How To Dye Veg Tan Brown?

[Eric Goodwin]

Okay I know this is a very newb question but I am wondering how to dye veg tan brown the whole way through, so that even the suede side gets a little colour to it. The suede side doesn't have to be as dark, just not the basic veg tan colour.

Thanks!

[radar67]

You dye both sides. I don't know of a brown dye that will penetrate completely through the leather.

[electrathon]

Fiebings dye. Dip the whole piece in a pan with dye in it. Take it out and pat it dry with a towell.

Aaron

[amuckart]

Oil it lightly and leave it in the sun.

[Eric Goodwin]

Thanks for your help! I want a pretty dark brown will submerging the whole piece of leather make it very stiff? and what would I have to do to seal the whole piece of leather from the elements?

Thanks!

[electrathon]

Thanks for your help! I want a pretty dark brown will submerging the whole piece of leather make it very stiff? and what would I have to do to seal the whole piece of leather from the elements?

Thanks!

It will be a little more stiff after you dye it. Oil it after it dries, that will help some. It will be no more or less protected after you dye it. You can use any number of products to seal it up. On non-tooled items I like to use Dr Jacksons.

Aaron

[HellfireJack]

I read some where on this forum that you can turn leather brown through and through by dipping it in baking soda mixed in water. Just like vinegaroon, which turns leather black, it works via a chemical reaction with the tannins in the leather rather than trying to force pigments into the fibers of the leather as you do with a dye or bonding pigment to the surface like a stain or paint, Also like vinegaroon the longer it's in contact the darker it gets.

I tested it and it does appear to work. I used a light colored piece of 3/4oz veg tan scrap. I didn't measure anything I just grabbed a bowl and dumped in some baking soda and filled it half way with water and stirred it up.

The picture is horrible and doesn't really do it justice. I just wanted to show the contrast from before and after. I would say it's just a shade off from chocolate brown. I cut it in half after and it does indeed go completely through. I think this and a coat of oil would make it pretty much dark brown. It's still a little damp. almost to the carving stage. I'll check it in the morning when it's fully dry and see if anything changes.

You might want to experiment similarly.

The only caveat I can think of with using this is that you probably want to make sure to rinse it off well when it reaches the shade you want, especially if you're making a holster or sheath or something. I have no idea what baking soda would do to metal over time.

[HellfireJack]

I checked my test piece this morning and it is now a very dark brown. It was stiffer than regular leather but not something a little oiling wont fix. It smelled of baking soda still so I finally gave it a thorough rinsing under the tap. I'll oil it up and take another picture of it when I get home tonight.

[Colt Hammerless]

I hadn't heard of this before HellfireJack. That's really interesting! How long would you say you submerged the piece for?

Colt Hammerless

[HellfireJack]

I would say less than 30 seconds. I also stirred it around in the undissolved baking soda. I didn't rinse it off until this morning though so technically it was reacting for hours.

[Eric Goodwin]

That's amazing! I have never heard of that before, despite hours and hours of searching online. I'm going to try that out as soon as I can!

Thanks

[Eric Goodwin]

Has anyone else tried this? I can't get it to turn brown, it changes colour but only to a kind of redish pink. I used a lot of baking soda, so much that it wouldn't entirely dissolve in the water. The water was cold though, did you use hot water?

[HellfireJack]

I used cold water as well. Are you using baking powder or baking soda? What kind of leather as well?

I've done a few more tests on both Tandy leather and Herman Oak and they all are turning brown. This time I measured. I used 4 tablespoons of baking soda in one cup of water. I'm charging my camera now to get better pictures this time.

Using different types of leather I'm noticing definite differences in color change and shade. I tried a 4/5oz and the 3/4 oz Tandy and a 9/10oz Herman Oak.

The HO is a fairly solid brown. Looks good.

The 3/4oz samples are lighter this time but I gave them only 10 second dips. I would say they're light cocoa.

With he 4/5oz samples I gave one a 10 second dip and two pieces I let soak in the mix for 30 seconds. The one is a little mottled and you can see where it absorbed on some places better than others. The two that went for a bath are both brown already. One has a slight mottle to it but it was pretty old scrap so could have had oil on it or something.

I'll give pictures soon.

[Eric Goodwin]

I am using baking soda, and some veg tan sholder from tandy. It does change colour but after it dries it's a faint redish brown. The baking soda is pretty old, other than that I can't think of anything else that could affect it.

[Eric Goodwin]

well now I tried it with a bunch of different scraps of veg tan from tandy, and one turned out very dark brown, and the others turned a kind of light purple! I guess I'll have to go back to tandy and test out a couple different types. Strange how different types of veg tan react so differently...

[Chavez]

Hi!

This baking soda trick sounds very interesting. I'm still trying to make some roon, but as soon as I get it, ill try the baking soda method.

My only concern is that soda is going to interfre with leather's ph balance and ruin leather...

[electrathon]

well now I tried it with a bunch of different scraps of veg tan from Tandy, and one turned out very dark brown, and the others turned a kind of light purple! I guess I'll have to go back to Tandy and test out a couple different types. Strange how different types of veg tan react so differently...

This happens too with different tannery leathers when using Fiebings dye. You have to make sure that you do not use one piece of leather on part of a project and another on the rest. they may turn out drastically different.

Aaron

[HellfireJack]

Here are photos from my test pieces.

The first one is Herman Oak 9/10oz. Turned a nice dark brown. Cut it in half There was a slight difference in color near the center. It's not stiff or anything.

The set of three is Tandy 3/4oz. Also dark brown through and through. The thin stuff has a bit of stiffness to it now. The edges curl up a little but they also curl with just plain water.

This is the original piece I tried this out on and a shot showing the edge

The 4/5 oz Tandy looks horrible and I didn't take any pictures of them. They were brown only while it was wet and then as they dried they lightened. Only the edges stayed dark brown.

I think this method would be perfect for molding pouches. Dip and let sit for the reaction to happen then rinse thoroughly and put in your mold.

[Klara]

This method sounds too good to be true, so I had to try  it. Can't say anything about the final colours yet (I tried washing soda as well, in the spirit of scientific inquiry) because the leather has to dry, but it's definitely darker than just wet leather. But it seems to have a reddish tinge to it.

[Klara]

The colour turned out nice, but the leather became really hard and stiff and oiling it did not remedy that. I won't repeat the experiment. 

[YinTx]

If I am not mistaken, too much baking soda will burn the leather, and cause it to disintegrate over a few years time.  I'm curious what @HellfireJack's samples look like after this amount of time.  I think I'll stick to the traditional dye route myself for browns.  Otherwise, buy it drum dyed for a deep penetrating result.

YinTx