Brown, No Red Tint.

[Red Cent]

We had a few posts a while back about the color brown. I was trying to mix some dye and come up with a brown that did not have a hint of red. Some pretty interesting colors showed up but not true brown.

Buckskin, the base of all browns. Using a small plastic bottle (imagine small pill bottle) I poured Fiebing's Buckskin dye until almost full. Then I added a few drops of black. Oddly enough, there is a point of "drops of black" that will change the result from a brown with a green tinge (really) to a light brown (depending on amount of black added). Additional drops of black will darken the brown.

However, all of the stuff I dyed is mottled. Great brown with dark spots. Kinda looks good (different) but I don't know why it is mottled. I will try the airbrush tomorrow. I like the basic color. Pictures later.

[Pounder]

Cannot wait to see pics

[dikman]

Mottling suggests to me that the colours either aren't mixing properly or aren't staying completely mixed and are separating out?

[TinkerTailor]

One thing i have noticed is if you use just Sno seal, and no additional finish or dye on natural veg, some hides darken to a brown while others get a definite red tinge. Sno seal is a white colourless paste so i must assume that some leathers are naturally more red.

According to this site, different types of bark impart different colors.

This may be effecting your results.

Oak bark averages 10% tannin. Oak wood = 6%. Oak leather is considered mellow and tight, with a yellow-brown color. There are so many varieties that this surely varies.

Fir bark has as much as 11% tannin and yields a yellow/brown leather.

Certain willows are considered excellent, yielding a soft and supple leather. It can have 10% tannin.

Lotta Rahme says that "birch bark yields a somewhat fragile leather, probably because it dissolves out the hide's natural greases." Average tannin equals 12%. It is usually used in combo with other materials and is sought for its high sugar content. Gives a light red-brown color.

Alder makes a hard and fragile leather and is often used just to color finished leather. It gives a rust orange to red/brown. The brightest color comes from the bark collected just after the first hard freeze.

Hemlock bark contains about 10% tannin. The liquors are bright red and full of acid-forming sugars. Good for both heavy sole as well as lighter fancy leather.

Chestnut oak also called rock oak is classified as a white oak and is high in tannin (10%), as well as acid-forming sugars. It is among the most desirable of barks for tanning.

http://www.braintan.com/barktan/2tannins.htm