.
After 50 years I've never been disappointed or let down by any Kiwi product until now. I wanted to dye a pair of light brown western boots black. Kiwi black dye from WalMart was the only black dye being sold in my small town, so I bought it. They also had a black liquid for covering up scuffs, but I wanted dye and this stuff said dye on the  label, so I bought it.  BIG MISTAKE.

I should have known things weren't right when I saw the way it was supposed to be applied. Instead of a simple wire with fuzz-ball on the underside of the cap, like in the old days, this bottle had a new "improved" applicator built into the top of the cap. After shaking well, per the instructions, and prying the transparent plastic cover off (with great difficulty) you have to press on the foam applicator built into the top to puncture a hidden membrane so the dye can flow into the foam applicator, an unnecessary complication over the old fuzzball on the end of a wire.

So how well did it work, and how good was the "dye"?  (I put "dye" in quotes because it was more of a tint than real dye.) The awkwardness of the dime-sized foam attached to the unremovable cap and bottle made it impossible to apply the dye to the front of the deep-set western heels or the sewed areas of the welt where the sole joins the upper part. This no-doubt patented screwball applicator system is just terrible and impractical.

And the "dye"? ... it was a thin foam and all it did was make black smears on the surface of the  tan-brown leather. Didn't seem to soak in and actually dye the leather. Anyone old enough to have used real dye, applied by a simple unscrewing cap with built-in wire/fuzzball applicator on the underside, will know what I'm talking about.

I solved the Kiwi problem by taking my boots to a friend who makes tooled western belts and gun holsters. He uses real leather dye. In 15 minutes I had a great looking pair of jet black boots. I'll let them dry out another 24 hours then apply polish and buff to a shine.

If you seriously want to dye anything don't waste your time or money with this Kiwi product. I normally just charge such things up to experience and forget about it, but in this case if I can locate my Walmart receipt I intend to take the bottle back and get a $2.69 refund. This stuff is terrible and both Walmart and Kiwi need to know about it.
.