Need Vinegaroon Help

[Dwight]

Some time back . . . I filled a quart jar with steel wool . . . poured in the suggested apple cider vinegar . . . and waited a while for it to work up.

Brought the jar into the shop  . . .  liquid is some kind of super dark black . . . 

BUT . . . put a piece of veg tanned leather in it to check it out . . . it turns the leather a very pretty dark grey . . . but it ain't black.

Did I miss something in my journey???

AND . . . what is the preferred final step to get the vinegar acid out of the leather????

Thanks, may God bless,

Dwight

[TomG]

Good Morning Dwight. Been a while.
I am by no means a pro on this, but I can relate my experiences and what I was told back when I tried using this method.
I did the same. Soaked steel wool in white vinegar for about a month. Then, drained it into a clean jar and started playing with it.
I did get some nice blacks, but also got the greys that you mentioned. I was told that it depends on how much tannin is in that particular piece of leather.
I stopped using it for 2 reasons. One was this inconsistency in color and depth that I never figured out how to cure.
The other was the smell. Now, I was told to use a mild baking soda rinse to neutralize the Vinegaroon, but the smell never left. At least not in the time I had to let it sit. (Someone had said that the smell goes away with time).
I really wished that I could have figured it out. I make a lot of collars and leashes in black and the dyestuff residue on the leather after I dip dye is substantial. I have a power buffer from Harbor Freight with double wheels on each end. I buff the hell out of the straps, but usually still have a little bleed when I buff the out by hand after the Leather Balm/Atom Wax treatments.

 

[TomG]

If you haven't found this yet, it's worth a read.
 

 

[Littlef]

The dyeing isn't ever exact, cause it has to do with the amount of tannins in the leather, and the concentration of the vinegarroon.  I always use distilled white vinegar, but that part probably doesn't change anything.    You can always soak the leather in it longer.  You can also do multiple dips in the vinegarroon.  If you think its not dark enough, dip it again.  Another ting worth experimenting with is brewing some black tea, and applying the tea, and letting it soak in before  dipping in the vinegaroon.  Tea has tannins, so that can help intensify the effect.  I've never needed to the that on leather, but I use that when aging wood with vinegarroon.  I've noticed leather usually looks a little grey until I oil it with neatsfoot.  Once I oil the leather, it significantly darkens, and mine is usually winds up very deep black with no grey left.   Make sure after dipping it in the vinegarroon to also run it through water and baking soda to neutralize the acid.   Also I normally let it dry about 8-12 hours or so, and then I oil it.  Once I didn't oil it for a several days, and the leather turned hard and brittle.

Edited February 3 by Littlef

[dikman]

I haven't used it for a long time, in fact my mix is so old it probably won't work any more (could be an interesting experiment to try it), but I recall it wasn't quite the black I expected but oiling it darkened it more and it seemed to "age" a little bit. The fact it wasn't quite like a commercial black dye didn't bother me because it had a unique colour to it. The smell did slowly disappear, just took a little while.

[Littlef]

6 minutes ago, dikman said:

I haven't used it for a long time, in fact my mix is so old it probably won't work any more (could be an interesting experiment to try it), but I recall it wasn't quite the black I expected but oiling it darkened it more and it seemed to "age" a little bit. The fact it wasn't quite like a commercial black dye didn't bother me because it had a unique colour to it. The smell did slowly disappear, just took a little while.

If mine develops rust or sludge, I run it through a strainer to get any big junk out of it.  If I use it and it seems to be not as potent, I Just top it off with more vinegar and stuff in some more steel wool.  In a couple days it back to regular strength.  
 

it’s vinegar so it has that smell, but it dissipates with time.  If you put nose on it and look for vinegar, you’ll probably pick up hints of it.  But using the leather and storing it with other gear, I don’t notice the smell.

 

I've seen it used at mild strength, to purposely give a gray aged look, and when adding some distressing it can really give the been-there historic look.

 

 

[SUP]

I always use Vinegaroon and always rinse in plain running water each time I dip it in Vinegaroon.

Soaking leather that turns grey instead of black, in strong tea helps but I always rinse in running water after soaking the leather in tea and again, rinse very well after the Vinegaroon treatment because otherwise, loose tannins that remain on the leather get dyed black and rub off or run when wet. I keep the wet leather on paper towels and rinse until the water draining on the towels is not dark.

Whether using tea or not, I always rinse well in running water and never eve user baking soda. This is because the pH of vinegar is about 2.5 and that of water is neutral at about 7, so rinsing really well in running water keeps the pH at around 5, which is ideal for leather. Using baking soda raises the pH too much and alkalinity is really bad for leather.

Vinegaroon always collects rust over time since most white vinegar is only 5% concentration of Acetic acid and the rest is water. So any extra iron in the mixture that does not form iron acetate forms rust. Straining helps. I rarely do that either - too lazy - I just wash the leather well after a dip, to remove the rust. It is better I strain it actually.

After a good wash, the vinegar smell dissipates and is gone in a day or so. Never had a problem with it.