Coffee as a dye

[cowboy316]

hey guys got to thinkin could you steep coffee and make a really dark tint and use it as a  leather dye?
      CB316

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Chuck Burrows is the man to talk to about that. He's been doing it with good success.

[santee]

I posted a test scrap with coffee last month on this thread:
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,24035.0.html

[Mogorilla]

I believe a strong black tea would work as well.  I did the coffee dye on my strike-a-light pouch.  Also works great on bone and antler.   I made two pots of strong coffee, reduced it by about a half.  When it had cooled, I added about half a bottle of Isopropyl alcohol, to act as something of a mordant, a little vinegar might work as well.   I will bump that post back to the top so you can see the colour. 

[cowboy316]

Hey Mo
   when you say reduce it by half you mean to boil it down till its bout half the original amount right?
             CB316

[Mogorilla]

Yup, put both pots in a large pan and reduced it to ~ half.  Black as night and bitter as he77.  (coffee nut, I had to taste it)

[RollingThunder]

You're a braver man than I, mogorilla.

[JD Alan]

Sounds like straight espresso to me

[Willie Dixon]

Yup, put both pots in a large pan and reduced it to ~ half.  Black as night and bitter as he77.  (coffee nut, I had to taste it)

mmm sounds like my kind of coffee!!  you have to use a stainless mug or else it'll just burn right through! LOL

[santee]

Yeah, when it's strong enough to float a bullet, it's ready to dye with.

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

A hand full of steel nails will set your dye. They must be clean and devoid of any grease or oil. I've used the nails as a mordant on Walnut, Chestnut, Dandelion, Raspberry, Black berry, Tea, Coffee for dying leather, cloth, porcupine quills and rawhide. Set with cold water after completely dry and the dyes won't run.

If you really want your dye to take, case your leather overnight first.

Bill

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

A hand full of steel nails will set your dye. They must be clean and devoid of any grease or oil. I've used the nails as a mordant on Walnut, Chestnut, Dandelion, Raspberry, Black berry, Tea, Coffee for dying leather, cloth, porcupine quills and rawhide. Set with cold water after completely dry and the dyes won't run.

If you really want your dye to take, case your leather overnight first.

Bill

     Howdy Bill

    Thanks for this new information, I haven't done the Coffee yet, and will try your clean nails method, I've been using Chuck Burrows method for my natural dyes, I have used iron in making Vinegaroon, and my walnut dye when simmering on the stove.


                                      tEN wOLVES   

[Skeeter Lewis]

How long should the leather be in the coffee?

I know there's no definite answer, but are we talking minutes or hours?

[JD Alan]

From what I've read, sometimes it's days. It all depends on the color, or look you want.

[Sgt. Jake]

  I soaked the last leather in a pan of strong coffe for an hour,wasnt the color I was looking for.Did this for most of five hours,still wasnt a dark russet color.I ended up using the grounds and within an 20 minutes I got what I was looking for. The next day I put the other pice of leather in the grounds for about 40 minutes and it matched the pice from the day before. The next project im going straight for the grounds,just my experince.    Adios  Sgt.Jake

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

 Howdy Django

     I just dyed a holster and gun belt in my coffee dye, and will post it some time next week, I make my coffee dye my boiling and then simmering a pound/32 ounce can of DARK ROAST COFFEE, I simmer it for several hours and I do this in a 20 QT. pot with lid on, after the coffee has been cooked, let it cool before putting your leather in, when cool you can pour the whole works into you storage container, iron too if you choose to use it like I do, I store my natural dyes in plastic containers, I like to use containers large enough to accommodate the size of my leather piece, and always get one with a fairly snug lid, and leave the lid on while dyeing and when storing, you can get varying results by the amount of time you leave your leather in the dye submerged, I like to leave mine in over night, but I go for a darker richer color, I also use a little iron in the pot as I'm cooking the dye, it allows me to get the darker color, if you want a lighter color just leave the iron out, after dyeing, I rinse my leather off with fresh water, and then if this is a holster I will do my molding of the holster to the gun, if it's a belt I lay the belt out straight so it will dry the way I want it, after drying I rub in a generous amount of Lexoil, conditioner, and let dry for an hour or more, then I do on average of three light coats of either Neatsfoot oil, or EVOO, ( EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL ) this is where the color will jump out at you as you rub the oil in, I like to leave my leather in the sun between coats when possible, and when it has penetrated into the leather you can add another coat, or if you are satisfied stop there, I'll let everything dry for at least 24 hours, and if the color looks good, I'll do three coats of Skidmores Leather Cream, one coat each day with buffing in between, you can also use any finish you want after the oiling if you want a different finish, but let the oil dry and penetrate first, and you can also use Skidmores after that.

    Here is a link to our FAX/HOW TOO's on Natural Dyes http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,11991.0.html


                      tEN wOLVES  

[ChuckBurrows]

With all due respect to Bill iron is not an absolute necessity to set leather dye made from sources with a good tannin source including coffee, tea, and even walnut since tannic acid is in itself a mordant.
I use the iron at times, but it's to vary the color for instance with walnut you will get a more blackish gray cast to your brown base. Another alternative is vinegar (add a couple of tablespoons to a quart of dye). It will help deepen the color and on some leathers it will increase the red/brown hues. DO NOT add vinegar to dyes either cooked in an iron pot or with iron added as it will "blacken" you colors. Vinegar also keeps down mold growth.

FWIW - I use the cheapest dark French roast I can find and mix it 1 to 1 (equal amounts of each) with distilled water (tap water may have minerals/chemicals that can effect the color). Cover it tightly and boil the rods out of it for 20-30 minutes - Turn down and let steep for another hour. Turn off and let set over night. Next day strain off the grounds (squueze them dry and keep them for the next batch) and bottle up. For best results the stronger the better - mine is a thick as a light pancake syrup.
I refrigerate or freeze the extra to prevent mold growth.
As Bill noted casing the leather first helps with absorbtion.......

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I've added a slight amount of vinegaroon to my walnut dye before and it definitely does blacken the color. I haven't tried putting in plain vinegar yet. Thanks for the tip, Chuck.

[GunClick Rick]

Ya know i drink coffee from Mavericks Roasting Company two blocks away ,it is great coffee,the owner roasts it everyday at 5 am and he has the roaster in the building,just wondering if i could hit him up for what's left over in the roaster if anything,like bean shell pieces and such.I know i can get little keg barrels from him and toe sacks that the coffee beans come in.I just have to ask him to save them for me or i can pay 25.00 for an empty keg.They use the best beans possible,i'm in there alot.

Boy you talk about dark coffees they got them.