Homemade brown dye for veg tan

[Nowandagain]

Any suggestions for dying veg tan brown or burgundy using household materials? Leather dyes are hard to find where I live (Amazon won’t ship them here), and I want to avoid exposure to VOCs for health reasons. Haven’t found neatsfoot oil here, either  

Coffee comes out much too light, no matter how strong I brew it, how long I leave it, or how many coats I use. Adding ketchup to the coffee helps, but not enough. 
 
One website claims you can use pomegranate juice. They were wrong. 

Has anyone tried diluting vinegaroon (I’ve never used it) with coffee? Or adding steel wool to strong coffee?

Any luck with strong tea?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance. 

(I accidentally posted this in the holsters/sheathes group, and can’t figure out how to change it. I’m new here, so if that’s a rule violation please forgive me.)

[DieselTech]

Got any black walnut trees? Use the walnut hulls to make a dye. You can make the dye from brown to black depending on how long you extract it. Just soak the hulls in water. 

 

The longer the walnut hulls soak the darker the dye will get. 

[Dwight]

Don't laugh . . . but this works beautifully.

Dampen the piece . . . on the hair side . . . lay it outside on a board in such a manner as it is like a solar panel . . . kinda angled so the sun hits it directly . . . and let the sunshine work on it.

I have just about quit dying light tan . . .  just give it the "suntan" look . . . did that for a young boy a few months back . . . he wore that belt prouder than if he had been given one by the Lone Ranger . . . 

And if you leave it out there for 4 or 5 days . . . it will get  fairly dark.  The key is to go out every now and then with a sponge . . . re-dampen the hair side of he object.

Oh . . . and it works on cloudy days too . . . but only about 2/3 as well.  But it is cheap . . . predictable . . .  no VOC . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

[badhatter1005]

I agree with Dwight that the sun tanning works really well with leather. I've done it for a few belts and holsters as well as Bible covers and the sun will tan the veg tan as long as you keep it moisturized. Another option is extra virgin olive oil. Not only will it darken the leather but it will make it very pliable. From what I understand listening to Don Gonzalez and Will gromley they are finding sandals from the Roman empire made of leather and that were tanned with virgin olive oil that are still pliable to this day.

[Nowandagain]

Thanks to everyone who answered.

I have tried suntanning veg tan but never got beyond golden tan, even with several days in the sunshine - and the sun here is STRONG. But I did not try moistening the leather first, much less remoistening. 

I did see Don Gonzalez mention olive oil. A lot of people say that olive oil will rot leather, but if he says it's not a problem, that's good for me.

Black walnut trees unfortunately aren't found anywhere that I can access.

More advice is of course welcome!

[Mablung]

Beyond tanning the leather, sunshine will also dry it out, which is why applying oil is necessary. I learned that the hard way with a coaster I accidentally left on a windowsill in the sun. Turned it a nice tan, but now it’s stiff.

If you’re interested in learning about effects of different oils on leather, look at the sticky thread @fredk and @SUP created in I think the Dyes thread about an experiment they’re conducting using different oils on leather placed in different environments to observe the effects. I think olive oil is one of the oils, though I’m not sure off the top of my head. Regardless, it’s an interesting experiment. 

[fredk]

Have a look here;

We tested oils and fats found at home and some of them turned the leather dark brown

[Gezzer]

" or burgundy "

Haven't tried this but I would think grape juice might impart some color .

[TomG]

If you I have a fabric or sewing store, or a Walmart,  etc., look for Ritz dye packs. You mix with water.

Many grocery stores used to carry them as well.

I've heard that they work well in many cases.

[TonyV]

What vegetation and minerals in your area have been used in traditional dyes?  Red ochre combined with a seed oil or NFO, maybe combined with coffee or black tea?.  Is there some traditional crafts people in your area with whom you can share ideas?

You might be able to find black walnut shells for sale online.  

Some people have good success on leather with wood stain.  

[jrdunn]

6 hours ago, Dwight said:

I have just about quit dying light tan . . .  just give it the "suntan" look . . . did that for a young boy a few months back . . . he wore that belt prouder than if he had been given one by the Lone Ranger . . . 

