Vinegaroon Turns Gray?

[Jimbob]

Been experimenting with second and third batch of Vinegaroon.....came out great, test piece of 2-3 veg tan leather turned instantly black...after second soak it was jet black!!!!!!!!

Great!!!

Now, when it is dried out it suddenly shows grey blotches...oiled second piece, first jet black....then when dry sort of gray...what do I do wrong...

James

[Catchndreams]

Been experimenting with second and third batch of Vinegaroon.....came out great, test piece of 2-3 veg tan leather turned instantly black...after second soak it was jet black!!!!!!!!

Great!!!

Now, when it is dried out it suddenly shows grey blotches...oiled second piece, first jet black....then when dry sort of gray...what do I do wrong...

James

I have had the same problem. It's the leather. I oiled lightly again truned out OK.

Dennis

[BearMan]

Good Morning James,

It sounds like the leather was not oiled enough. The process works best when the leather is oiled after the Vinegaroon,,,, but,, I should also mention, that after the Vinegaroon has been applied & dried, the surface should be neutralized. I usually use a very dilute mixture of baking soda, that I "wash" the surface with to help neutralize with. This is an important step. Here is a link to a tutorial: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=14946

I hope this help,,, Ed the"BearMan"

[Wishful]

I had same issue so oiled several times before it stayed black. It seems some leather may have more or less oils to begin with so may need to be refreshed more with the oil.

Edited July 14, 2011 by Wishful

[ChuckBurrows]

Whenever you get gray before oiling it generally means that there is a lack of tannins to react with the iron - to darken it prior to oiling (sometimes the oil will darken it enough but not always) use a brew of cold, strong black tea (ie. Liptons or what I use is the el cheapo Wally World brand). The tea can be applied either before or after the vinegar black is applied.

Let dry and if need be re-apply both then oil.........

[Jimbob]

Whenever you get gray before oiling it generally means that there is a lack of tannins to react with the iron - to darken it prior to oiling (sometimes the oil will darken it enough but not always) use a brew of cold, strong black tea (ie. Liptons or what I use is the el cheapo Wally World brand). The tea can be applied either before or after the vinegar black is applied.

Let dry and if need be re-apply both then oil.........

Ahhhhhhh, tannins....in tea...hmmmm, need to try that....thanks a bushell!!

James

[Darren8306]

Last summer I made some vinageroon for some wood projects. Then, I left it out, in an open jug, until mid-winter. There wasn't a lid, but I had a paintbrush stuck upside down in the opening, which would have kept a lot of the snow out.

When I decided to try it on leather, I went out and grabbed it. -30C outside so I had to thaw it out first. 

It yielded a grey instead of black. First, I used a colour dye over the grey, to rescue it. (photo inset/blue with runner)

After some drinks and internal arguments, I must have decided I liked it, because I just made a few more. The fresh batch of vinageroo also yielded grey.

Of course, because of this thread, I suspect tanins, and may soon try tea or tree-goiters to achieve the black I was after. I'll post results when I get that done. 

 

The leather I'm using is a budget-friendly choice, and maybe going cheap means you don't get as many tanins...In anay case, I like the grey so much, I'm starting to wonder what other mistakes I can commit.

[dikman]

Looks good, contrasts nicely with coloured thread.

[Darren8306]

I started a new side of leather, and the vinageroon produces a dark grey, nearly black.

 

Now I want to get the light grey back...anyone know how to remove tanins from veg-tan?

[dikman]

 Unfortunately it sounds like one of those unforeseen accidents with a happy outcome, never to be repeated.

[SUP]

On 1/14/2025 at 1:54 AM, Darren8306 said:

Now I want to get the light grey back...anyone know how to remove tanins from veg-tan?

You get tannins removers but if you want to remove the black color, it is iron tannate now, formed when the ferric acetate from the vinegaroon bonds to the tannins in the leather. I wonder if that bond can be broken.

To get that bluish grey color, you could try adding very little iron to vinegar, a diluted vinegaroon, so to speak.

Edited January 15 by SUP

[Darren8306]

On 1/15/2025 at 6:58 AM, SUP said:

You get tannins removers but if you want to remove the black color, it is iron tannate now, formed when the ferric acetate from the vinegaroon bonds to the tannins in the leather. I wonder if that bond can be broken.

To get that bluish grey color, you could try adding very little iron to vinegar, a diluted vinegaroon, so to speak.

Thanks, I might try that. I had a terribly naive accident trying the other way...

I thought I would add tannins to a belt, to get it to turn blacker. So I found a bowl which held the belt (and a couple keepers), put in a handful of tea bags, and poured in the boiling water. Then I let it steep awhile, and pulled it out.

Anyone like to purchase an irregular belt?

I'll try COLD tea, and some test samples. I guess it isn't good to run experiments while sipping gin with my sweethearts curling team...

[dikman]

Errr, maybe make up the tea solution first next time? Sorry, but I can't help laughing, you've got to admit it's funny! And yeah, perhaps go a bit easy on the gin.....