I have some 4 ounce goatskin that was vegetable tanned that is nice and soft, yet firm enough for perfect use for bags. The issue is that when dyed, it loses all of its softness and flexibility. The leather gets extremely stiff and even after being worked, it will loosen a little but never regains the softness or flexibility. I am using Fieblings liquid dye in both light and medium brown and appying it with the throw away sponge brushes. I get the same results if I dye it with the leather wet, damp or dry. I even tried using the Fieblings deglazer and it does not help, in fact I think it makes it worse. The light brown dye is the #201 and is labeled "Fieblings Dye" and the medium is labeled as "Fieblings Instituional Dye".
Am I doing something wrong or is this a normal, expected result? Is there something else I should be doing? This is driving me nuts and any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Am I doing something wrong or is this a normal, expected result? Is there something else I should be doing? This is driving me nuts and any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.