Shoe Antiquing

[mdapht01]

Finally got a chance to take some pictures in the sun.

 

[FreCarl]

Tried this for the first time today...

Used Saphir 1925 and Pate de Luxe in different colours. I might think that the contrasts are i little bit too sharp. But this will fade with wearing.


Start


Finished

 

[PointDexter2014]

I am going to attempt to antique a similar pair of shoes. But I am going to this pair on this site http://www.marcguyot.com/4en.aspx?sr=2. I will post photos of my progress once I start the process.

 

[PointDexter2014]

This the pair of shoes I am going to attempt to antique in two tone version similar to this pair on this site http://www.marcguyot.com/4en.aspx?sr=2

 

[slifox]

I decided to experiment with dyeing for antiquing, since I wasn't getting satisfactory results with polish antiquing alone.

These boots have undergone a lot of modifications, including many different colors of polish, polish techniques (including drill buffing and flame polishing), re-insoling (I ripped out the sewed-in insole to replace with a heat-moldable insole), etc. I didn't particularly care what happened to them -- but if they turned out well, I'd still wear them.

Here's my procedure:

1. Strip completely with deglazer and a cotton cloth, rotating the cloth constantly. I used Fiebing's deglazer at first, but quickly ran out. I checked the MSDS on it and found it was mostly ethyl acetate (a common volatile industrial solvent). I was able to buy 95% ethyl acetate from amazon for cheaper than deglazer, and dilute it to the 50-85% needed to deglaze leather.
2. Apply base coat of light brown Fiebing's dye with badger hair paint brush
3. Allow dye to dry, then apply Lexol leather conditioner liberally
4. Remove as much dye as possible by rubbing hard with a cotton cloth, basically removing all the dye that wasn't fully soaked in.
5. Repeat steps #2-4 many times. I did this 8-10 times using varying color mixtures of light brown and dark brown, working my way up to the pure dark brown. Apply more coats on the areas that should be antiqued (toe, heel, lower vamp parts, upper's stitching).
6. Apply black to the antiqued areas; condition; rub off. This was a mistake -- the black was starkly different, and I had to blur the edge between the black and dark brown using some light deglazer rubbing. This actually worked really well at blending the antiquing areas, but I had to go back and reapply more dark brown coats to cover excess areas that the deglazer stripped.
7. Finally, after all the antiquing was done, another coat of dark brown dye across the whole shoe; condition; rub off.
8. Polish with creme, then wax.

Equipment:


Before stripping -- showing remenants of a hasty polish antiquing job:


Stripped:


First coat of dye applied, conditioned, and rubbed off:


Several coats:


More coats:


Final coat finished, including the blended black around the antiquing areas (toe, heel, lower vamp, upper's stitching):


Finished and polished:

 

[chogall]

Looking much better than polish antiquing. Personally I would stop at the first coat.

 

[inimitable]



renovateur is the expensive option.  i just use lexol.  no reason to use saphir stuff when EG themselves are using kiwi.

many times, after bleach breaks down the very top layer of finish/wax, everything comes off very easily even without additional bleach.  i found myself using lexol to get rid of excess wax/finish after bleach.

and from my humble experience, nothing gets rid of wax buildup like bleach.  even after a lot of neutral wax, saddle soap, and lincoln deglazer/dry cleaner, wax buildup still shoes after a pass of bleach.

btw, how's the results?

I'm struggling to remove much of the original black colour from the shoes. They just appear 'matte'

Any ideas?

 

[chogall]



I'm struggling to remove much of the original black colour from the shoes. They just appear 'matte'

Any ideas?

If you don't care much about the shoes and really want to try, household bleach. Straight up.

Just remember to use water to wipe it clean as the bleaching effect will last for a while.

 

[inimitable]



If you don't care much about the shoes and really want to try, household bleach. Straight up.

Just remember to use water to wipe it clean as the bleaching effect will last for a while.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I tried bleach also. Couple of snaps below. Both shoes have been deglazed and the right one has been bleached, with particular attention to the toe.

It just seems awfully difficult to get anywhere. Maybe I just need to give it another go.

 

[chogall]

Bleach worked well. It won't get rid of colors completely especially the dyes that sits deep within the leather. That's about as good as mine experience. Maybe someone knows how to extract all colors but I doubt it's possible.

 

[inimitable]



Bleach worked well. It won't get rid of colors completely especially the dyes that sits deep within the leather. That's about as good as mine experience. Maybe someone knows how to extract all colors but I doubt it's possible.

Cheers, I'll persevere and give it another go with the bleach. I'm dying them navy blue so wont need to get all the original colour out.

Will report back with pics in due course.

 

[john101]

Hi Guys, i'm new to this forum and just read up on the antiquing techniques used here. I must say i am very inspired by some of your works and i'm so gonna try it on some cheap leather shoes. However, i thought firstly i would like to clarify the usual steps involved so that we don't end up doing a blotched job. It would be great if someone could point me in the right direction with what i know so far.

From what i know, the steps involved are:

1. Remove previous dye and polish with a deglazer/accetone probably with Angelus deglazer
2. Nourish leather with a creme such as Saphir Renovateur then wait 10-15 mins
3. Mix Feibing leather dye with dye thinner and paint shoes in desired color making sure we paint in thin layers.
4. Let paint dry for 15-20mins then wipe hard with a cotton cloth to remove/prevent dye from caking.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 till desired hand painted color is achieved therefore ending up with a few layers of paint
6.Using a creme polish of same, different or mixing colors depending on desired outcome and do multiple layers of polish.
7.Repeat step 6 but this time round polish with wax to achieve a high shine

Does anyone have any additional steps to add in or correct the procedure that i wrote? I hope everyone will this useful. And what type of dye do you guys normally use from Feibing? Is there any difference between using the water based dye vs the normal dye? Thanks!!!

 

[chogall]

Sometimes people do paint and then strip again for a few iterations to create the streaky effect.

Make sure leathers are dry between the steps. Soaked leathers are easily damaged.

 

[Joshua Lee]

When removing the dye from the leather does it end up damaging the texture/softness of the leather? I got some black calf chukka boots coming in and been thinking of stripping some black dye off the toe/heel and replace it with violet.

 

[RIDER]



When removing the dye from the leather does it end up damaging the texture/softness of the leather? I got some black calf chukka boots coming in and been thinking of stripping some black dye off the toe/heel and replace it with violet.

I wouldn't suggest trying to strip off black.....if you are simply wanting to add a little violet color to the boots I'd say go right to the self shine color dyes that are out there. Just go the Amazon and search 'self shine color dye' and you should see plenty of options. The Tarrago is the best, but I am biased.

These products are simple to use, very effective, and good to provide highlights of more extreme colors in small area's.