Old time dyes: a How_to

[COACHE]

Thanks Ten Wolves, It's great to hear you like it. I will take your advise about the sewing, That is one thing I forgot too do.
Thanks again for all the advice for you and all the others on this forum. It's great to have a place to go for advice from people with the same goals.
Coache

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

COACHE that rig turned out a beautiful color, dang you gotta love the natural dyes.

[COACHE]

Ya I'm having fun with the colors . I have about 20 differant samples before ending up with this one.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Good job, Coache. That combination of coffee and vinegaroon makes a fine color. Nice work on that rig.

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Ya I'm having fun with the colors . I have about 20 differant samples before ending up with this one.

And then there is the added fun from the next piece of leather taking the dye totally different. 

[Wolf Tracker]

Coache  that is one nice rig. Those colors came out real nice.

[Tallbald]

Coache I just want to offer you another compliment on your beautiful work. My goodness that's handsome. I have learned so much from the fine folks here, but my work is still in its' infancy. You have skills much more advanced than mine, and I hope to achieve your level of accomplishment at some time in the future.
I started some coffee dye last night, but dared to try some cheap instant coffee. Don't have any iron shavings, so used one clean steel wool pad like I use in my vinegaroon. Thought "what the heck", and poured in a couple shots of cider vinegar too. Stunk. Glad I do all this stuff outside for safety. Let it cool overnight, and will take out the steel wool and filter the mix through a coffee filter into plastic jug today. I'm eager to see just what the results are on a piece of scrap. Don

[COACHE]

Thanks for the compliment Tallbald, I'm just getting started in leather too and having fun with it. I have not done a instant coffee dye yet hope to soon. When I did my Vinegaroon I put a lid on the jar and in a couple of hours it was leaking all over the place from the pressure. ( NOTE TO SELF ) DO NOT PUT A LID ON THE JAR UNTIL IT"S DONE FOAMING lol.
Hope to see some of your stuff soon.
Coache

[Tallbald]

Well Coache , my instant coffee dye seemed to have turned out OK. I soaked a piece of scrap in it for about an hour while I mowed last night, then rinsed it off in tap water. At first it had a grayish-brown cast to it, as has been mentioned. This morning it's dry and more distinctly light brown. I like the way the texture of the hide (from a spine section of a shoulder hide) really came out well defined. Part of the scrap wasn't submerged as long as the rest, and I can really tell a difference in color. Next time I'll go for several hours and see what results. As several have said, this natural dyeing is lots of fun. I'm wondering if I could get a maroon color from (don't laugh) pickled beet juice of if it would just fade on exposure to sunlight.... I know it sure stains a countertop and white t-shirts. Don

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Well Coache , my instant coffee dye seemed to have turned out OK. I soaked a piece of scrap in it for about an hour while I mowed last night, then rinsed it off in tap water. At first it had a grayish-brown cast to it, as has been mentioned. This morning it's dry and more distinctly light brown. I like the way the texture of the hide (from a spine section of a shoulder hide) really came out well defined. Part of the scrap wasn't submerged as long as the rest, and I can really tell a difference in color. Next time I'll go for several hours and see what results. As several have said, this natural dyeing is lots of fun. I'm wondering if I could get a maroon color from (don't laugh) pickled beet juice of if it would just fade on exposure to sunlight.... I know it sure stains a countertop and white t-shirts. Don

Tallbald, here is a web site that shows a huge amount of natural dyes for cloth and a lot of these items might add color too leather as well.  I figure it would take me about 20 years too try them all.

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/crafts/crafts-basics/naturaldyes.html

[Tallbald]

Wow Twowalks! That's so neat! I shall research some of the food-based dyes. Never thought of grapes. Don

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Wow Twowalks! That's so neat! I shall research some of the food-based dyes. Never thought of grapes. Don

Also remember to use the Ancient way of testing ... if it dyes your finger, it will dye leather.   

[Wolf Tracker]

Two Walks   thanks for the link. There are some interesting ways to make colors. It even brought back some memories. When I was a kid my grandmother would color easter eggs by boiling onion skins in water and then placing the eggs into the mix. I'm not sure if she also added anything else like vinegar to set the colors but the eggs always came out an interesting brownish orange color.

[LoneRider]

What about using Tea? Not so dark.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

  Sure you can use tea

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Ten Wolves,

You mentioned Lesol as a conditioner after dying ...I have never bought any Lexol, but I have a big jar of Skidmores ... would that do as wel as the Lexol?

[Mogorilla]

As too tea, look to the Chinese Brick Tea.  It doesn't taste too bad, it looks interesting and can be used as artwork.  Totally period correct and can make a really stout brew.   Also if you are looking for a yellow dye, try Achiote.  Also called annatto.   It can be found in any store catering to latin american cuisine.  It is also what makes cheese and butter/margarine the colour they are.   Central Americans have been using it to dye with long before Columbus got the wanderlust.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Ten Wolves,

You mentioned Lesol as a conditioner after dying ...I have never bought any Lexol, but I have a big jar of Skidmores ... would that do as wel as the Lexol?

     Wad, Skidmores is a last step for my leather, and is a great way to condition your leather and protect it also, I use Lexoil, as a first step after dyeing, it goes right into the leather to replace any loss of needed oils the leather has lost,it will soften your leather though, so be careful as to how much you use, and if you want the top of the bucket to remain stiffer and rolled out, then go lightly with the Lexoil there. hope this helps. Just to let you know, you can use Skidmores as the one and only finish if you like, or over and after oiling, or over most any other finish, you'll get great results either way.

              tEN wOLVES 

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

     Wad, Skidmores is a last step for my leather, and is a great way to condition your leather and protect it also, I use Lexoil, as a first step after dyeing, it goes right into the leather to replace any loss of needed oils the leather has lost,it will soften your leather though, so be careful as to how much you use, and if you want the top of the bucket to remain stiffer and rolled out, then go lightly with the Lexoil there. hope this helps. Just to let you know, you can use Skidmores as the one and only finish if you like, or over and after oiling, or over most any other finish, you'll get great results either way.

              tEN wOLVES 

Ten Wolves, I notice there are different lexol products:  One is PH a cleaner so I assume that is not what you are using.  The other two are...
Lexol Leather Conditioner.
Lexol-nf Neatsfoot

Which of these two do you use?

Thanks TwoWalks

[Marshal Will Wingam]

2W, the one I use is the Lexol Leather Conditioner.