Fact Check needed; black leather...

[QKShooter]

Curious Question Concerning Leather & Body Chemistry.

Just Wondering (curious person that I am) if User Body Chemistry could affect a leather rig.
Corrode the actual leather itself or bleed the dye?

Here is WHY I'm asking that question.
My brother is the nicest guy in the world but, he is EXTREMELY ACIDIC.
He can just touch a firearm and his fingerprints will rust right into a polished blued finish in very short order.
His sweat also causes dyed/colored shirts & T~Shirts to "bleach out white" in the armpit area.

When I worked doing electroplating...I worked with a couple of guys that could just touch Copper & Brass & burn indelible prints into the polished bare metal surface and that would show up in just a few minutes. Powerful sweat!

So...could a leather holster in close contact with that sort of body chemistry suffer Dye Bleeding Problems in hot, sweaty weather?

Just one of those bizarre thoughts that popped into my head.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Eric Larsen]

Thats a good question. I know the answer and its "there is no right answer" :D Sorry, its like the time you read the possible side effects of birth control pills, 27 chapters later, they covered everything...because everyone is different and they have to cover everything.
Who's to say what will happen....if he bleaches out t shirts..thats pretty rare. Maybe Horse hide on the rear panel of his IWB isnt a bad idea...maybe have the maker triple acrylic coat the monster for him.
Maybe maybe maybe........good question, sorry the answer is so poor.
Shoot well.

[PatrioticRick]

all black here, no bleed problem

[Gary Brommeland]

Actually, leather contains some acid in it already. Acid (of some variety) is what chemically changes a raw, green hide (which will rot) into leather.
The leather used in upholstery, jackets and most all suede is tanned with chromic acid and will actually eat pits into tool steel. Therefore, it is a truly horrible holster material.
Holster leather is vegetable tanned. The tannic acid used in this process is made from either oak or hemlock bark, and/or acorns, and/or leaves. A really strong "tea" is brewed from these materials and water into a tannic acid solution. The green hides are submerged for about 90 days in the stuff until they are fully tanned, and are then dried, finished and split to weight.
In short, an acidic body chemestry might well discolor light colored leather holsters (usually turning them black), but in MOST cases will probably not do significant harm to the leather, except POSSIBLY causing it to dry out prematurely. (Although such a body chemistry can easily rot linen thread, and cause the stitching to fall apart.) However, most makers today use either polyester or nylon thread to prevent such a thing.