Today, I will show you a very poor attempt to use an aniline
leather dye creatively. Even if the creative part of the video is less than skilled, I hope you at least learn how to
mix up the powered dye and how to use it.
The dye is available from Hewit's and Sons in the UK and comes in 10 colours in different sized bottles.
The 60 milliliter bottle will last most people a long time.
The instructions from Hewit's are "To prepare a solution from the powder: A small quantity should be made into a
paste with cold water then boiling water added until the required dilution is obtained.
If the solution is too concentrated, a bronze effect will result.
Once you've made up your dye solution, pour the required amount into a shallow dish.
Using cotton wool dipped in the solution, apply the dye in broad, parallel, and even strokes onto the leather, each
time slightly overlapping the previous run.
If necessary, after the first application is dry, the leather can be rotated 90 degrees and a second less wet coat
can be applied to make the finished look more uniform.
As a rough approximation one quarter of 60 millilitres of the dye powder will make half a liter, or one pint of liquid
dye. Once completely dry, an application of dye fix will fasten the dye.
" The dye fix is obtained from Hewit's as well.
So 60 divided by 4 equals 15 millilitres, which makes 500 millilitres of dye.
So 5 milliliters, or one teaspoon, makes 170 millilitres.
When I'm making up large batches, I make up 210 milliliters, or one and a quarter teaspoons.
Until this rather dodgy attempt.
I'd only used a single colour to dye a complete piece of leather.
This has worked really well for me.
I had anticipated some bleed between the colours, but my lazy attempt at masking resulted in some really messy
bleeding. Unless your tap water is excessively acidic, water straight from the tap will be fine.
I do use RO water, which I then boil, and I sterilize jars and tools.
I only mention this because I have found that some jars still end up with some sort of algal growth after a week or
so - even with significant hygiene.
Thus now I only mix up what I need and a quarter of a teaspoon to make 40 milliliters is usually all I need in one
go. My great plan was to use a lazy variation of a free-form foil finishing technique
where I use the pattern for the tools as a mask for applying the dye.
I did a great workshop with Dominic Riley a couple of years ago where he taught us how to make a brass finishing tool
for doing freeform designs using card templates as guides for the tool.
I'm going to do an extremely lazy version of this in the video.
If you want to learn how to do it properly, I suggest a workshop with Dominic.
I believe Jana Pullman teaches a similar technique at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.
If you want to give it a go but don't want to make your own tool, I believe the ascona tool is very similar, but a bit
finer. No one would normally see the results of my experimentation, let alone me mucking about.
But I had nothing else to show you this week.
And I think it's important to try and find time to just try things out and see what happens.
You might as well see me giving it a go.
For me, the key is not dwelling on what went wrong, but what went right and how to fix the things that went wrong.
I've started to throw away all my experiments and practice pieces and early attempts at new bindings.
I found that having them around just weighed on me.
I try and keep one good example of things that worked.
Plus, I just don't have the space.
The aniline dyes are not the only option for colouring leather.
I also use the Fiebing dyes.
Historically, bookbinders used other methods which are no longer used.
Acrylics are also very popular.
Aniline dye was the first synthetic dye developed in the mid 1800s.
Prior to this, the colour ranges available were rather limited.
Anilines are considered toxic, as are many things we come into regular contact with, and even eat.
There is a lot of contradictory information about the level of toxicity and other possible negative health effects.
So follow the instructions for safe use.
I have seen on the Internet some criticism of Hewit's aniline dyes, that they fade with exposure to light.
Well, most things when exposed to UV, will fade eventually.
If you want a more stable colour, then you have to go to a pigment instead of a dye, which is a much larger and more
stable molecule.
I believe these dyes are the same dyes used by Hewit's in the manufacture of their leather, which is world famous.
I've become very picky about the materials I use, and I'm comfortable using these dyes.
And I treat the random things I see on the Internet with some caution.
If you're after inspiration for how to use these dyes, I'd recommend having a look at the work of Glenn Malkin and
Nicky Oliver.
Both use inks, dyes, and paints to produce stunning bindings.
I'm going to put some music on while I stumble about for a while.
If you get bored of watching me make a mess, you should at least watch how I finish at the 11 minute mark.
To stop the dye being reactivated by water, I'll give it a coat of dye fix.
Once that's dry, I'll give it a coat of Hewit's leather dressing.
(And no, you're not supposed to spill it all over the leather.) Once that's dry, I'll give it a good bath and then
it's finished. In Australia, we have a saying about something we're really proud of.
It's going straight to the pool room.
Well, this one's going straight to the bin.
I hope you've enjoyed today's video.
Even if the result was rather average, I wish I knew a lot more about bookbinding and I could just spend my days
showing you things I've already mastered.
But I've just about exhausted my existing skills and need to spend time learning about new structures and techniques.
I also need to spend time working on my own personal style.
We can all learn from workshops, books, and even YouTube videos.
But to develop a unique style for ourselves, we need to spend time thinking and playing.
As always, I really appreciate you hitting the big thumbs up button.
I also want to thank the Patreons who I wouldn't be able to make these videos without.
Until next time, cheerio.