Dyeing shoes

I dyed some shoes from brown to black, no fancy antiquing. I started by experimenting with beater J&M's first and now I'm doing AE's. The shop didn't have deglazer so I used acetone. Dye was Fiebing's and I'll be using Lexol conditioner tomorrow. 1. Cleaned shoes 2. Rubbed acetone multiple times 3. Applied dye 4. Buffed (waited a few hours for dye to dry, too impatient to wait overnight) 5. Applied dye (tongue got only one coat so it looks different in the pic) 6. Tomorrow I'll buff and condition Overall, it was pretty easy. The shop quoted me $35 for the job. Dye was $7, Lexol $8, and I figure I'll probably do a more thorough job than them. One bottle of dye is enough to do a bunch of shoes if you want and of course the Lexol is good to have. By the way, if you're not using Lexol conditioner right now, you should. I had some shoes that were really tired looking and Lexol seems to have breathed new life into them. Great product.

Nice!

Originally Posted by HomerJ

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I dyed some shoes from brown to black, no fancy antiquing. I started by experimenting with beater J&M's first and now I'm doing AE's. The shop didn't have deglazer so I used acetone. Dye was Fiebing's and I'll be using Lexol conditioner tomorrow.

1. Cleaned shoes
2. Rubbed acetone multiple times
3. Applied dye
4. Buffed (waited a few hours for dye to dry, too impatient to wait overnight)
5. Applied dye (tongue got only one coat so it looks different in the pic)
6. Tomorrow I'll buff and condition

Overall, it was pretty easy. The shop quoted me $35 for the job. Dye was $7, Lexol $8, and I figure I'll probably do a more thorough job than them. One bottle of dye is enough to do a bunch of shoes if you want and of course the Lexol is good to have.

By the way, if you're not using Lexol conditioner right now, you should. I had some shoes that were really tired looking and Lexol seems to have breathed new life into them. Great product.

Look nice. I am curious about long term effect of this effort, if you do not mind report back in sometime if the dye still holds up after some wear. TIA.

Funny, I have those exact RL shoes in that same colour and I also want to dye them. Post up how it works out.

Originally Posted by B2C2V

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Look nice. I am curious about long term effect of this effort, if you do not mind report back in sometime if the dye still holds up after some wear. TIA.
A long term update would take a while since I wear these a couple of times a month but here's a short term update. When I conditioned the shoes with Lexol the next morning the dye was rubbing out exposing streaks of brown leather. I thought it wasn't taking because the shoe wasn't deglazed enough. RIDER has recommend deglazer (which is partly acetone) because pure acetone is harsh so I was confused why my pure acetone treatment didn't work. I wonder if there's something else in deglazer that helps the process. The shoes initally had a very glossy smooth finish to them so maybe these just needed more aggressive deglazing. I stripped them pretty hard again and this was the result. I can see how you could antique this way if you were inclined but I needed some black captoes. I redyed, allowed to dry half a day, rubbed, redyed, allowed to dry half a day, rubbed, and finally did a third coat for good measure. The next day I conditioned with Lexol a number of times and the dyejob seems durable. Interestingly, when I first dyed the shoes, they were ink black. As the dye dried, the shoes became more metallic looking with hints of pewter. That freaked me out a little bit but it turned flat black when I conditioned with Lexol. If I were to do this again, I'd wait for the shop to get some deglazer in stock, and be more patient in between coats.

Originally Posted by HomerJ

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I dyed some shoes from brown to black, no fancy antiquing. I started by experimenting with beater J&M's first and now I'm doing AE's.

^ very good advice. If you haven't dyed or antiqued shoes before, don't start on a pair that you'll miss. I'm sure it took Ron a long time and a lot of practice to become RIDER.

Originally Posted by HomerJ

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A long term update would take a while since I wear these a couple of times a month but here's a short term update.

When I conditioned the shoes with Lexol the next morning the dye was rubbing out exposing streaks of brown leather. I thought it wasn't taking because the shoe wasn't deglazed enough. RIDER has recommend deglazer (which is partly acetone) because pure acetone is harsh so I was confused why my pure acetone treatment didn't work. I wonder if there's something else in deglazer that helps the process. The shoes initally had a very glossy smooth finish to them so maybe these just needed more aggressive deglazing.

