Anyone ever tried dying leather shoes?

[cowtime]

I ordered this pair of shoes, just came in today. I did not notice that the little cut outs and the big ones on the sides just below the ribbon ties are not cut outs at all, but silver colored leather(shudder). I love these shoes, they are reproduction 30s shoes that are made for swing dancing, but can't go with the silver leather. I'm wondering if I could dye those bits of silver? Or even cut them out? I've never tried anything like this but am tempted.

[emmline]

Once, one of my daughters needed a pair of black shoes for a choral performance (or something) in middle school. It was down to the wire. No time to go shopping, and no black shoes to be found. There was a white pair to be found which was not valuable, and had been worn to maybe one dress up occasion. The answer: Sharpie marker. My kids laugh at me for doing it to this day, but it worked.

[Doug_Tipple]

The bank where I worked got the modern notion of "branding" and decided that it's employees had to wear uniforms. My uniform included black shoes. I didn't have any black shoes, so I bought black shoe dye at the grocery store. It came with a felt applicator, so it was easy to apply. My brown shoes became black shoes quite quickly. After the dying and polishing you couldn't tell that the shoes had ever been another color. Silver to black should be no problem.

[cowtime]

You know em,...I wonder if the sharpie would rub off?

Heck, I may just try it and hope I don't ruin them..which would make me sick...

Well, after reading Doug's post, I think I'll try to find some shoe dye.
That may be the biggest problem in this place.

[Denny]

is there anyone near you that makes saddles, harness, handbags......leather whatever?

They will have black leather dye..... (so would any shoe repair)

It's not the metallic silver is it? We've got some really odd leather stuff for doing cowboy fancy things.

[s1m0n]

Sharpies don't run or rub off. For that small an area, it would work. Someone once gave me a nice laptop case that had nasty red piping in random places, and after living with it for a while one day I caught sight of it with a sharpie in my hand, and that did the trick. If you get real close, you can see that something have been covered up, but who gets that close?

I've also died shoes with real dye. Being a guy who's had EEEEE feet my whole life, it's a miracle if I can find shoes that fit. If they fit AND they're on sale, it's hard to pass them by. Last fall I was in a mall and found a pair at what I realized was the outlet store for a chain - where they sent old stock to die on the vine. I bought a pair of leather shoes in a nasty reddish brown. I own very few clothes for which they'd be suitable, but they fit, so I went to shoe repair guy and bougt medium dark brown dye. A couple of coats and a repolish and no one would have ever known. In fact, the next week I went and bought another pair and dyed it black.

~~

The problem with dye on your shoes is that the silver part is unlikely to be actual leather, I'd suspect. If it's some kinda plastic, the dye might not take. I'd start with a sharpy, do a few coats, and see how it goes.

The problem with a sharpie is that it's not terrific at covering an area with uniform coverage. You get glossier bits and matter bits cuz the solvent in the new coat interacts with the old. Polish overtop, plus the fact that on those there's only a small area to cover should work.

[brewerpaul]

Those decorative silver bits look recessed, so I doubt they'd be subject to much wear.
You might be able to cut them out with a pointy X-acto blade (or a #11 surgical blade if you have access to those), but it would be safer to let a shoemaker
do it for you. He has the tools and the experience.

[BillChin]

Another idea is fingernail polish. Having accents to match might look nice.

Sharpie will work and is much easier and less money than shoe dye, and more likely to work on those shiny bits.

[mutepointe]

Hey Simon. Great story. I am afflicted with big feet and live by a great discount store that usually has my size. I always start my clothes shopping there. Find shoes that fit and then buy the rest of a matching outfit. They often have great looking but bizarre colored shoes. Who needs lime green dress shoes? But dying them. That opens possibilities.

i'd go with the Sharpie idea, then maybe calligraphy pen ink, then cut them out. You wanted them as cut outs anyway. An art store would have a matching calligraphy pen ink.

[s1m0n]

...then maybe calligraphy pen ink..

If you're going to do that, make sure that the ink you're buying isn't water-based. You can get indelible inks but most aren't. Indelible inks make cleaning the nib a b*tch .

[anniemcu]

Another vote on the sharpie for this situation. I've dyed shoes with great results before (rather, my hubby dyed them for me, he's the one more into leather work), but this bit sounds iffy... like others have said, being silver, it may either not be leather at all, or have a coating that might well prevent shoe dye from working. Sharpie, or other permanent marker, would probably be your best bet for actually getting the 'accent' diminished.

[s1m0n]

If they're recessed, I'd suggest cutting a piece of scrap black leather to the exact shape of the hole, and gluing it in place. After a polish, the new black will match the old black perfectly.

You could also cut the leather to the size and shape of the stitching instead of the hole. If you flip it over and bevel the edges so that the leather at the edge is very thin, you ought to be able to poke the edge under the top leather as far as the stitching. This'll help to hold it in place* and fill the divot, but more importantly the overlap makes it very unlikely that your patch will shift to reveal an attention-getting flash of silver in the gap.

*But use glue all the same.

[mutepointe]

How's that dress coming?

[Nanohedron]

Anyone ever tried dying leather shoes?

Ew, no. Give 'em some dignity in their last moments, wouldja?

Haven't tried dyeing 'em, either.

[In The Woods]

Yes, years ago while I was in basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. We were issued WW2 surplus combat boots, which were dyed brown. We were told to change the color to black. Here's how we did it.

1.) Get some medium/fine steel wool and a quantity of saddle soap.

2.) Work up a lather with the steel wool, saddle soap and water, and have at your shoes. This combination will abrade the original finish IF the shoes are genuine leather. I don't know what will happen if the stuff is a synthetic.

3.) Keep at it: this process is tedious, and you need to pay particular attention to seams and welts to get as much of the old finish off as you can. Refresh your steel wool and saddle soap and water mixture as needed.

4.) When you have removed as much of the old finish as you can, give a final wash with saddle soap and water, and let dry overnight.

5.) Apply polish in the color of your choice. It will take several coats, but the end result will be a new pair of shoes, and you won't have Sgt. Hughes looking over your shoulder to make sure you get it right!

With best regards and results to all.

Stephen S. Mack