Hi Turtle!!
My apologies for the delay in responding! I will warn you that dying my bag was a long and tedious process and at one point I was asking myself if it was worth it... but in the end it was. [emoji4] I love my bag now and use it every day! I've even gotten caught in the rain with it and haven't had a single issue. The Fiebings penetrating dye is amazing! I haven't had any of it rub off or fade at all and I know that's one concern that a lot of people have. Anyway... I'll layout the basic steps for ya and if you have any questions feel free to ask:
1. Get ready - First remove any tassles, the mirror, etc... including the handle cording (it's a ***** to get around the cording with the dye and even if you do the cording will stain your arm after dying so it's best to just replace the cording and go ahead and touch up your edge coating too if needed).
2. Prepping the leather - I used acetone (eeek I know... but yes, Acetone) to take off any remaining top coat and to open the pores leaving it ready to accept the dye. I did this with a semi-abrasive sponge. Took only a few minutes and the acetone dries really fast. Be sure to get ALL the little tight spaces!
3. Applying 1st coat - I applied a very thin coat of the dye one section of the bag at a time. You may notice it doesn't seem to seep in right away but don't worry... it will! I used fiebings black low voc dye and a bag of assorted paint/foam brushes from the dollar store but I've heard the wool dobbers work even better! Go back in with your tiny paint brush to get into all the tight spaces. (Dont forget to get under the trim pieces along the piping). If you miss something though, don't worry you can always go back and touch things up even after you've completely finished it.
4. Allow the dye to dry and then buff it with an old tshirt or soft clothe. This just gets rid of that ugly metallic sheen that will pop up once it's dried (it happens every time to me so don't freak out when you see it!) and eliminates any excess dye. (Do this between each dried coat and once your final coat dries)
5. Apply 2nd and 3rd coat allowing to dry for at least 6 hours in between coats (depending on what color your bag is to start with.. it may take more coats on a way lighter bag than it would a darker one).
6. After buffing one final time, check for any spots that might look thin (like the underlying color is trying to peak out)... if needed touch those spots up & allow to dry & buff.
7. Apply a thin coat of Fiebings Leather Sheen (I like this one because it offers a natural shine similar to Balenciaga bags but if you want more or less shine their are others you can use as well). Another heads up: when you apply the top coat it's gonna look milky and bubbly and may even look like it's turning your bag blue but don't panic, it's perfectly normal. I promise it WILL dry clear! Let the bag dry at least 12 hours.
If you need to touch up your edge coating and/or corners follow these next steps:
8. Pull off any old edge coating as best as you can... I used tweezers to pull mine off and it actually came off the top of the bag quite easily but the handles have such a thick edge coat so I had to file them down instead. I started with a coarse grit nail file and then used the fine grit file to make sure it was nice and smooth. I went straight for the fine grit on the top of the bag tho since I was able to get off all the old edge coating there.
9. Apply a very thin layer of Fiebings edge kote. I used an old hardened paint brush to apply mine (something harder works best for whatever reason, I'm not sure why...). Allow it to dry completely.
10. Use your fine grit file to lightly sand the 1st coat and make sure it's completely smooth with no snags or bumps... if there are, use the coarse file to send them down. You want a completely smooth service to apply the next coat to each time.
11. Repeat step 10 until desired thickness is reached. I believe I did 5 thin coats on the top of my bag and 3 for the handles since some of the old edge coat was still on the handles (I didn't want it to be too thick).
12. Lace your new cording back through your handles and tuck the knots back inside the handles (I took a pic of my original cording before removing it so I would know exact how to lace them back up).
13. Clean up - use a little alcohol on a q-tip or whatever else you find handy, to wipe off the dye from all the hardware. Just be careful not to rub the leather with the alcohol.
14. Condition with your fav leather conditioner!!!
If corners are frayed:
Use a little leather glue to lay the frayed pieces back down and to smooth everything out. Depending on how badly they're frayed (like for example if the top layer of leather has been completely rubbed thru) you can use some leather filler to literally fill the hole. File the edges ever so lightly after the glue and filler has dried and then apply the edge kote in the same fashion as you did with the top of the bag and handles. Only thing is, you don't want to do more than just a few coats on your corners because you don't want it to be too thick, it should match the surrounding leather.
Oops... I didn't mean to get that detailed and write a freaking novel lol... just didn't want to leave out any impertinent details! [emoji6]
