Walstr

A $20 leather women's jacket was a perfect source for making some hanging Smart Phone belt pouches. Whodathought?

I recently used Vinegaroon for a wallet, w/Tandy leather. 1 minute in dye, rinsed under warm water, 15-20 sec. in Baking Soda solution, rub & rinse again, press dried in old towel, hung overnight. It still smells like pickle juice 2 weeks later. We Love the beautiful black color, hoping it will last a lifetime. I'm aware, from many related blogs here and there, that it's important to maintain a slightly acidic chemical balance within the leather, to ward off future biologics, etc. Never heard about strength issues. Thanks for the heads-up. I've ruined my first belt by over-oiling, so time will tell re: this wallet. Mayhaps someone had the curiosity to test various samples with varying degrees of "neutralizing" soak times. Sounds like a fulfilling Winter investigation project. Wally

I "over saturated" my first attempt at a belt. I really liked the darkening color change--until it became a sponge! Based soley on 'perception', I'll be applying 3 coats to my projects; I'll not re-oil any 'light' areas as they disappear the next day due to 'migration' of the oil throughout the hide. The results retain the 'wet molded' form & still feels & sounds hard. It took 2-3 times as much Neatsfoot oil to bring my 40 yr. old tool pouch & belt back to life. It's not a sponge & feels 'normal' & strong. Good luck to all, & pls. respond to my query for assistance to find a darker Walnut stain formula.

I've seen mentioned here a few times, that a 'dark brown' color resulted from 'depleted' Vinegaroon. I desire a dark brown color, naturally, but my home brewed Walnut Husk broth doesn't get there. I made my first qt. batch of Vinegroon. I small test piece [hopefully to be my 1st CAS rig] turned dark grey after an hour, then pure black after neutralizing, exciting to see what I done did! Now the experiments begin... I'm going to add 1/8 tsp Vinegaroon to a cup of Walnut broth & look for my dark brown color, then add a little more Vinegroon for next test, etc. Anyone have a more successful recipe for home brewed dark brown dye? Thanks. Just getting started, Wally

I too desire a darker brown color from my batch of Walnut Stain. Has anyone heated their home brew to concentrate it more for a darker color? Soaking an hour or ten hours seems inconsequential regarding color density/tone. Has anyone tried adding a bit of Vinegaroon to their Walnut husk brew? Thanks. Wally p.s. Pls PM me with any responses in addition to posting here.

That's why I included those pics, oiling just gave me a darker tan color. Has anyone used heat to evaporate water from the walnut stain to concentrate it? Does that work?

Thank you Johanna & Leatherworker forum for your dedication to this craft. I'm just getting started & look forward to sharing some of my 'knowledge' with y'all.

Greetings my new friends; I made 4 gal. Black Walnut dye/stain, cooking husks 4 hours, then cooling overnight, filtered 5 times & bottled. It's not as dark a brown as I would like. Soaking samples for 1 hour or overnight, produced same color tone. This photo shows my leatherwork 'practice' session results. The hatchet sheaths are from same piece of veg tanned hide, the multi-tool sheath from various small scraps. Shall I put it all back in the pot over low flame to evaporate the water? Will this necessarily produce a darker brown color? Thanks for any comments/critiques. Wally