How to dye suede and nubuck ?
You need to dye your leather shoes or accessories and get the best results, especially on nubuck leather or suede ? Then you need use dye, or paint you can dilute with water. In this article we will focus on paint you can use to dye your suede or nubuck leather, and share with you the dilution percentage.
How to prepare suede or nubuck ?
Before dying a nubuck leather or suede, you have to make sure the surface is clean and dry. Remove all the dusts using a brush to make sure the paint adheres well.
You have two options to restore the suede or nubuck :
- you can dye the suede or nubuck soft by diluting the paint with water as explained in the sections bellow. No need to use a preparer or deglazer in this case.
- you can transform the soft leather into a polished smooth leather thanks to the glossy finisher / top coat that also acts as a primer. Before you apply the glossy finisher, you can use a sandpaper and a preparer to have the best possible adhesion.
How to dye suede ?
To dye suede you can dilute the paint with water to keep the suede soft once dry. We recommend you to use 50% of paint and 50% of water.
Apply your leather dye using a paint brush, and always apply thin layers of paint. You will need only 1 coat to have a result similar to what we did on the Jordan University Blue.
Once the paint is dry, take your suede brush again to bring the soft effect back. That's it, you are done with the suede, and you can now dye it by yourself.
Of course the paint resists to water and will not crack or peel.
How to dye nubuck leather ?
Nubuck leather is a bit similar to suede, as the surface is very soft