you dye the sheath while it is damp it will take the dye more evenly this may help your problem. Another thing you could do is stamp the area you rubbed. When in doubt stamp it lol.

 

[leatherman]

Two effects are garnered from rubbing the leather, and it depends on whether it is wet, dry, and/or dyed already.

If you rub an area on leather wet or dry its closing the pores thus making it more difficult for the dye to penetrate. Or, if the leather is already dyed, it concentrates the dyes in that area thus the darker appearance.

Rub wet leather and it has a more dramatic effect, before its dyed and you get a lighter color in the rubbed areas. Rub an already dyed area and you get a darker color.

I don't subscribe to the wet leather dying so I cant comment there, technique is the key, not the substrate.

Looks like you rubbed on wet already dyed leather, that's how you get the darker result. Not much you can do there. I have a few "finished" sheaths in my scrap bin for that reason.

Rubbing on wet leather is called burnishing, it seals the pores and effectively shines the product, but you dont want to do burnishing as a spot cure for a flaw in the leather, you get slightly larger flaws.

A lot of repetition here I know, but its the way I learned, trial and error. Ruin a few sheaths and you will learn by trial, its the long way yea, but it does burn it in the old memory.