Dyeing leather boots?

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cheryle (Dianthus)

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Veteran

I am boot obsessed. I think it is a fall thing for me.

I have these tsubo cusus booties in red but I rarely wear them because the red feels a bit too bright for me. I like the interesting shape and detail and they are very comfortable so I am thinking to change the color to a darker red or a even cognac.

Have you ever dyed or had a pair of shoes or boots dyed? Did it work out?

Is it worth the attempt or should I just pass them along? If it is worth it, what color do you think would be best for this pair?

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11 years ago

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7 replies

Latest reply was from cheryle (Dianthus)

bj1111

Veteran

Rae has had success with dyeing all sorts of leather items. Some of her threads give product names to try and reviews of coverage etc.

How about a quick trip to the cobbler for questions?

11 years ago

Anonymous

I once dyed a pair of boots black and it was very successful. I used a UK brand called Dylon and it was a proper shoe dye. You had to paint it on with a small square hard sponge thingey, that had a wire handle.

11 years ago

Diana

Veteran

I used Tarrago shoe cream to turn my brown oxfords bronze, and it was very easy and successful. I had a post on here about it somewhere. I think in general going darker is easy, as is putting a metallic on top of an existing color. Going lighter is harder bc you need to strip the existing dye.

11 years ago

ironkurtin

Veteran

I've used the Tarrago shoe cream as well as regular shoe polish to darken leather. You can do it yourself, or your shoe guy can do it. If it's a very tricky job, I might let a professional unless you have a steady hand and patience.

11 years ago

thimblelina

(website)

Veteran

Going from this red to a deeper ox blood seems like it would be the most failsafe. And I would enlist a cobbler.

11 years ago

Astrid

Veteran

I think a darker red would be great and probably the easiest. I haven't dyed leather yet, so no suggestions.

11 years ago

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

I was out doing errands and took the shoes in case I passed by a shoe repair shop. I spotted a place and dropped them off. They will be back ready on Wednesday. The cognac color they had looked more like a very rich golden color as opposed to the richer red/brown we are referring to as cognac so I went with medium brown. I figure the base red will result in a reddish brown which should work.

I figured it was better to get them professionally done since the style has the folds of leather that might be hard to work with.

11 years ago

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