Javascript required
Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer
Home / Can Black Leather Shoes Be Dyed a Lighter Color

Can Black Leather Shoes Be Dyed a Lighter Color

contactme_11

contactme_11

Distinguished Member

Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Messages
1,623
Reaction score
17
  • #1

I've decided as of today that I have too many pairs of black shoes. So I'd like to try and change the color on one or two pairs. Has anyone done this, and how?

DocHolliday

Joined
Apr 21, 2005
Messages
16,091
Reaction score
1,136
  • #2

You might get hints of another color as an accent to the black, but you can't make them, say, medium brown. Even stripping them down won't do the trick. Once they're black, they're black.

texas_jack

texas_jack

Distinguished Member

Joined
Aug 4, 2006
Messages
9,509
Reaction score
396
  • #3

1. Sell the black ones on Ebay for an inflated price.
2. Buy brown ones on Ebay for steep discount.
3. Use the difference towards a over priced used Brioni.

Master Shake

Master Shake

Distinguished Member

Joined
Mar 18, 2006
Messages
1,050
Reaction score
18
  • #4

Once you go black, you don't go back.

Toiletduck

Toiletduck

Distinguished Member

Joined
Mar 12, 2006
Messages
2,499
Reaction score
10
  • #5

spraypaint always does the trick

JSK

JSK

Well-Known Member

Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Messages
46
Reaction score
0
  • #6

I got the impression from other posters that you could strip the shoes to fairly light colors with acetone. I've not tried it myself, but I would suggest trying that on your least desirable shoes, or buying a cheap pair at a thrift or ebay. I do know that rubbing alcohol got some burgundy shoes of mine to a very pale shade of red, but I decided there was no way in heck I could pull that off, so several layers of polish restored it to burgundy. Now I can't find where the heck I left that tin. Bah.

Shoe-nut

Shoe-nut

Senior Member

Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
165
Reaction score
2
  • #7

I had a friend at one time who spilled some black dye onto a nice pair of brown custom boots. It wasn't much of a spill but nevertheless it really stood out on the boot it was on. He tried everything to get that stain removed even sanding the leather down trying to get below the stain.

That dye had soaked into the leather so deep that he finally gave up on them and gave them to me. I didn't want them and dyeing them all black wasn't an option as he had ruined the surface with his sanding so I sold them.

sho'nuff

grrrrrrrr!!

Joined
Apr 15, 2006
Messages
22,001
Reaction score
38
  • #8

usually black shoes are permanently black . you cannot go backwards (dark to lighter)

and acetone is not strong enough to wipe out black color dyed on the shoe.

remember, acetone is essentially nail polish remover sold over counter at cosmetics sections.
if they were powerful to remove dyes off of factory blackened leathers, many women will be out there in the emergency room with flaming fingers.

anyways, a good experience i have is with shoe cream of a lighter color let say crimson. it has to be bright.

apply and buff apply and buff to the toe or heel. every time you buff the color of the cream will penetrate a little but it will still be mainly black.

do this again the next day, apply buff apply buff. do not cake it on. make sure you buff it all off. only the color residue will remain.

do this for three or four days, and each day the color will start to come through ... do not apply wax polish until the cream job days are all over . until you got your desired level of hue. as once you apply the wax, the cream on top does not make sense.
it takes practice and patience. but the color of cream will not be the exact on the black shoe. it will be a mix of whatever cream color and black.

soin the instance of crimson, the eventual color will be a sort of orangy brown. (black + red)

  • #9

Originally Posted by diorshoe

usually black shoes are permanently black . you cannot go backwards (dark to lighter)

and acetone is not strong enough to wipe out black color dyed on the shoe.

remember, acetone is essentially nail polish remover sold over counter at cosmetics sections.
if they were powerful to remove dyes off of factory blackened leathers, many women will be out there in the emergency room with flaming fingers.

anyways, a good experience i have is with shoe cream of a lighter color let say crimson. it has to be bright.

apply and buff apply and buff to the toe or heel. every time you buff the color of the cream will penetrate a little but it will still be mainly black.

do this again the next day, apply buff apply buff. do not cake it on. make sure you buff it all off. only the color residue will remain.

do this for three or four days, and each day the color will start to come through ... do not apply wax polish until the cream job days are all over . until you got your desired level of hue. as once you apply the wax, the cream on top does not make sense.
it takes practice and patience. but the color of cream will not be the exact on the black shoe. it will be a mix of whatever cream color and black.

soin the instance of crimson, the eventual color will be a sort of orangy brown. (black + red)

i have been meaning to do this, only that I want the final effect to be eggplant-like, so I want a dark purplish hue on the toe and heel.

Edit: OMG, I must be the first to have 4 posts in a row basically saying the same thing. My computer/internet is acting up. My apologies

sho'nuff

grrrrrrrr!!

Joined
Apr 15, 2006
Messages
22,001
Reaction score
38
  • #10

i havent yet tried, as i have only tried 3 days worth:

a bit of red rubbed in /buff repeat repeat

day2
same repeat repeat

day3
same repeat repeat

result is i get a orangy brownish toe.

ok now, if i was to continue now this time with a burgundy cream:

day1 bit of burgundy rubbed in /buff repeat repeat

day2 ...and so on...
now i got a burgundy mixing in with the already brown colored leather underneath.

this gradual change of colors (g r a d u a l l y) will maybe one day be able to make an eggplant coloration on it.

i would not expect that kind of a color to appear right away as black mixed with anything red just gives brown for now.
but a brown leather mixed with that kind of color will bring about something closer to eggplant but not that close yet

and so on and so on until the color of the leather underneath finally is able to harmonize with the constant creaming that will one day impart that eggplant desired color.

im not making any sense, cannot articulate, but i will have to give this a try myself one day and let you know.

zjpj83

zjpj83

Distinguished Member

Joined
Oct 25, 2004
Messages
9,425
Reaction score
28

grimslade

grimslade

Stylish Dinosaur

Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
10,808
Reaction score
63
  • #12

Originally Posted by zjpj83

sysdoc did it

So he says, though he won't tell anyone how.

JSK

JSK

Well-Known Member

Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Messages
46
Reaction score
0
  • #13

Doing another search I found that A Harris stripped some shoes, and he got them to a nice blue shade. I had thought that it was possible to change the color of the shoe completely to say brown or whatnot, but I guess I was wrong. I'm going to try acetone on some eBay AE Macneil's I just got in, and see how that works.

rogerm

rogerm

Senior Member

Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Messages
563
Reaction score
1
  • #14

Use the sun. It takes a long time, but the sun can discolor anything.

zjpj83

zjpj83

Distinguished Member

Joined
Oct 25, 2004
Messages
9,425
Reaction score
28
  • #15

Here is a Vintage 2002 after acetone stripping

Here is the Vintage 2002 with added green and red kiwi polish

Can Black Leather Shoes Be Dyed a Lighter Color

Source: https://www.styleforum.net/threads/changing-the-color-of-black-leather-shoes.28204/