Looking for all-natural veg-tan leather

[Harry Marinakis]

On ‎11‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 5:26 PM, BenjaminEstberg said:

Try tandy leather....

 

I've been using Tandy leather for years. The quality of their leather is so poor that it is not usable for this particular need. 

Edited November 9, 2017 by Harry Marinakis

[billybopp]

It's not uncommon even for modern dyes to "take" differently from one piece of tooling veg tan leather to another - even on the same hide at times from one part to another.   Most ancient dyes will not have the coloring power that modern ones do, so your results aren't all that surprising.  You may find that some will need to really soak the leather - possibly even by submersion for a period of time.   

HO or W&C tooling leather are probably as close as you'll find to fully natural veg tan leather unless you tan it yourself.  We know that they both use vegetable matter to tan - but not their exact formula - they're just not going to tell anybody exactly what they use.  

Bill

[Harry Marinakis]

44 minutes ago, billybopp said:

It's not uncommon even for modern dyes to "take" differently from one piece of tooling veg tan leather to another - even on the same hide at times from one part to another.   Most ancient dyes will not have the coloring power that modern ones do, so your results aren't all that surprising.  You may find that some will need to really soak the leather - possibly even by submersion for a period of time.   

HO or W&C tooling leather are probably as close as you'll find to fully natural veg tan leather unless you tan it yourself.  We know that they both use vegetable matter to tan - but not their exact formula - they're just not going to tell anybody exactly what they use.  

Bill

I agree, Bill

I have been experimenting with both topical dye application and soaking.

Natural dyes often require 5 to 15 applications, with drying between coats.

Soaking in dye for a few days is usually effective, but it requires a lot more dye, and you use up a lot more dye at a faster rate.

I ran into some problems with modern veg-tan tooling leathers refusing to take any natural dye at all, even with 3-day soaks.

Surprisingly, most of the ancient dye recipes from the middle ages specify topical application of the dye, not soaking! 

 

Edited November 9, 2017 by Harry Marinakis

[Colt W Knight]

You say you have problems with "modern" veg tan leather. Does that mean you have some non modern veg tan to compare it with?

[Harry Marinakis]

I ordered a side of natural veg-tan tooling leather from Hermann Oak. At $11/square foot, it was almost $300 with shipping.

I'll run some natural dye experiments with this leather, versus cheaper veg-tan tooling leathers, and post the results here.

 

The experiment that prompted this search was dyeing with natural walnut extract. When dyeing one cheap veg-tan tooling leather with walnut, it instantly turned a beautiful, rich brown with one application of extract. Another veg-tan tooling leather didn't change color at all, even with a 24-hour soak.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Harry Marinakis

[Canberra]

I bought some beautiful leather from Macpherson leather, carves like a dream, can get it in all weights. It is Herman Oak A grade. It is veg tan, no wax on it. Tried Tandy’s better leather, it doesn’t even compare. So hard to cut and carve. 

Edited September 7, 2018 by Canberra

[chrisash]

You cannot get more traditional than this company in England http://www.jfjbaker.co.uk/ 

[Fowlingpiece]

2 hours ago, chrisash said:

You cannot get more traditional than this company in England http://www.jfjbaker.co.uk/ 

Agree. True old time pit, bark tannage