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While doing more research on Vinegaroon, I found a link to another forum where there is a large discussion on various natural dyes. Here are some of the methods mentioned straight from the site.
Vinegaroon (black and varying shades of dark gray)
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There have been many posts about this reagent (not dye) on this forum and others along with different methods on its creation. However the recipes differ in minute details, the main recipe is the same.
- Apple Cider Vinegar or White Vinegar
- Steel Wool, uncoated nails, uncoated fence wire, iron shavings
- Time
Take a plastic jug and into it goes your vinegar and metal. I think that a half gallon jug of vinegar and a steel wool pad (or equal amount of metal) is the base recipe. Make sure your metal is oil free by dipping in acetone and lighting on fire to burn off the oil. Keep the lid loose on your container or the gasses produced will cause it to burst. Place the container in the sun and let it work for about a week to 2 weeks. If you notice that the vinegar has stopped eating the metal, add more vinegar. Every couple of days during the week, shake up the mix. After the acid has been used up dissolving the metal, you're ready to filter the solution for use. Run it through a coffee filter to get any sludge and undissolved particulate. Bottle it up, label it well, and enjoy. Make sure to use a baking soda bath to neutralize the 'roon immediately afterwards, but don't use too much or you will burn the leather. Chuck Burrows recommends about 1/8c of soda to 1/2gal of water. Don't soak it for more than a minute or 2 at most in the soda wash. Be sure to oil your leather once done with Neatsfoot oil or EVOO works well too. To ensure a deep black coloring, give your leather a bath in STRONG black tea first to increase the tannins in the leather.
The smell will go away in a day or so and you will be left with a beautiful black that is permanent, fully through the leather, and will not bleed or rub off. Top coat as normal.
Brown
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I use black walnut hulls (If they are not available locally - the fresh green hulls are best - you can buy them dried on line from various vendors - to find a vendor search for walnut dye, etc.) Put a pound or so of the crushed hulls in an old stocking and place in a pan of distilled water so that the water covers the walnut hulls about an inch. Cover it and simmer at a low boil for several hours and then let cool overnight - keep an eye on the water level. The next day boil again and let cool overnight. Again watch that the water level does not get too low, but you do want it to get fairly thick. Once it's cool drain off the liquid be sure to squeeze all of the liquid out of the bundled walnut hulls. Save the walnut hulls - hang them up to dry and you can use them a couple of times more. The liquid will go bad so either keep it frozen or add 3/4 of a cup of rubbing alcohol to a quart of the dye. It will come out anywhere from a light brown/gray to a dark grayish brown before oiling (I use light olive oil a lot for oiling and then set it in the sun to darken) - the color will depend on the leather - every piece is different, how long you let it soak, and how strong the dye is. Reducing the liquid to the consistancy of syrup works well when some alcohol is added as a carrier.
This was done with the straight walnut dye. The darker parts are where the maker rubbed the hulls into the leather:
This one is the same walnut dye, but was allowed to hang in the sun while it dried giving it a reddish tone:
You can also mix the two by using a small amount of the vinegaroon ( a little goes a LONG way) into the walnut hull dye to give a rusty black as pictured below:
Brown
----------------------------------------------------
Another wonderful brown dye can be made from ultra strong brewed dark roast coffee that is allowed to simmer and reduce by half.
Some say that you need to add iron to the coffee as a mordant. Chuck disputes this as coffee is full of tannins (which are also mordants). Adding iron to the mix can give you different colors, but can cause them to grey out a bit.
Here are some cuffs that were made by Chuck Burrows dyed with coffee, only:
Brown with a slight reddish tint
----------------------------------------------------
This color can be achieved by replacing the black walnut hulls with pecan hulls. It has been said that the pecan gets darker quicker and has a red tint to it. Haven't found pictures yet.
