I Made Some Of Nolan's Dye

[Marshal Will Wingam]

So, I wanted to try making some black dye like Nolan Sackett described. See This thread

I dug out a big pad of super fine steel wool and, not having any laquer thinner or turpentine, I cleaned it with lighter fluid and got as much out as possible. Then I put it in a wide, low can and lit it with a match to burn off the excess fluid. It burned. And burned. And burned. Finally it went out after burning all the finish off the can. I picked it up and wow, was it hot. OK, I got some vinegar (white because I didn't read Nolan's instructions well enough) and poured it on the deeply glowing steel wool. Fssst! It stopped glowing. Then I filled a quart jar about half full of the white vinegar and stuffed the steel wool in and screwed the cap on. The next day I opened the jar and there was a lot of pressure so obviously the lid should be left somewhat loose. Every day for three days I agitaged the stuff. On the third day, I stuck a scrap of leather into the solution. It really turned a nice, rich black. I then dipped the scrap into a solution of baking soda and water to neutralize the vinegar black. After it dried overnight, it was still black but not dried out the way it would have been with a normal alcohol or oil based dye. It's basically black leather rather than natural leather dyed black. None of the color rubs off at all. I'm impressed. I topped the jar off most of the way with more vinegar and, after a couple more days, the steel wool is going away, leaving a black residue in the bottom of the jar. When the steel wool is all gone, I'll probabaly filter off the residue and call it good. In spite of using the wrong stuff and incorrect procedures, I still got good results. On my holsters, I'll put a scant amount of oil on after the whole process.

Who thinks this stuff up in the first place? "I need to turn my leather black so I'll see if I can dissolve some iron in vinegar and see how that works." I can't say I'd have thought of that. This will have to go with those other great mysteries like who thought of soaking olives for a month to make them edible or who (and why) decided to smoke tobacco with all those other leaves available, like poison oak or bay laurel?

Two thumbs up for this one, Nolan. Many thanks.

Here's a picture of the jar of stuff. The black at the top is the undissolved Steel Wool. The black sediment at the bottom is, well, sediment. The hazy grey stuff suspended in the rest of it is some of the sediment that has been stirred off the bottom from moving the jar to the window.

[will52100]

I'll have to give that a try.  One reason I don't make black sheaths is that I never could get them to completly stop rubbing the black off.  Thanks for the tip.