Looking to naturally darken some leather.

[Cimrandir]

Hey everybody,

I recently bought a leather bag strap and had the maker leave it undyed. I had seen pictures of naturally darkened leather and I thought it looking gorgeous. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to go about doing this. From my understanding, you rub something into the leather and leave in the sun for a few hours. I'm heard oils, leather conditioner, and sometimes nothing at all.

I'm not very keen on using oil as I heard that it's not so good for the leather long-term. This is the leather conditioner I have. Will that do the job?

Basically, I'm looking for the best way to get it to a beautiful dark brown. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!
Haradir

[grimwulf]

i have herd, but not tried yet, that Otterwax will darken of make leather looked aged,

[Ursus]

The leather conditioner will darken it some. That plus some good wear and tear in the woods will probably give you the look you are going for. If it was me I would go over it with a light brown stain first and then condition it. Hope this helps!

[Udwin]

I don't know what kind of leather we're talking about, but if it's veg tan and you want it really dark--like, black--you could make up some Vinegaroon, which is like magic! Combined with a grease, you could 'pre-age' your piece to look as if it has been blackened with years of sweat and wear.

Using a stain first is fine, but I've noticed that Fiebing's tends to 'bleed', especially if it's in contact with sweaty skin. Can also rub off some of the stain onto clothes and things at first.

Deer tallow seems to darken leather very well, better than my other go-to leather goop, a mix of mink oil/pine pitch/beeswax.

I've found that abrading the surface of the piece (with very fine steel wool or the like) before greasing will make the piece a bit darker than it would be with just the grease alone.

[Kortoso]

Many of the natural dyes that are used for fabric should be okay for leather, except you'd combine them with some kind of oil.
Try neatsfoot oil and walnut husks for instance.
https://christophersknifeblog.wordpress ... -hull-dye/

[Elleth]

I'm a big fan of just pain neatsfoot oil and beeswax. You can change the stiffness of the leather by varying the proportions.

Gets you a nice rich brown color without any dyes whatsoever:

[Ringulf]

Depending on the color desired, I have found a good grade of brown shoe polish will do a great job darkening most browns and greens. It does a nice job on yellows too. Just getting the color you have a bit darker I would go with Elleth's suggestion as the more conservative and the most tried and true. However this "Vinegaroon" of which you skeek friend Udwin...intrigues me!

[E.MacKermak]

I have seen vinagroon (sp?). It is basically steel wool in vinegar until you get what amounts to a black dye. Remember that vinegar is acidic so a bath in a baking soda solution (as recommended to me by a guy who has used it) might be a good idea to counter the acid after you reach the desired color. I have gotten decent effect from saddle oil/neatsfoot oil and time, but if you are in a rush, this might not be for you. A light coat of Fiebing's oil (make sure you don't use too much or you can get the bleed mentioned earlier) and the oil will work as well.

[Elleth]

This is vinegaroon dyed:



I find there's not really a "dark brown" stage - it goes from natural to dirty-grey to black.

Historically, I've since learned common practice (at least in 18th c.) was to dye the skin side (outside) of the leather all at once - the whole hide - then cut pieces out from that.
The result is that the inside of the finished craft piece was a natural color, the outside black.

[grimwulf]

i have a question for those that have used neats foot. once it dry,s is the color chance permanent ? or does it bleed in the rain?

[Elleth]

The color doesn't bleed, but if you overdo it the leather will weep oil for a while - which will stain your clothes, of course.

[grimwulf]

good to know, i picked some up over the weekend and will be trying to turn medium brown to aged dark brown

[Manveruon]

Historically, I've since learned common practice (at least in 18th c.) was to dye the skin side (outside) of the leather all at once - the whole hide - then cut pieces out from that.
The result is that the inside of the finished craft piece was a natural color, the outside black.

Interesting. This is the way I almost always prefer to dye my own leather pieces, if possible. It makes the process much simpler, to my mind.

[grimwulf]

i got some neatsfoot over last weekend put it on monday and here is the before and after of far

before


after

the one of the left is the one from above. right is a shorter vest that started as the same medium brown color.
leather is pretty much dry to the touch now so I'm hoping it won't lighten up any more as i think i have reached the shade of brown i like.

[Elleth]

Awesome - that looks great!

I'd expect if anything it will get darker over time.
It happens slowly, but I'll sometimes look at pictures of something I did like 6-7 years before, look at the item, and think "hunh... it DID get noticeably darker."