Here is a link to a site with a LOT of info on how to make natural dyes for a wide range of colors. I think I may make up a solution from beets and add it into the brown and see what I get! http://www.pioneerthinking.com/naturaldyes.html
Vinegaroon (black and varying shades of dark gray)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
There have been many posts about this reagent (not dye) on this forum and others along with different methods on its creation. However the recipes differ in minute details, the main recipe is the same.
- Apple Cider Vinegar or White Vinegar
- Steel Wool, uncoated nails, uncoated fence wire, iron shavings
- Time
Take a plastic jug and into it goes your vinegar and metal. I think that a half gallon jug of vinegar and a steel wool pad (or equal amount of metal) is the base recipe. Make sure your metal is oil free by dipping in acetone and lighting on fire to burn off the oil. Keep the lid loose on your container or the gasses produced will cause it to burst. Place the container in the sun and let it work for about a week to 2 weeks. If you notice that the vinegar has stopped eating the metal, add more vinegar. Every couple of days during the week, shake up the mix. After the acid has been used up dissolving the metal, you're ready to filter the solution for use. Run it through a coffee filter to get any sludge and undissolved particulate. Bottle it up, label it well, and enjoy. Make sure to use a baking soda bath to neutralize the 'roon immediately afterwards, but don't use too much or you will burn the leather. Chuck Burrows recommends about 1/8c of soda to 1/2gal of water. Don't soak it for more than a minute or 2 at most in the soda wash. Be sure to oil your leather once done with Neatsfoot oil or EVOO works well too. To ensure a deep black coloring, give your leather a bath in STRONG black tea first to increase the tannins in the leather.
The smell will go away in a day or so and you will be left with a beautiful black that is permanent, fully through the leather, and will not bleed or rub off. Top coat as normal.
Brown
-----------------------------------------------------
I use black walnut hulls (If they are not available locally - the fresh green hulls are best - you can buy them dried on line from various vendors - to find a vendor search for walnut dye, etc.) Put a pound or so of the crushed hulls in an old stocking and place in a pan of distilled water so that the water covers the walnut hulls about an inch. Cover it and simmer at a low boil for several hours and then let cool overnight - keep an eye on the water level. The next day boil again and let cool overnight. Again watch that the water level does not get too low, but you do want it to get fairly thick. Once it's cool drain off the liquid be sure to squeeze all of the liquid out of the bundled walnut hulls. Save the walnut hulls - hang them up to dry and you can use them a couple of times more. The liquid will go bad so either keep it frozen or add 3/4 of a cup of rubbing alcohol to a quart of the dye. It will come out anywhere from a light brown/gray to a dark grayish brown before oiling (I use light olive oil a lot for oiling and then set it in the sun to darken) - the color will depend on the leather - every piece is different, how long you let it soak, and how strong the dye is. Reducing the liquid to the consistancy of syrup works well when some alcohol is added as a carrier.
This was done with the straight walnut dye. The darker parts are where the maker rubbed the hulls into the leather:
This one is the same walnut dye, but was allowed to hang in the sun while it dried giving it a reddish tone:
You can also mix the two by using a small amount of the vinegaroon ( a little goes a LONG way) into the walnut hull dye to give a rusty black as pictured below:
Brown
----------------------------------------------------
Another wonderful brown dye can be made from ultra strong brewed dark roast coffee that is allowed to simmer and reduce by half.
Some say that you need to add iron to the coffee as a mordant. Chuck disputes this as coffee is full of tannins (which are also mordants). Adding iron to the mix can give you different colors, but can cause them to grey out a bit.
Here are some cuffs that were made by Chuck Burrows dyed with coffee, only:
Brown with a slight reddish tint
----------------------------------------------------
This color can be achieved by replacing the black walnut hulls with pecan hulls. It has been said that the pecan gets darker quicker and has a red tint to it. Haven't found pictures yet.
Here is a link to a site with a LOT of info on how to make natural dyes for a wide range of colors. I think I may make up a solution from beets and add it into the brown and see what I get! http://www.pioneerthinking.com/naturaldyes.html
