Middle Earth Ranger Forum

My default tendency to for leather has been to leave it natural and simply oil darken it. But I hope in this thread is to give an indication of the look and methods for natural dying/coloring leather.

This is a comparison of natural veggie tanned leather with the same leather that has had an oil conditioner applied. This has always been the way I've colored leather.

Vinegaroon or Vinegar Black

Really easy, just drop steel wool into apple cider vinegar and wait. Most pages I've read suggest that a couple weeks or more is good, I gave it four days.

This is not a dye, it's a chemical change int he leather, so be careful. You need to neutralize the acid after dipping it. And weakens the leather a bit, so it's important to oil the leather.

I dipped a piece of scrap leather into it. Added some leather dressing. And got these results:
I then used a toothpick and drew on the leather. As you can see, for precision work, less is more.

Here is a good resource for period leather dyes from Marc Carlson. Colors include Blue, Red, Green, and fayre (orange?)

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-ca ... er/ld.html

Really digging this. Thanks, Jack!

More vinagroon play. Also before the post goes to far... You're supposed to stop the reaction with baking soda, any idea how much?

My youngest son's turnshoes from last summer. The one on the right is to show original color.

The fully black bottom is Vinagroon applied to dry leather, the dark gray was acheived after I wetted them down.

I"m not saying it's the right answer, but I always used quite a fair amount of baking soda in water - not quite a paste really, but still a fairly thick sludge - maybe a half cup or so of soda in around half again as much water? Then I let it sit a few minutes, wipe it away, and rinse with water.

Nothing's gone rotten yet. But then, it's only been a year or two since I started using it regularly.

Looks like walnut hulls can be used, though I've not tried it:
http://www.practicalprimitive.com/skill ... kwalnutdye

Ooohhh... caedmon, have you seen this discussion?

Leather scabbard colors
lots of examples of period leather dye in all sorts of colors!

Elleth wrote:Ooohhh... caedmon, have you seen this discussion?

Leather scabbard colors
lots of examples of period leather dye in all sorts of colors!

Ooh, I had not. The second dye, Morello, looks very interesting. Really close to oxblood, my favorite leather color. (As evidenced by my sheath & Need wallet).