Foiling Leather Gone Wrong! 5 Hot Stamping Mistakes You’re Probably Making

Let me start with a disaster story.

A fellow leathercrafter I met a few years ago once told me a story so painfully embarrassing, it made me want to crawl inside my own eyelids to escape the secondhand cringe.

A customer had commissioned a custom leather bag as a wedding gift for his bride. The bag was ordered well in advance, but in true last-minute fashion (it’s a guy thing), it was picked up the morning of the wedding.

The groom was thrilled with the craftsmanship—my French friend had hand stitched the bag to perfection. But then came a last minute request: the groom wanted his bride’s initials hot-foiled onto the front of the bag.

Luckily, my friend owned a high-end hot foiling machine and was happy to accommodate. With surgical precision, he aligned the initials perfectly on the front panel and pressed the button to begin the foiling process.

The automatic machine executed the stamp beautifully - centered, deep, and clean.

There was just one tiny problem.. It was upside down.

I wish I could tell you what happened next, but all I remember is the high-pitched tinnitus as everything went dark. I vaguely recall being revived with smelling salts and a glass of water.

There is no cup of tea strong enough or whisky rare enough to settle the nerves after an event like that, all we can do is learn from our mistakes.

So, what can we learn from this?

Mistakes when hot foil stamping can be devastating—especially when you've invested hours into your leather project. While perfection might not always be possible, there are common pitfalls you can avoid.

Here are 5 of the most common hot foil stamping mistakes in leathercraft, and how to prevent them.

#1, Personalization after the product has been fully made.

There are ways to do this, and hot foil machines designed with accessories to accommodate it, but rarely do you, or should you, hot foil a fully made leather item like a bag, after spending potentially dozens of hours making it.

This still holds true if you are making something for a friend, family member, or even yourself. Stamping initials post-build has its problems.

Outside of making it awkward to do, adding initials at this stage is risky. It is far smarter to add initials on a particular part of the build before final assembly, such as a panel on a bag, the exterior of a wallet, or the front of a case. That way, if there is an issue, you’ve only lost that part, not everything, including your time.

Other issues include materials under the leather being stamped. Maybe you end up damaging the lining underneath due to pressure and heat. It is even possible to have pieces weld to each other due to glues and pigments in the leather.

Even stamping something simple like a card holder at the end can leave the opposite side with a smooth flat spot in the grain.

So, if you are going to add any personalising or logos to your project, know it from the start and fit it into your construction plan before even cutting into your leather.

#2 Not securing your leather to the plate before stamping.

Even if you have, did you secure it properly? There’s not a hobo’s hope in Hermès of an accurate stamping if you have inadvertently shifted the project without knowing.

Always take the time to secure your work to the stamping plate with a few strips of masking tape from as many angles as possible, or better yet, a selection of spring clamps with the jaws protected by some soft leather.

That way, if you only get a partial stamp, or if there is missing foil in part of the text/logo, you can have another go without the second attempt being off and ruining everything.

#3 Forgetting to practice your stamp first on a piece of scrap leather matching what you’re using.

Believe it or not, not all leathers stamp or foil in the same way. Different tannages, surface finishes, and even thicknesses change the way we use a hot foil machine.

Thicker leather can take more pressure for a deeper impression, chrome tan leather needs more heat than veg-tan, and some pigments can melt if you dwell too long on the surface.

By practicing on matching scrap pieces, you can easily figure out pressure, heat and dwell times for the end product. That way you get to make your mistakes for whatever pieces of scrap cost you.

#4 Attempting to foil waxed finishes.

A piece of foil is backed by a layer of very fine hot melt adhesive that is activated by heat and pressure, that way the shiny foil layer sticks to your leather.

Some wax or oil finishes can reject this adhesive, either entirely, or in parts of the impression.

English bridle leather made the traditional way is famous for this, which is why it’s more common to apply a blind stamp (a stamp with no foil).

The surface can be degreased in the area you want to foil, but that can disrupt the grain if you use a solvent to do this. Again, practice on scrap, but don’t forget to fold and twist the foiled area to see what it does under stress. Sometimes tricky leathers will seemingly take a good foiling, only to peel off when the end product is in use.

#5 Creating a deep stamp while also trying to add foil.

A deep impression in your leather creates a striking look. It looks more 3 dimensional and also keeps your foil away from the surface where it can be rubbed off from wear.

However a deep impression can necessitate more pressure and dwell time (the length of time you hold the stamp down on your leather). 

If you tested the heat on scrap leather without the same pressure and time, you may end up overheating the foil by accident. This may result in the plastic layer on top of the foil melting onto your brass die.

As long as your leather item is secured properly to the stamping plate underneath, you can approach this with a two staged process.

Stage 1, create your deep stamp into the leather without foil (blind stamp).

Stage 2, lift the ram up and lay in your foil over the top of the impression you just made, then you can use less pressure and a shorter dwell time to add your foil finish.

Hey presto, you have a perfect foiled stamp deep into the leather.

So, what mistakes have you made in the past? If you have any other tips or disaster stories, consider sharing them below with the community!