vinegaroon help

[patgarret]

Hi folks am I would like some help please. I just recently heard about this vinegaroon for dying leather and such, and am wanting to test it out.

I have a saddle and tack which are quite old and am wanting to dye black, but I dont want to ruin it if this stuff dont work or I do it wrong.

Soo would any one be king enough to break down the procedure for me such as

How to make it,

preparing thr saddle

application

after the dyes on

and drying out and smelling goes away period?

will dunking my saddle in water affect the leather. As you can am very new at this so any help will be much appreciated.

[Shorts]

This thread here can get you started:

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1352

[Luke Hatley]

Hi folks am I would like some help please. I just recently heard about this vinegaroon for dying leather and such, and am wanting to test it out.

I have a saddle and tack which are quite old and am wanting to dye black, but I dont want to ruin it if this stuff dont work or I do it wrong.

Soo would any one be king enough to break down the procedure for me such as

How to make it,

preparing thr saddle

application

after the dyes on

and drying out and smelling goes away period?

will dunking my saddle in water affect the leather. As you can am very new at this so any help will be much appreciated.

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I dont think i would re-dye the old saddle Black... think abour it! all the oil that has been

used on the saddle would have an effect on the dye that you are going to use on it.

[ChuckBurrows]

**************************************************************************

I dont think i would re-dye the old saddle Black... think abour it! all the oil that has been

used on the saddle would have an effect on the dye that you are going to use on it.

Not necessarily - remember vinegaroon IS NOT A DYE - it is a chemical reagent and works be reacting with the tannins in the leather. If the oil was going to affect it much then even on new jobs the oils in that leather would have an effect.

BTW - you can increase the effect of the vinegaroon by first wetting down the leather with a strong black tea bath - black tea is high in tannins.....

I would be cautious with vinegaroon or any dye for that matter on older leather as they all have a drying effect and that can be detrimental to older dryed leather...I would do test first on a spot generally hidden from view......

Edited July 25, 2008 by ChuckBurrows

[IanCantwell]

Hi Pat,

I too am intriged by this method and might try it on my new saddle that's just started but I'm doing some trials first with scrap. I'll throw an old black dyed belt into the mix and see what happens, I'll let you know the results and the 'formula'.

Ian.

[IanCantwell]

Just to update you an my experiment. I mixed 50ml of malt vinegar with 400ml of water and dropped in a couple of pieces of black iron. I left the iron to rust of a few days until the mixture looked a rusty colour.

I took a piece of 15oz russet and an old belt (dyed black) and placed them in the solution for a time. Almost immediately there was a reaction with the new leather, small bubbles appeared and within the first 30 seconds it was evident a colouring was taking place.

At 2 minutes the new leather was a dark grey colour and the old belt was black.

At 3 minutes I removed both and the new leather was also black.

I rinsed both under running water and left them out on the bench to dry, the new leather has lightened slightly to a dark grey.

I then gave the new leather a couple of coats of Tandy Super Sheen and polished it up.

I'm pleased with the result, it's not as dark as some dyes but it shows the contrast nicely, a bit antique looking.

I did a cross section and it appears the reaction has gone about 1/2mm deep so no rubbing off with this method. See what you think.

Edit: 2nd photo, belt was dipped up to second hole from right.

I also slicked the edge by just dampening VERY slightly and rubbed up with a piece of old denim, it came up great with no need for edge coat. Anyone know if I should've edge coat to seal it?

Edited July 30, 2008 by IanCantwell

[TwinOaks]

Ian,

I read that you supersheened the leather for a finish. On your next test piece, oil the leather and see if it darkens better. The pieces I used vinegaroon on were finished with Aussie. This helped push some of the oil and tallows back into the leather. The end result was not needing any additional finish. Then again, it will vary with the specific tannery. I've had some pieces come out almost Navy Blue, or a shade darker. (This was on some leather that was sent to me by a member here, and he thought it might have been English leather.)

[IanCantwell]

Thanks Mike,

That was handy, I was going to check back thro the posts to see if I could find a recommended method of softening up leather, I only put sheen on to see if it would darken I don't normally use it. Is that the Fiebing Aussie Conditioner or ?

Ian

[TwinOaks]

Yes, Aussie Conditioner. I used it to primarily protect gun metal from any residual acids from the Vin. After several postings, and discussions about it, it would appear that my precautionary steps may not have been necessary. Sorry, I don't remember where/which thread/post it's in. The gist of the posts was that once the darkening has been achieved, a rinse in cold water is probably all that's needed.

As I posted previously, after treatment, the leather had pretty much assumed a waxy surface - kinda like neat-lac but not as shiny. The Aussie was just to try and restore some of the oils and fats back into the leather. This was accomplished by heat and pressure- in other words, I rubbed in conditioner until my arms were cramping.

The same reconditioning of the leather would have probably been accomplished by use, flexion, abuse...and whatever else you can do to leather.

hope this helps,

Mike