Many leather jacket makers these days perform leather re-dyes and also charge their customers extra for the re-dye job and pride themselves that they offer a high quality “handmade” item. Please be extra careful before you buy or you are risking regretting it.
Tanneries perform a series of tests to determine the leather’s suitability for the intended purpose. Altering the finish of the leather by re-dyeing it changes the physical properties of the leather and the result of that is unknown. Most likely the leather will lose its original qualities that make it suitable for garment. In other words your jacket will be damaged beyond repair.
Here is a list of some the ISO tests conducted by the tanneries before they sell their leathers.
-Standard Test Method for Resistance to Wetting of Garment-Type Leathers (Spray Test)
-Standard Test Method for Colorfastness and Transfer of Color in the Washing of Leather
-Standard Test Method for Measuring the Relative Stiffness of Leather by Means of a Torsional Wire Apparatus
-Standard Test Method for Colorfastness of Crocking of Leather
-Standard Test Method for Resistance of Colored Leather to Bleeding
-Standard Test Method for Determination of Resistance of Leather to (Bleeding) Color Stain Transfer
-Standard Test Method for Determination of Area Stability of Leather to Laundering
-Standard Test Method for Determination of Dynamic Water Absorption of Leather Surfaces
-Standard Test Method for Water Absorption (Static) of Vegetable Tanned Leather
-Standard Test Method for Flexibility and Adhesion of Finish on Leather
-Standard Test Method for Tackiness of Finish on Leather
-Standard Test Method for Abrasion Resistance of Leather (Rotary Platform, Abraser Method)
-Standard Test Method for Cracking Resistance of Leather
WARNING: Please do not buy leather jackets hand dyed outside the tannery and most importantly do not re-dye the jacket yourself. There are significant chances that you will damage it. Neither the leather jacket makers nor anybody outside the tannery has the capacity to perform the aforementioned tests to ensure a successful re-dye job. Instead, please hand your jacket to a leather professional who will send your jacket to the tannery for a proper re-dye. Please always choose quality and support the undertaking of proper procedures.
Please see below a bunch of more tests the leather jacket maker can’t perform when altering the finish by re-dyeing the jackets:
-Finish Adhesion Strength – ISO 11644
-Bally Flex Resistance ASTM D6182 (DRY and WET)
-Color Fastness ( Veslic Abrasion) – ISO 11640
-ASTM D6116 Blocking Resistance (resistance to finish sticking with damage)
-Colorfastness to Bleeding/ Color Stain Transfer (ASTM D 6012)
-Colorfastness to perspiration – ISO 11641
-Color fastness to Water spotting – ISO 15700
-Static water absorption – ASTM D 6015
-Cold Crack Resistance (-20 C) (ASTM D 1912)
-Light fastness aging – ISO 105-B02 (semi-aniline, 32 hrs.)
-Colorfastness to Accelerated Aging (80oC for 48 hours)
-3 M oil repellency test
-Cr2O3 concentration- ASTM D 2807
-Cr VI concentration- ISO 17075
-Lead Content in Coating- CPSC-CH-E1003-09.1
-ISO 4045: Determination pH
-Formaldehyde – INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 17226-1 (2008-05-01)
-ASTM D1611 Corrosion produced by leather in contact with metal
Poor fixation and bleeding are the most common problems and you can safely bet that it’s not a good idea to wear your white shirt with any of those hand dyed jackets, or even try to lean against the wall.
The texts of those standards are not available for free and they cost a small fortune to purchase. As such leather jacket makers who dye their leathers do not even get to read them, let alone comply to them.
The real reason why other makers dye their leathers on their own is not because they are guru craftsmen, as you may think or have been told to believe, but because they cannot afford to pay the MOQ (minimum order quantity) that the tanneries require to make a custom color.