Finish That Darkens

[Tayylor]

Hi, I'm using natural dyes to color my collars, however most of the dye comes out very light. I would like to know what to apply for the finish that will darken the leather considerably.

Thank you in advance.

[Bob Blea]

Neatsfoot oil will naturally darken leather, so will exposure to sunlight. Could one of these combined with your dyes maybe get the color you are looking for?

[Tayylor]

Hi Bob,

I have used the Neatsfoot oil and Olive oil. The Neatsfoot darkened slightly over the Olive. I still need it darker. I will try the sun part next.

Thanks.

[Nuttish]

Natural dyes typically require a mordent and boil or simmer. Otherwise, you'll find that they're not color fast, light fast, or both.

Have a look at https://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/monographs/fms_dye.pdf for insight. Darker brown dyes are not as common as lighter yellows and tans, and a lot depends on how you mordent your material.

Waxed tooling leather exposed to UV will darken on its own. See for yourself by putting a piece out in the sun.

[Tayylor]

Nuttish,

Thank you for the link. I have been doing a lot of research on dyeing and am understanding the process with fabric. I have tried a few different recipies but they bleed! Although I can't boil the leather and I only want to use natural mordants; I'm confused on what to do.

[Boriqua]

The only way I have successfully gotten natural dyes darker is to leave them to soak in the solution for longer periods. If I do a blueberry or other natural dye I get a huge difference if I leave it for a few hours or if I leave it over night. Neatsfoot darkens it some but not much and sun could further bleech out the color.

[Tayylor]

Thanks Boriqua. Do you use a mordant and if so waht kind? In other words can you make the colors somewaht colorfast?

[Boriqua]

Thanks Boriqua. Do you use a mordant and if so waht kind? In other words can you make the colors somewaht colorfast?

I dont use a mordant in the mixture but I have found that resolene and wax keep the color fast. I have tried Eucalyptus, Coreopsis, blueberrry, coffee, cranberry and of course Vinegroove for black. I dont know what types of pieces you are working on but a beautiful durable finish that really brings up the color is mixing equal parts bees wax and neatsfoot oil by weight and melting into a paste. Then rub it into the finished naturally dyed pieces after you made your items. It gave the pieces a deep beautiful color. The blueberry and coreopsis especially were amazing after the wax.

I had put up pix at some point but lost them. My wife is a gardener for the local botanical garden and is TOUGH on stuff. Between watering, sweat, grit, grim and just being under the sun all day she is my test subject. I dyed several 1.5 inch by 1.5 in pieces in the dye colors I mentioned above and treated them with the wax and she wore each around her neck for a week. I wanted to see if they rubbed on her cloths or faded. They remained unscathed. I have learned that if my wife cant break it it cant be broke.

The resolene kept the pieces from fading but didnt add anything to the color. It was flat. Which is good to know since there may be times you dont want the color affected but the wax .. really jazzed it up.

[Tayylor]

Thanks Boriqua, I'm making dog collars and wanted to be different, so going all natural was my idea.

I recently purchased Neatsfoot and bees wax to make that finish, thanks for the recipe.

Is the Resolene a natural product?

[Bob Blea]

Resolene is an acrylic, so it's petroleum based.