Vinegaroon " Homebrew Black Dye"

How does it work on grey hair ?
Going to mix up a batch and try on some differant wood's.
 
Yes, it is a very cool method to darken leather (dye is not really the right word).

Some tips not mentioned:

-Heating the mix seems to set it off quicker, use an old pot for this as the wife will get ill if you use her Paula Deen pot to heat up a nasty mess of vinegar and metal lol.

-Use a glass mason jar or plastic jug to keep it in while it works. Still ventilate the top to prevent the container from blowing up.

-If you find that your mix has stopped dissolving the metal, add more vinegar. All this means is that you have used up the available acid and need more.

-Once your mix is done, filter it a couple times to remove any sludge or errant particulate that didn't get dissolved. Then you can return it to a clean jar, jug or container. Coffee filters work fine for this.

-Sometimes leather doesn't give the best coloring right off due to the level of tannins in the leather. You can make the reaction better (and get darker results) by dipping the leather in strong black tea which will increase the tannin level of the leather.

-A good supply of free shaved material is your local auto shop that does brakes. The brake rotor/drum lathe catch has large amounts of fine shavings that are going to just get thrown away. I would take care to degrease the material first.

-The smell WILL go away lol. Just give the colored piece a few days, preferably near a fan.

BTW, great looking sheath on that stick tang piece!
 
How does it work on grey hair
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Dusty, no change. BUT I smell better....

Thanks for those tips Mr. Grizzley., I'll have to try the tea. Another one is to clean with alcohol pre staining. Even finger prints dye differently.(If you care about that sort of thing, I call it character)
Great responses to a 1000 year old process.......Randy
 
Okay, I brewed up a new batch of the good stuff, just went 8 days and it was working fine. I didnt bother straining it just swabbed it on this axe cover. Hope you like. More detail over in the excellent axe and tomahawk forums, moding CS trailhawk thread.
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pullrich said:
Today I learned that it is important to store your vinegaroon in a plastic or other non-metal container. Eagerly went out to the shed to die my latest hawk sheathe only to find that the tin can I was brewing it in had corroded and sprung leaks in the bottom. Lesson learned. New batch perking in the apple cider vinegar jug.
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Also, make sure you have a "pressure release" hole, or a lid that will allow pressure to go. I forgot to poke a hole in a new batch, and the pressure ballooned the bottom enough to tip it over, then it finally popped the seal......on the floor of my garage!
 
White vinegar is the most acidic, then apple cider, red wine, champagne, rice wine. Heat will speed up the reaction, whether you are forcing a patina on a blade or dissolving metal in acid.
 
this is the color i get after a few coats of oil. don't buy the expensive "leather" oils on the market. olive oil works great, and has for centuries. :)

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Nice! I got a gallon jug 1/2 full of brake lathe shavings that I need to start working. They have, unfortunately, gotten wet and started rusting. I wonder if that will affect the outcome of the vinegaroon?
 
Pullrich, Where did you find the "Green Man" medallion? It matches the tattoos on my right arm.
 
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