Things You\’ll Need
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Leather de-glazer
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Fake sheepskin cloth, 2
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Clean rag
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Gloves
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Leather dye
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Soft cloth
Use your stove to heat the water. Image Credit: Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Any time you attempt to dye a leather item at home, you risk ruining the expensive material if you don't know exactly what you're doing. The softness and delicate nature of lambskin leather makes it especially easy to accidentally scratch when you attempt to dye it yourself. Although the act of dying lambskin leather is not complicated, and can be accomplished within a couple of hours, taking your time and handling the item with care will keep the leather safe as you dye it.
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Step 1
Place the lambskin leather item on a working surface. Saturate one of the fake sheepskin cloths with the leather de-glazer. A leather de-glazer is a chemical solution that strips the lambskin leather of its shiny or glazed finish, making the texture more porous and more susceptible to holding the dye.
Step 2
Wipe the cloth with the de-glazer over the leather item until you have de-glazed the leather. Do not touch the leather with your fingers or fingernails.
Step 3
Wait 30 minutes for the leather to dry. If it looks matte when dry, you are ready to proceed. If it still looks glossy after it dries, wipe one more coats of the de-glazer over the leather.
Step 4
Wipe away any dust from the leather with a clean rag. Once you apply the dye, dust, lint or any type of debris will stick to the dye and the leather.
Step 5
Put on gloves to protect your hands from becoming stained. Saturate the second fake sheepskin cloth with the leather dye. Wipe the lambskin leather with the dye that's absorbed on the cloth in one direction, such as up and down or left to right. Keep the direction that you wipe it in the same so that you don't get streak marks.
Step 6
Rub a soft cloth lightly and gently over the lambskin leather, removing excess dye in a swift motion.
Step 7
Watch the color of the lambskin leather change as you apply the dye. The lambskin leather will appear darker when it is wet from the dye, and will lighten once it dries. Set the leather aside for one hour and check the color. Apply a second coat to get a deeper or richer color on the leather.
Tip
Use a fine-tip paintbrush to dye detailed work on lambskin leather.
Mix colors to create different hues or color effects. Paint one color on top of another color for contrast.
Warning
Do not try to hasten the drying process by placing the leather item into an electric dryer or outside in the sun.