Vinigeroon Or Black Dye Belts Thoughts And Experiences

[robs456]

Personally I stopped using 'roon because of inconsistent results between batches and the fact that it is tough to get the dips timed just right without burning the leather.

My first belt that I fortunately made for myself was obviously not done right as recently the keeper split in two (after wearing for about 3 years) and upon inspection I could see that it was hard and very brittle throughout -soda burn.

After getting some belts with totally differing shades of black/charcoal/gray while using the same batch of 'roon I gave up on it, might have been the tannin content of the different leathers but the way I think is that with dye I get the same result every time.

[Oldtoolsniper]

Each piece of leather is different and will take each type of finish differently. The finish type does not matter, each piece of leather will take whatever you are trying to do to it differently. Wood is the same way.

A piece of leather from Mexico will be different from your good ole USA Herman Oak. Test on scraps of that leather.

Super fine steel wool will dissolve the fastest when making your vig juice. Beware some steel wool is oil coated and takes forever to dissolve so I rinse mine in an oil removing solvent. Gasoline works but it's probably illegal to use in that fashion.

I strain mine after brewing thru a paint straining cone from the paint section of your hardware store and store it in the vinegar jug it came from originally. Choose your vinegar wisely and you will have a nice jug to store your vig juice in. The lid is important.

Leather is a protein or something like that. It rots, mildews, falls apart, gets hard, gets gooey and does whatever it's going to do. It was once a cow walking around somewhere. Plastic will last longer but I find the plastic shoes, belts, holsters and wallets to be less appealing than what was once a grass eating, turd spewing hamburger.

Whatever you use on the leather will effect the leather. PH strips are dirt cheap, buy some and test the wet leather on the non showing side to see what the PH level is. The PH strip will tell you if the PH level is neutral in your leather. Your eyeball can't tell you that. I tan furs and that ends up being a type of leather. It must be neutral when I'm done and those PH strips tell me the PH level in a split second.

They leave color on what they touch so test on a non showing side.

They are available at most places that sell swimming pool chemicals and gardening supplies. Store the PH strips out of the light or they turn odd colors.

You can test your water with them too, that's why they are in the swimming pool section.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Oldtoolsniper