Vinegaroon AND black dye? How old can vinegaroon be?

[JulieP]

Hi,

I have some vinegaroon that is about a year old.  Its been stored in a mason jar.  I tried a tester piece of leather and it worked fine and blackened the leather fairly quickly(2 minutes).  I neutralized and applied neatsfoot oil while it was still damp.  How long have you stored your vinegaroon.   I have read a few stories on here about vinegaroon dyed pieces fading over time.  I was wondering if anyone has ever applied a spirit black dye over vinegaroon.  I would think it might add a deeper black to the occasional issue of the vinegaroon being a dark gray sometimes.  I am guessing once the vinegaroon piece has been neutralized it should be ok to dye for the extra insurance that the piece stays a nice deep black?  

Thanks for any input!!

 

Edited January 16, 2018 by JulieP

[Halitech]

as long as it's kept sealed, it should last a long time. I used to dye pieces after to get a little darker but I started using black shoe polish, only takes a moment and it's something the customer can do as well later.

[JulieP]

Thank you Halitech.  It will be a tooled dog collar with white designs painted on.

 

[Northmount]

If the vinegaron is still working (vinegar and steel wool still reacting), don't seal the lid.  Else if it decides to blowup, you will have a mess to clean up. 

Tom

[JMcC]

What the heck is vinegaroon?? I always thought it was an insect here in the southwest... The more I read on these forums, the more I realize that I have a lot to learn still. Learning is a good thing!

[Northmount]

20 hours ago, JMcC said:

What the heck is vinegaroon?? I always thought it was an insect here in the southwest... The more I read on these forums, the more I realize that I have a lot to learn still. Learning is a good thing!

Tons of posts here about making and using vinegaroon.  Do a search, too many for me to list!

The product of the reaction between vinegar (acid) and iron will react with the tannins in veg tanned leather to turn the leather blue/grey/black depending on various factors.  It is not a dye, so there is no chance of it rubbing off onto your nice white shirt.

Tom

[mikesc]

Making Vinegaroon is a way to make a solution of ferric acetate, which then reacts with the tannins in veg tan leather.
pdf about it here
http://europa.org.au/files/vinegaroon.pdf
and source ( mentioned in the pdf ) with much more about the chemistry of it , and a few other things that may be of interest.
http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4336
HTH :)

Btw..If you do anything with the "walnut recipe", and have access to a walnut tree, you can use the leaves of the tree ( not the nuts ) to make a very nice "wine"..or you can put a couple of good sized handfulls of the leaves into a spirit such as vodka, close the container with a cork, leave for at least 3 years to macerate and let the flavours develop..and then enjoy..leave 5 years is even better. It will take on a tawny brown colour eventually, it will be delicious. :) less than 3 years is "OK" , but 3 or more is better.Oops , nearly forgot , you'll need to pour it through a strainer / filter to get the leaf residue out before drinking.

Edited January 18, 2018 by mikesc

[JMcC]

Thanks guys for the reply...will have to read up on that interesting subject!

After reading all of that, I think I will just stick with traditional black dye using Fiebing's. It was interesting, but it sounds like a pain in the posterior to me and too much work.  

Edited January 18, 2018 by JMcC

[mikesc]

It is extremely simple to make and to do...
Do you buy "striped paint"..?

[OLDNSLOW]

In the summer is the best time to make roon, the heat helps to speed up the process, I had made up a couple of gallons a few years but became hesitant to use it.  If it is not neutralized properly it will destroy the leather when you least expect it to.