Has anyone out there tried leather dye for bringing Brooks saddles back to looking like new?
Here's how I'd do it.
- Condition and clean the saddle with Leatherique
- Dye with Leatherique dye, with Color Plus dye, or with a dye made for shoes (I've seen this in regular stores in the shoe care area)
- Let it dry for days if not weeks
- Try it, starting with clothes I wouldn't mind getting dye rubbed off on, and then getting more adventurous as it seemed to be staying on the saddle. There's a reason black is the traditional cycling short color!
No, I haven't tried this, but I might with the Wright's saddle I have on my wife's bike. If I do, I'll update this post. The Leatherique and Color Plus are both water based, which should allow the leather to "breathe." I have less confidence in something not water based. The water base, however, makes it likely that the dye will come back off for a while, hence item 4.
3 comments:
I don't have an immediate need to treat any of my saddles. However, I would be interested in learning about your experimentation with the Wright saddle.
Peace :)
I used Kiwi shoe leather dye.
It bled on my pants a few times.
A while later, my seat looks 40+ years old again.
Let it fade and scuff and get downright ugly, like a well-used baseball mitt. Wait a sec, I'm seeing a theme in my comments on your making things look nice again... I am lazy and that has resulted in my affection for character over maintenance. Carry on! I'm gonna go take a nap.
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No Need for Non-Robot proof here!