Maybe Clayton Moore but not Bass Reeves.    I too am a firm believer in the "suntan method".  JM2C,  Jim

[fredk]

12 hours ago, badhatter1005 said:

I agree with Dwight that the sun tanning works really well with leather. . . . 

Even where I am, the sun is weak and mostly over cast I have to be careful not to store leather near a window. I did once and got sun tanned streaks on my roll of leather, the streaks which were facing the window and the rest was still the light leather colour

I'm not explaining that at all well, 

[Nowandagain]

On 8/20/2024 at 4:58 PM, badhatter1005 said:

Another option is extra virgin olive oil. Not only will it darken the leather but it will make it very pliable. From what I understand listening to Don Gonzalez and Will gromley they are finding sandals from the Roman empire made of leather and that were tanned with virgin olive oil that are still pliable to this day.

Don Gonzalez recommends sealing the olive oil. Tan-Kote (which he uses) and similar products are hard to find here. Would Bic 4 work as a sealant? If not, any idea what happens if I don't seal it? 

[AlZilla]

On 8/20/2024 at 8:53 AM, Nowandagain said:

Coffee comes out much too light, no matter how strong I brew it, how long I leave it, or how many coats I use. Adding ketchup to the coffee helps, but not enough. 

I am not having breakfast at your house!

I've found a product called "Leather N' Rich" imparts a sort of Saddle Tan over time. But that's not brown.

I'm kind of intrigued by the clothing dye idea.

[Nowandagain]

On 8/25/2024 at 4:09 PM, AlZilla said:

 

On 8/20/2024 at 3:53 PM, Nowandagain said:

Coffee comes out much too light, no matter how strong I brew it, how long I leave it, or how many coats I use. Adding ketchup to the coffee helps, but not enough. 

I am not having breakfast at your house!

 

If all it takes to scare you off is a little ketchup, I probably shouldn’t tell you I added some white vinegar & steel wool to the experiment. (Of course if it were a real experience, I would have measured, so it’s more in the nature of playing around with it.)

[Nowandagain]

On 8/20/2024 at 7:17 PM, TomG said:

If you I have a fabric or sewing store, or a Walmart,  etc., look for Ritz dye packs. You mix with water.

Many grocery stores used to carry them as well.

Yeah, I remember those from the U.S. No Walmarts or other big box stores here & the fabric stores, supermarkets & sundry stores don’t seem to carry fabric die. You can sometimes find food coloring but I haven’t tried it yet. 

[TomG]

I think your profile said Israel. Do you not have art supply stores? How about beauty supplies? Maybe liquid hair dye could be used.
I did a search for Dyestuffs, which leather dyes are made from, but didn't find any unless you wanted to buy it by the ton.
Somewhere, I have a digital copy of an old leather craft book. I'll see if I can find it. I seem to recall it had a section on making dyes from natural ingredients.

[TomG]

Well, I found the book, However, it's from 1893 or so, and uses chemicals common from that era to make the stuff in it. Not readily available these days.
I also did a quick search and all found was to boil acorns to make a brown dye.
I still think your best bet is maybe an art store and how about a paint store. They have dyes for wood that may be perfect for you.
Good luck

 

[badhatter1005]

On 8/25/2024 at 3:14 AM, Nowandagain said:

Don Gonzalez recommends sealing the olive oil. Tan-Kote (which he uses) and similar products are hard to find here. Would Bic 4 work as a sealant? If not, any idea what happens if I don't seal it? 

Sorry it took me so long to get back. You can use the olive oil itself to seal the product. The nature of the olive oil dictates that it will hold strong in the leather fibers. The only other option to seal would be neat's foot oil which I really like. It has the same effect but will not be as waterproof as tancoat. The good part about that is that you can go back later and add more oil if you need to.

[dikman]

TomG, that book sounds interesting. Boiling acorns? Is that all there is to it? I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

[dikman]

I did a bit of searching on making dye from acorns and it seems all you do is simmer them for about an hour, but it has to be done several times. It's Spring here so it'll be a few months before the acorns appear but I have oak trees close by so I might collect some and give it a go, out of curiosity.