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[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by lugerholsterrepair

I love that brown color Interesting that this color is rapidly disappearing from our collective history because of government. Some ten years ago or more the EPA declared leather dye as a hazardous substance..since then at least a dozen American dye companies have ceased to exist. Aniline dye is simply very fine particles..color, suspended in alcohol. The alcohol allows the particles to be suspended and then applied to leather..the alcohol evaporates and the particles have been absorbed into the leather. A great system. One that has worked well for centuries. Until now. Colors like Ed and I and likely most of us love to see, are becoming extinct.

Jerry,
"Aniline" dyes are not fine particles- but molecules that are soluble in some solvents- different dyes/different solvents.

I believe most leather dyes are what a dye chemist would call a "solvent" dye, which is simply one soluble in a solvent, such as alchohol, gasoline , or other hydrocarbon(petroleum distillate).

What you describe are "pigments" as found in paint, and many stains now sold for wood, the ones that settle out and require shaking or stirring.

If your aniline dyes settle out , they are not that.

Not that any of this matters, but as a color(dye) chemist for 40 years, I just have to set the record straight.

Many colors are "aniline" dyes, some food colors, Rit dyes we used to use in the washing machine, etc. There are dozens of types and thousands of varieties.