My guide to the best vinegaroon you've ever made.

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

So I did the dollar tree run, but the scrubbies I grabbed were SS not steel wool. Finally got some wool today to start over, but lo and behold the vinegar was tinting! Yellow, not black, but hey. So I’ll let that go and see what happens while I start another jar with wool

clearly my first rodeo,

AZR

Edited June 15 by ThisIsMyFirstRodeo
Missing detail

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

On 6/15/2025 at 1:36 PM, ThisIsMyFirstRodeo said:

As a follow-up, my steel wool vinegaroon has turned dark gray, with a fair bit of sediment, and the wool, though floating (air contact), has minimal orange oxidation. If I give it a swirl, it’s opaque almost black, but it settles again pretty quickly. 
My SS jar turned a golden color, still letting it roll to see where it goes.
I also started a fresh jar today of steel wool to attempt the clear ‘roon, as well as a jar with a copper scrubbie, but I may have had a little soap left, as bubbles came to the surface. Spooned out, hoping for the best. 

I had read somewhere about sunlight speeding the process (maybe going back to the note about heat…), so I have all 4 jars sitting in the AZ sun right now. After a few hours, my 1st steel wool ‘roon is staying much closer to an opaque charcoal gray right now, and for some reason, my SS jar has lost all golden color and is now clear again. (Thoughts from the chemist crowd?)

Hooray observation analysis!

AZR

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

On 6/27/2025 at 12:28 PM, ThisIsMyFirstRodeo said:

On 6/15/2025 at 1:36 PM, ThisIsMyFirstRodeo said:

As a follow-up, my steel wool vinegaroon has turned dark gray, with a fair bit of sediment, and the wool, though floating (air contact), has minimal orange oxidation. If I give it a swirl, it’s opaque almost black, but it settles again pretty quickly. 
My SS jar turned a golden color, still letting it roll to see where it goes.
I also started a fresh jar today of steel wool to attempt the clear ‘roon, as well as a jar with a copper scrubbie, but I may have had a little soap left, as bubbles came to the surface. Spooned out, hoping for the best. 

I had read somewhere about sunlight speeding the process (maybe going back to the note about heat…), so I have all 4 jars sitting in the AZ sun right now. After a few hours, my 1st steel wool ‘roon is staying much closer to an opaque charcoal gray right now, and for some reason, my SS jar has lost all golden color and is now clear again. (Thoughts from the chemist crowd?)

Hooray observation analysis!

AZR

Expand  

Further observations:

SS: color hasn’t returned to liquid yet. 
Dipped a swatch this morning. At first, started to darken. As it dried, some light staining on flesh, only a hint of shade on grain. 

Cu: surprisingly vibrant color, similar to a new penny, but can clearly see through. 
Dipped a swatch last night. Darkened some initially, now a slightly pale blue color wash. 
Tossed outside again today, color seems to be fading from jar.  

2nd Fe: Still relatively clear, nothing to settle out. 
Dipped a swatch last night. Initially turned relatively dark. This morning, disappointingly faded out. 
Outside also, almost seems to be a soapy dishwater appearance. 
 

1st Fe: Black at top few inches, black sediment settled, gray-black but translucent. 
I cheated and dipped the faded Fe swatch from last night. A rather hazy navy blue color. 
Outside also, the jar is an opaque charcoal gray. 
 

All swatches buff veg tan. 
Will update observations as I think about it…

AZR

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

Experiment: Testing 4 different ferrous and non-ferrous acetates to react with 6-7lb econo veg tan leather, using ~1min and ~5min dip times.

 

Methodology:

1) Prepared 1 mason jar each of classic vinegaroon, classic vinegaroon, copper scrubbie substitute, SS scrubbie substitute.

Jars have been sitting outside in mostly direct S.AZ summer sun, probably about 100F. No control for leather or with straight white vinegar will be used.

2) Dip a strip of undyed 6-7lb econo veg tan completely for ~1min.

3) Pull halfway out and continue dip for another 4min, for a combined time of ~5min.

4) Hang each on the “shaded” side of the jar to air dry.

5) Analyze and evaluate results at 1hr.

6) Test strips will not be stabilized with baking soda solution.

Hypothesis:

1) Initial coloring will be relatively dark, and fade with time.

2) Longer dip time equates to darker color.

3) Because leather is porous, the color of the 1min dip may be skewed by wicking action.

4) Stabilization with baking soda solution (untested) may alter results.

 

Prognosis:

Based on historical and commonly available observations, results will be as follows: Jar 1 (classic vinegaroon 5wk aged) will be darkest, followed by Jar 2 (classic vinegaroon 3wk aged), then Jar 3 (copper scrubbie 6wk aged), and finally Jar 4 (SS scrubbie 6wk aged).

Each of the testing strips will have noticeable but slight variations of color between 1min and 5min, and the strips themselves will have distinct depths of color.

 

Results:

At 1hr:

A) The longer dip time yielded darker colors.

At 1min, surprisingly, Strip 2 appears slightly darker than Strip 3, and results (darkest to lightest) as follows: 1,2,3,4.

C) At 5min, results as predicted with results (darkest to lightest) as follows: 1,3,2,4.

 

Observations:

At 2hr, the colorations are evening out on Strips 1 and 3 (classic 5wk and 3wk).

Surprisingly, Strip 2 followed by 4 (copper and SS) were the most evenly colored at each time.

Also unexpected Strip 2 (copper) was very close to Strip 3 (classic 3wk), just slightly behind Strip 1.

Although Strip 1 was the darkest at both times, the evenness of Strip 2 would give the copper scrubbie my preference in general.

Strip 4 (SS), though, may warrant further experimentation into blue tones, and lend a really cool effect with a blue dye. Also would like to compare to dipping in straight white vinegar.

 

Having issues posting pictures of the results. Almost like it’s my first rodeo or something 😉…

If I’m missing something, or have made an error along the way, please correct me.

 

Cheers,

AZR

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

I repeated the experiment, but this time I sprayed the strips with water to see if that would even out the unevenness, and skipped straight to 5min. 
This time, it was worse. Much worse. And the depth of color was nowhere near that of the first experiment. 
Conclusion: Don’t spray your leather with water first…

Cheers,

AZR