question for the shoe/bag dyers...

okay, so I found the color choices. If I'm wanting to dye a pair of champagne colored shoes orange, which color would I use? Do I want pale orange 103, or red orange 28? I want it to be more orange than red.

http://www.shoetreemarketplace.....tCode=1007

13 years ago

deb

Veteran

I would mix the two to get the color you want.

13 years ago

Queen Mum

Veteran

hmm, or maybe I should get a red and a yellow then and mix until I get the right orange. Does the original shoe color effect the final outcome? And what do you do about trim on the shoes... mine have metal studs. Will the dye just wipe off of them after it's done?

13 years ago

Diana

Veteran

Ooh, I've been thinking of doing this too... does anyone know if it will work if I try to overdye black shoes? Or do I need to bleach them or something first? I want to try to dye some black boots burgundy, so it's not like I want a light color or something. Dark burgundy would be great, actually, so long as you can tell they're burgundy and not black.

(Hope you don't mind me glomming onto your thread, Kim!)

13 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Do you have a good shoe repair nearby? I went to ours the other day. I want to condition some of my vintage Coach bags. Anyway, one side of the shop had leather conditioners, but the other side had lots of leather dyes. The woman suggested if I wanted to dye something, to bring it in and she could help picking out dye.

13 years ago

kellygirl

Veteran

Sounds like a fun project. I can't wait to know more.

13 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Ooh! I want to hear answers to these quesitons, too. Rae, Claire, Vix...where are you???

13 years ago

April

Veteran

QM, the dye will dye the studs as well, so put a little dab of masking tape on them, or just paint around them carefully. You might be able to wipe it off with a Q-Tip while it's still wet, but once it's dried on, you'd have to use some kind of remover, and then you'd probably remove some of your dye job as well.

It *is* a fun project -- will you post before and after photos for us?

13 years ago

Queen Mum

Veteran

Diana- it claims that you can even dye white on black... I wouldn't have thought so, but it's worth a try. For a $6 dye kit you can't go too wrong. I'm so excited about the whole new world of possibilities this could open up!

Of course I'll post photos. I"ll post a pic of the shoes and get input about what to do about the metal circles.

13 years ago

rae

(website)

Veteran

Good luck dying! I also use Tarrago.

For Diana, here is my experience overdying black.
http://onedollarwonders.blogsp.....right.html

If I tried it again, I would strip the black first. They have stripper at DharmaTrading.
http://www.dharmatrading.com/h.....0-AA.shtml

13 years ago

jayne

Veteran

I didn't strip anything from my brown booties and they are certainly red now.

as to studs, and anything else you don't want died, the dye is kinda rubbery at the end so I used a fingernail to scrape away from along the soles....but claire wiped it off between coats with a qtip dipped in water. the dye is water based and easy to clean up.

it is odd stuff, just layer it on til you get the color you want. My boots had a dried leather finish and they soaked up alot, but they are glossy, well semi-glossy, now

it was so much fun I am going to order pine green for some brown brogues I am not using!

13 years ago

deb

Veteran

This looks like a fun project to me also so I was reading the instructions on the Tarrago web site, http://www.tarrago.us/, and noticed there is an actual dye and then there is a paint. Rae, which did you use? Does it chip off? I remember my mom dying shoes in the 60's with some kind of a shoe dye, and it cracked and peeled.

13 years ago

Vix

Veteran

To glom onto Deb's comment, I have used the Tarrago dye paint once and didn't care for the results (plastic-y on the pair I did)/chipping on the shoes. Ditto for the Nu-Life spray dye.

However, I've used the Tarrago or Meltonian colored or metallic leather cream polishes on several pairs of shoes going back a few years now. I've been happy with the results, and if you scuff the shoes you just have to touch them up with a bit of polish.

For me it's been easiest to go from light to darker, medium to medium or dark, or to add a metallic finish -- but then I never stripped my original dye out. You can easily layer color coats to get variation, too -- I have done that with various metallics. Takes a bit longer to polish out a scuff that way, though.

My local shoe shop sells "straight" color shoe cream polish -- but I purchased the pearlized, metallic, and fun shades are from this (recommended) vendor:

http://shoeshinekit.com/

Photo 1: Some of my mostly-metallic cream polishes from shoeshinekit.com

Photo 2: A pair of sandals that went from medium slate blue to a silver/platinum blend (extra-shiny due to flash!)

Photo 3: 1st coat of cordovan polish on dead-mouse brown boots

A bit on my process experience blogged here: http://buildingacolorfullife.w.....to-see-me/

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13 years ago

sarah

Veteran

Kim, I use Tarrago, too, and I did dye lighter colors over black (these oxfords were all black).

I found the color chart you posted pretty true. Have fun, and be sure to show us the finished product. Be sure to mix really well as you go, or you'll get streaks.

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13 years ago

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