How to paint on leather!
Leather items can be personalized by painting your own design on them. Painting on leather isn't that difficult, but you do need to prepare the items and use the right type of paint. The best paint for leather is acrylic paint. Some leather items may be finished in such a way that paint won't adhere well. That's why it's advisable to test this first on a less visible area.
What do you need?
-clean cloth
-isopropyl alcohol, paint thinner or ammonia
-fine sandpaper (100-200)
- leather preparer and deglazer
-pencil
-Acrylic leather paint
-Acrylic leather varnish
-brushes
How to paint on leather:
Step 1:
Before you can paint on leather, the leather must be free of oils and wax. Wipe the leather with a clean cloth and isopropyl alcohol. Paint thinner or ammonia will work for this too.
Use fine sandpaper to lightly sand the leather on the area you want to paint. Leather paint doesn't adhere well to shiny leather, so it needs to be roughed up a bit. Clean the leather again after sanding to remove dust and any remaining oil.
Apply a generous coat of leather preparer and deglazer. The preparer and deglazer is alcohol-based and therefore dries fairly quickly.
Sketch your design with a pencil. You can use this as a guide while painting. If you're going to paint the leather in a single solid colour, you can skip this step.
Step 5:
Mix the leather paint with water in a 1:1 ratio. The water is needed to allow the paint to be absorbed by the leather.
Use the brushes to paint your design. The paint should be applied in thin, even layers. Between each layer, the paint needs to dry for about 2 to 3 hours.
If you're painting a leather item that moves and bends during use, such as shoes, stretch the leather before applying each paint layer. This prevents the paint from cracking in the future.
When you're done painting your design, let the paint dry for at least 24 hours. If the paint still feels somewhat wet after 24 hours, let it dry until it's completely dry.
Apply the leather varnish over your paint with a cloth to seal the paint. Use thin layers and let each layer dry before applying the next.
The leather varnish is available in gloss and matte finishes, so you can choose the finish you prefer.
Like the paint itself, the varnish needs at least 24 hours to dry. If it's still somewhat wet after 24 hours, let it dry longer. Also make sure it dries in a place where there isn't too much dust floating around. Otherwise the dust will stick to the varnish and stay on your leather item forever.