I stripped them pretty hard again and this was the result. I can see how you could antique this way if you were inclined but I needed some black captoes.



I redyed, allowed to dry half a day, rubbed, redyed, allowed to dry half a day, rubbed, and finally did a third coat for good measure. The next day I conditioned with Lexol a number of times and the dyejob seems durable. Interestingly, when I first dyed the shoes, they were ink black. As the dye dried, the shoes became more metallic looking with hints of pewter. That freaked me out a little bit but it turned flat black when I conditioned with Lexol.

If I were to do this again, I'd wait for the shop to get some deglazer in stock, and be more patient in between coats.




Nice job HomerJ. Actually, looks like the method was fine....A/E are not so easy to work on these days. They are spraying the finish on with compression sprayers, it appears, so they really get coated and you have to get all that out or you get a spotty finish. If I can offer a suggestion, combine the Lexol and the dye and do in one step, use more cream polish and do both very lightly.

I really like that brown/black ! Would have been a cool look. BTW, what model is that? Never have seen that before.....curious.

Ron

Originally Posted by RIDER

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Nice job HomerJ. Actually, looks like the method was fine....A/E are not so easy to work on these days. They are spraying the finish on with compression sprayers, it appears, so they really get coated and you have to get all that out or you get a spotty finish. If I can offer a suggestion, combine the Lexol and the dye and do in one step, use more cream polish and do both very lightly. I really like that brown/black

! Would have been a cool look. BTW, what model is that? Never have seen that before.....curious. Ron
Hey Ron, Interesting info about the AE finishing. I liked the brown/black too. When I saw it I thought hmm with practice I could develop a decent antique. Thanks for your comments and the tip. Your previous threads were a helpful resource. The shoe is the Niles by the way.

All these actually look amazing.

Originally Posted by HomerJ

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Hey Ron,

Interesting info about the AE finishing.

I liked the brown/black too. When I saw it I thought hmm with practice I could develop a decent antique.

Thanks for your comments and the tip. Your previous threads were a helpful resource. The shoe is the Niles by the way.

Oh, the Niles.....don't remember seeing that before. Wonder why it didn't stay in the line - good looking shoe. I wonder if the base of the eyestay is supposed to be squared off like that. Nice little detail, but then, I am a shoe dork, so probably nobody else notices.......

No problems...my pleasure. Do you have Renoveteur? I give myself a plug here and suggest you get some .

Ron

Originally Posted by HomerJ

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The shoe is the Niles by the way.

Took me a while to figure it out; I finally recognized it because of the faux (?) stitching that runs along the vamp and curves downwards, replacing the actual piece of leather that usually overlaps that section. Good looking shoe, both before and after your dye job! Would you happen to know what last # it's on?

Originally Posted by Wes Bourne

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Took me a while to figure it out; I finally recognized it because of the faux (?) stitching that runs along the vamp and curves downwards, replacing the actual piece of leather that usually overlaps that section. Good looking shoe, both before and after your dye job! Would you happen to know what last # it's on?
I think it's on the #8. "Modeled after the 4 last, but with more depth to accommodate the casual orthotic."

Tks for the info, I see some on ebay from time to time; might be worth checking out. Btw, I always wondered how you guys go about dyeing the tongue. Once you apply a coat of dye, do you use something to prevent it from propping back in place and rubbing against the opening/underside where the eyelets are?

Originally Posted by Wes Bourne

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Tks for the info, I see some on ebay from time to time; might be worth checking out. Btw, I always wondered how you guys go about dyeing the tongue. Once you apply a coat of dye, do you use something to prevent it from propping back in place and rubbing against the opening/underside where the eyelets are?
Umm I skipped the tongue at first Then jumped in, getting dye on the liner and omitting the areas that don't show Good thing I'm not OCD but I'm curious to know

Originally Posted by HomerJ

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Umm I skipped the tongue at first

Then jumped in, getting dye on the liner and omitting the areas that don't show

Good thing I'm not OCD but I'm curious to know

I think that's why I haven't attempted this yet (I can be very OCD)! I guess I could apply some blue painter's tape to the liner area that comes in contact with the tongue. Paging Ron!