{"id":430,"date":"2021-08-29T21:35:22","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T19:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/?p=430"},"modified":"2021-08-29T21:35:28","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T19:35:28","slug":"darken-leather-without-dyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/darken-leather-without-dyes\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways To Darken Leather Without Dyes (A Step-By-Step Guide)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
For a really long time, I have not been a fan of dyeing my leather items. I do not know what to call it, probably a phobia of dye stains on my hands or my obsession for stains ruining my clean home. So this sparked some curiosity in me and wanted to know if there was a way to darken my leather shoes, jackets, among other things without using dyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My oh my, my experiment yielded some super cool results although a couple of others failed brutally. Not only did I find just one or two ways of darkening leather items without dyes. But 5 easy ways to do it and do it effectively without any issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you darken leather without dyes? Here’s how to darken your leather items using coffee;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Trust me, these experiments were really fun and I was able to achieve some fantastic results. I am happy to take you through a step-by-step process on how to darken your leather items without using dyes. You’re absolutely going to love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using sunlight is one of the natural ways to darken leather goods if you do not want to use dyes or do not have leather dyes readily available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So basically it involves putting the leather item outside in direct sunlight for a few hours, and it will darken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simply right? But darkening leather this way will come with a few downsides with the most common one being the leather item becoming pale or faded instead of darkening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The leather successfully darkening will usually depend on the quality of the leather. Low-quality leather will usually darken a lot quicker than those that are of superior quality. But all in all, vegetable-tanned leather tends to darken a lot faster no matter the grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This method of darkening leather items without using dyes was the first method I tried as I did not want to start my experiment with something overly complex and end up getting demotivated to do more experiments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This method is fairly easy and only very few things to get yourself set for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last thing I’m going to leave you with on this method is that you must keep in mind that prolonged exposure to direct sunlight could cause damage to your leather goods so think about how long they’ll be out there before setting up the experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked around the house and the next thing I tried was using regular boots or shoe polish. Shoe and boots polishes contain ingredients such as waxes, oils, and pigments that help to enhance the color of leather boots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meaning this method will be more convenient if you intend to darken your leather shoes, boots, or sandals – although it could also work for other leather items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For faded leather shoes and boots, using shoe polish to darken them is a fantastic option. The color change and darkening that results from using polish are subtle-and you’ll get the results in just one use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to darken black or brown leather items, use black polishes or brown polish, while for all other colors, neutral shoe polish will work just fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best part of using shoe polish to darken leather is that it’s an eco-friendly and cost-effective way of darkening leather items. <\/p>\n\n\n\n All you need to do is follow the instructions on your particular product and make sure to buff the application thoroughly. Here’s how you go about this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another thing I also tried in my series of experiments on how to darken leather without dyes. I tried using coffee and it exceeded my expectation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I went back to research why coffee could work well as a way to darken leather and here’s what I found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coffee contains a type of acid called chlorogenic acid. It is this kind of acid that reacts with the tannins in the leather, which are responsible for giving it its color and make them darker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we get into the meat of this method, let me start by saying you do not need to use your premium coffee imports for this method. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t use your PT’s coffee for this method. Get any cheap coffee and the result will be the same. Trust me, I did the test! The result is simply the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cast your mind back to those times when you tried a particular type of leather oil on your leather couch or shoes for the first time and wondered why the leather darkened significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Has this really happened to you before? If it has then bingo! You already know where I’m going with this. But if you’re not following then here’s the deal with this method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leather oils when applied to leather items generally make them darker. This usually happens with natural oils like Neatsfoot oil, mink oil, or my favorite, coconut oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These oils contain natural substances that do not only allow them to bring out the natural color of the leather but make them darker especially when they are first applied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be fair, I only had neatsfoot oil available at home so that is what I used and the results were super duper. But from my research, you could use mink oil and coconut oil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you go the coconut oil route, make sure to use the unrefined coconut oil as it results in the best darkening effect on leather items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below is a step-by-step guide on how to use this method to darken your leather items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vaseline is a petrolatum derivative that is often used as a lip balm and skin ointment. It can be found in the form of oil or jelly at most drug stores and supermarkets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is another good alternative to using dyes when you want to darken your leather items. Vaseline after it has been applied on the surface of the leather will oxidize which then darkens the surface of the leather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This method is so effective that it will even work on leather surfaces that have been finished, protected, unfinished, or sealed. Using vaseline to darken your leather items is a more natural option and it is also inexpensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best part is, vaseline can easily be applied to the leather to darken it by hand rubbing. Here’s how you go about doing it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Step 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For a really long time, I have not been a fan of dyeing my leather items. I do not know what to call it, probably a phobia of dye stains<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":439,"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions\/439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leatherinformer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Method 1: Using UV Light or Sunlight To Darken Leather<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What You’ll Need:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Procedure:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 1<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 2<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 3<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 4<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Method 2: Using Shoe Or Boot Polish To Darken Leather<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What You’ll Need:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Procedure<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 1<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 2<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 3<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 4<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 5<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Method 3: Using Coffee To Darken Leather<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What You’ll Need:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Procedure:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 1<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 2<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 3<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Method 4: Using Natural Oils To Darken Leather<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What You’ll Need:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Procedure:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 1<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 2<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 3<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 4 (Optional)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Method 5: Using Vaseline To Darken Leather<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What You’ll Need:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Procedure:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 2<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Step 3<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n