Period / Natural Leather Dyes

A lot of reenactment level work is about learning appropriate historical crafts and skills. This board is for all general skills that don't have their own forum.

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caedmon
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Period / Natural Leather Dyes

Post by caedmon »

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.
-Jack Horner

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Impression: Cædmon Reedmace | bronze founder living in Archet, Breeland. c. 3017
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Re: Period / Natural Leather Dyes

Post by caedmon »

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.

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-Jack Horner

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Re: Period / Natural Leather Dyes

Post by caedmon »

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:
vinegaroon_001.jpg
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I then used a toothpick and drew on the leather. As you can see, for precision work, less is more.
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-Jack Horner

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caedmon
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Re: Period / Natural Leather Dyes

Post by caedmon »

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
-Jack Horner

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Impression: Cædmon Reedmace | bronze founder living in Archet, Breeland. c. 3017
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Re: Period / Natural Leather Dyes

Post by Greg »

Really digging this. Thanks, Jack!
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Re: Period / Natural Leather Dyes

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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.
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Re: Period / Natural Leather Dyes

Post by Elleth »

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.
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Re: Period / Natural Leather Dyes

Post by Kortoso »

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

Post by Elleth »

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

Leather scabbard colors
lots of examples of period leather dye in all sorts of colors!
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Re: Period / Natural Leather Dyes

Post by caedmon »

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).
-Jack Horner

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Impression: Cædmon Reedmace | bronze founder living in Archet, Breeland. c. 3017
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