.... or a cheap effective way to turn leather black, without fighting with dyes and without fear of it bleeding off on clothing.
I have also compared very old and new vinagroon - grey vs black!
Here is the LINK
This is a very old method. In its simplest form: you let vinegar chew on some iron/steel for a few days and use it to chemically change the leather color to black.
The photo below shows what I am experimenting with. I took five of those nails, covered them with 1/4 cup of white vinegar and 18 hours later dipped the piece of leather in the solution.
I have added a pint of vinegar and twenty more nails and now I will let that stand for a few days and play again.
UPDATE: So it stood for a week and then I took the first part of this video showing the filtering of the vinagroon.
The second part of the video, where I am using it, was taken a week after the filtering process.
I like simplicity, but for the sake of giving you a complete picture, I will quote from the interwebs here:
From the forum of the America Leather Chemists Association:
The black color is the reaction of Ferric salts or oxide with tannins, nice formula for leather crafts, but it is a pain in the neck in vegetable tannery.
About "neutralizing" the vinegar's acid: The leather may be damaged by the excess of acid: white vinegar is acetic acid and if applied in excess can give some problem according to what was stated in the post. Iron react with vegetable tannins giving a product that is black.
Neutralizing the leather is not wrong. In the industrial process this is also being used even though the term is confusing because it does not mean to take the leather up to the neutral pH condition or the 7.0 value. It means to neutralize some of the acid inside the leather to avoid acid damage. The final pH for vegetable leather can be around 4.0 and this is far from neutral.
I recently had a question (on one of my videos on YouTube) about the danger of vinagroon attacking the metal of guns or knives if you use it to stain leather black.
Here is my answer:
The vinagroon does not significantly change the pH of the leather. So this method does not change the safety aspect at all.
BUT, leather, with its inherent acidity, will damage metal such as knife blades or guns in the long term. I have asked the Leather Chemists of America about this and the answer is quite simple. The danger to the metal happens when you bring together three elements: water, metal and the acidic leather. So you want to prevent this trio getting together.
The simplest is to use an oily/waxy finish on the leather often, thereby preventing water to get into the mix, and now the acidity of the leather cannot attack the metal.
Chuck Burrows posted this in 2010:
VINEGAR BLACK
For giving color to the grain of leather there is no blacking that will at all compare with the well known vinegar black. This may be made in various ways. The simplest, and, without doubt, the best, is to procure shavings from an iron turner (note: some folks get the turnings from brake drums) and cover them with pure cider vinegar; heat up and set aside for a week or two, then heat again and set in a cool place for two weeks; pour off the vinegar, allow it to stand for a few days, and draw off and cork up in bottles. This will keep for a long time, and, while producing a deep black on leather, will not stain the hands.
How I do it most times:
I use de-oiled 4/0 steel wool: dip in acetone, squeeze out the extra and hang to dry - then tear or cut into small pieces. Add one pads worth of the de-oiled steel wool to one quart of white or cider vinegar - I use those plastic coffee "cans" and punch a single small hole in the lid to let of any gas buildup. Let it set in the hot sun which will speed the reaction. I let it set for about two weeks until there is only a light vinegar odor left and/or the bulk of the steel wool has been dissolved. I also keep a new batch "cooking" all the time so I have a constant supply.
For the deepest black, apply a bath of strong black tea first (this increase the tannins) and let it soak in good, then apply a generous amount of the vinegar black. Let set for about a half hour and then rinse with a mix of baking soda and warm water, about a 1/8 cup soda to a half gallon of water, apply let set for a few minutes and then rinse off. While still damp apply a light coat or two of your favorite saddle oil. Once dry top coat as normal
Experiment - I test a piece of each new side without oiling to see how well it takes the blacking, if need be I'll do a second black tea mix to darken, then apply the oil which also helps darken.
Instead of steel wool you can use chopped up bailing or fence wire - the smaller the better since it will dissolve in the vinegar bath faster.1) Does the 'rooning process change the color of natural thread? No
2) Should I sew before or after I apply the vinegaroon? either way - your choice
3) For the 'rooning process, how do you apply it? Dip the item, dauber it on, brush it on, etc? Could the vinegaroon be kept in a spray bottle and sprayed on the item? all of the above - which ever way works best for you and the item you are working on. I prefer dIp dying since it is simply the easiest for me, but I also brush it on for larger pieces - a spray bottle should work fine, but you would need to filter it good to prevent any clogging.
No comments:
Post a Comment