Vinegaroon Question (Newbie)

[orangedesperado]

Hi Everybody !

I stumbled across Leatherworker.net completely by accident - due to the vinegaroon recipe. I have a couple of decades experience sewing garment leather on industrial machines, and some familiarity with working with belt leathers. I loved the idea of a permanent black dye, caused by a chemical reaction. I am making some placemats as a gift, and a permanent, non- transferable dye sounds much better than the stinky and not 100% fast Fiebings oil dye that I am familiar with.

So - of course I ran right out for some vinegar, steel wool and acetone. This is what I did: I poured a bunch of acetone in a plastic tub. I unravelled the extra fine steel wool and dunked it completely into the acetone and squeezed it out (while wearing nitrile gloves). I let this dry overnight. I then put this into a plastic container (old gallon vinegar jug), and poured vinegar to cover. I left an opening for air. It is in a warmish place (68 - 72 degree F). I have been shaking it everyday - but so far (four days later) the liquid is only slightly greyish. For good measure I added some rusty nails last night. The steel wool looks only a tad rusty at the top.

I read over many instructions and comments here and other places online. There seemed to be some differences of opinion about whether the steel used should be rusty or not rusty. Many people said they let it develop in a warm place in direct sunlight. Some people said they boiled it.

Does it sound like my vinegaroon is developing naturally ? Did my steel wool not get de-greased properly ?

Any input would be appreciated.

[mlapaglia]

Relax, its fine. Cover it up. No sense it letting it evaporate. It takes at least two weeks and may still be clear. Mine always is clear for a while after its made. You could dip a scrap piece into the stuff for a few seconds and Ill bet it turns black or at least very gray. The rust is really not needed in this method. Give it time. It takes at least 2 weeks. You may need to add more steel wool if what you have in there disappear before the two weeks. Next time rinse off the acetone. remember to filter it after the time is up and dont freak out when it starts making a hard crud on the top as it sits in the bottle.

[Ken G]

Give it time. You don't need rust you need iron. I've made up two batches of vinegaroon so far. The first batch I degreased 6 or 8 pads of 0000 steel wool using simple green and water. I rinsed them out, squeezed out the excess water then put them in a one gallon plastic pickle jar with a loose lid with the vinegar. It sat outside on the deck for at least 4 weeks in October/early November. The steel wool completely dissolved. I added a couple more degreased pads and let it sit for a couple more weeks. I strained it through a screen and it works great.

The second batch was done the same way except it sat on the floor in the corner of the kitchen at room temperature. Its been brewing for probably 6 weeks and I just added some additional pads of steel wool.

After dying the leather it does leave a little funky smell but it seems to go away with time as it airs out.

[orangedesperado]

Ah - okay - I missed the rinsing out after the acetone bath part. I will sit back and wait. I wasn't sure if this would turn inky black in the jar - or was supposed to. I guess I need the 101 tutorial with pictures !

Thanks for the input.

[mlapaglia]

Dont be afraid to test it. But let it go even if it does turn the leather black. The longer it sits with iron in it the weaker the acid becomes and this is a good thing.

FYI, My original post was slightly off. It can and often does take longer than 2 weeks. The point is to keep adding steel wool til it stops dissolving.

[alwhorley]

I simply threw a 0000 steel wool pad in a quart of vinegar. After 24 hours it was still mostly clear but had a metallic smell. I stuck a scrap of veg tan in it, removed it as soon as it was pretty soaked and in around 30 minutes, it was black. Neutralized it in a little Baking Soda and warm water, oiled it when it was dry and top coated with leather balm. I have made a few bags with the Vinegaroon colored leather, things look pretty good to me.

I would love to hear others opinions on this,

Al

Edited January 7, 2014 by alwhorley

[mlapaglia]

When Vinegeroon is finishing "brewing" it turns the leather black instantly. 24 hours isnt long enough for a complete batch. Plus after 3-6 weeks when it cant disolove anymore steel the ph is closer to normal so it needs less baking soda to fix it.

Edited January 7, 2014 by mlapaglia

[groovytech]

I just put fine steel wool into a gallon of white vinegar, cap it,shake it up every day or two, wait until all the wool is gone and run it through a coffee filter a couple of times and put it in wine bottles. A little bit goes a long way.