Color Transfer Issue: Thedi Cocoa Buffalo Leather Jacket (Help!)

[jr30]

Leather Pros, please help!

My new vegetable-tanned, hand-dyed cocoa buffalo leather jacket from Thedi leaving color on light shirt collars.

I've wiped the jacket collar several times with a dry white cotton cloth, and each time it picked up quite a bit of color. Interestingly, neither my cognac/tan buffalo jacket from Thedi nor my Chromexcel-tanned jacket from Aero has ever done this.



Will the jacket always bleed, or does this subside over time?
Is this kind of color transfer common with hand-dyed leather?
Will it improve on its own, or is there a way to speed up the process?

Thanks in advance for your input.
Roman

 

[Harris HTM]

Did you contact Thedi? Maybe he can help.

 

[jr30]

Did you contact Thedi? Maybe he can help.

Yes, I wrote to him, but I haven't received a reply yet.

 

[Harris HTM]

Never had an issue with any of my jackets - maybe it has indeed have to do with the fact of it being hand-dyed. And I guess yours is not the only hand-dyed Thedi sold, hopefully either he or some other owner can chime in.

 

[BarryMcCockiner_PhD]

I have one in order. I’ll let you know when I get it.

 

[Bender]

Whether it's hand-dyed or not shouldn't be the issue, assuming it's properly done.

I have plenty of hand-dyed stuff, and I only had one thing that bled... a camel-leather bag from this expat who was living and making them in (I think) Pakistan. I dunno if anybody remembers this guy, he was hot for a second as a way to get a great durable hand-made bag for cheap.

Anyway, in that case, he'd gotten a lot of love very quickly, and I think he was rushing his production to keep up with demand. Basically, the dye hadn't been allowed to cure fully. To make things even worse, there's a process that naturally-tanned camel leather needs after tanning to kill the smell. He'd apparently skipped that step as well. So the bag bled everywhere and smelled like how Rob Zombie looks. It was horrible.

At least your jacket doesn't smell like an aging satanist with an aversion to bathing. Give Thedi a call, he's a nice guy, and should take care of you.

 

[pj_odin]

You need a Top finish, which is a job done after dyeing to prevent bleeding of the dye in the leather. It is roughly acrylic, wax, resin and other categories, there are many brands and products to choose from. Here are some of fiebing's products

https://fiebing.com/product-category/leathercraft/top-finishes/

Given that THEDI itself doesn't have an acrylic finish, I wouldn't recommend using acrylic

 

[jr30]

Yes, I wrote to him, but I haven't received a reply yet.

I need to correct myself: At the time I wrote that Theodores hadn’t responded yet, only a few hours had passed. Theodores actually replied the very next morning and was clearly committed to finding a solution.

After several attempts in his workshop to replicate the staining issue, he suggested that I send the jacket to him so he could take care of it personally.

That’s what I call customer service. Theodores is clearly very dedicated and doesn’t leave his customers hanging after the purchase. Top-notch service!

 

[AeroFan_07]

^^ Glad this is working out.
Glad with some patience, this master of the craft is helping you sort out this issue.

 

[Rogerw650]

Interresting situation...
Please let us know the steps further that issue

 

[jr30]

I will personally bring the jacket to Theodoros, combining it with a holiday trip. I'm confident he'll find a solution.
The discoloration has significantly improved with continued wear.