Leather dyes

I have recently heard from a conservator I highly respect that he no
longer uses Ciba Geigy dyes due to his concern over the stability or
colorfastness of their dyes.  Instead he is using Luganil dyes with
a fixative called Bastamol.  The Luganil and Bastamol are BASF
products which do not appear to be currently available in North
America.

Which begs the question:  Have others noticed problems with
permanency or colorfastness with Ciba Geigy dyes?  Have those who
have used both their product and the BASF product noticed a
qualitative difference between them?  And, finally, is it worth the
difficulty of ordering the Luganil and Bastamol from Germany?

Mark Andersson
University of Washington

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:72
                Distributed: Tuesday, February 24, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-11-72-012
                                  ***