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.

[Nuttish]

Resolene and acrylic paints are water-based.

http://www.weaverleather.com/Documents/MSDS/Fiebings-Resolene.pdf

[Colt W Knight]

Not all acrylics are water based, but as far as I know, all the acrylic paints geared towards leatherworking are water based.

[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?

Thank you everyone. So, basically Acrylic Polymer is a man made material, hence, not natural for my intended purposes.?

[Bob Blea]

Sorry I wasn't very clear. Acrylic paints and finishes are designed so that they are in a water base, so you can thin them with water, clean up with water, etc. But the acrylic itself is a polymer and is made from petroleum distillates. So yes it is a man made material for your purposes. Acrylic is basically a form of plastic.

[Tayylor]

Thanks. Darn!

[Colt W Knight]

Sorry I wasn't very clear. Acrylic paints and finishes are designed so that they are in a water base, so you can thin them with water, clean up with water, etc. But the acrylic itself is a polymer and is made from petroleum distillates. So yes it is a man made material for your purposes. Acrylic is basically a form of plastic.

Not all acrylic paints are water based. There are Acrylic Lacquers, Acrylic Enamels, etc.

[Tayylor]

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.

Boriqua, I have been using walnut hull dye, blueberry and coffee. For finishing edges do you bevel before you soak or after? If I do it after the color on the edge is lighter. Even after soaking for more than 24 hours. I have tested believing the edges before but this makes the edges very crisp, yes after oiling with olive oil or Neatsfoot. I have added glycerin to,the edges and burnished, which helps but right before the bevel it seems to want to start cracking.

Any help would be so appreciated.

[Boriqua]

I usually burnish after but I cheat and have used dye on my edges. I have some blueberry dyed cut pieces for a bag I am putting together. I am going to try bees wax on the edge and I will report back. My gut says it should darken it nicely sans dye.

Alex

[Tayylor]

Sounds great, thanks.

[Walstr]

I too desire a darker brown color from my batch of Walnut Stain. Has anyone heated their home brew to concentrate it more for a darker color?

Soaking an hour or ten hours seems inconsequential regarding color density/tone. Has anyone tried adding a bit of Vinegaroon to their Walnut husk brew? Thanks.

Wally

p.s. Pls PM me with any responses in addition to posting here.