Hello,
I've recently bought a 4mm black, dyed through shoulder. The leather seems great on the top side, burnishes really pretty and has a real meaty touch to it.
It has however quite interesting, almost plastic-like finish on the backside - does anyone know what sort of finish that might be and is it a good indicator of quality?
Is it normal for tannery-dyed leather to bleed its colour on moisture contact? Should I protect the leather somehow if I'd like to make leather neck lanyard?
I wish you have a great evening. Cheers!
@radoslaw.landowski Maybe a PU or cellulose finish perhaps? I prefer a wax finish on the flesh side personally, but it's a pain to glue a lining to sometimes of you're not splitting it.
Does the 'plastic' layer cause burnishing issues?
This back side you are describing is a very common thing in dyed through leathers ( Or called drum dyed in some places). They fine sand (snuff) the flesh side and apply a sealant as to resist dye bleed in case you make products like unlined belts or in your case lanyard. The dye bleed to a minimal extent is natural in leathers with no top coats such as PU or lacquers. Once you make the product just wipe it with a soft cloth as to retard dye bleeding when the customer is actually using the product.
If it bleeds even after this heavily. The leather is just poor quality in terms of dye fixation.
EDIT : Most dye compounds fixate upon usage as well.