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I'd like to share my progress. The knowledge of natural dyeing I've gained has forever changed my work as a bookbinder. For your viewing pleasure: dyes used for this binding are boiled oak bark, cochineal & madder root, and fermented green walnut husks. Uploaded with...

Yes -- more or less. I figure it'd be more oily while still containing the coloring of the boiled bark.

Has anyone experience in using bark resin as a dye? I think boiling down the bark and using the resin mixture would make an excellent color, though the only useful information I've found so far after a lot of time searching has to do with glue making. I could use some good instruction if...

I've had good results using paraffin instead of beeswax -- paraffin being a hydrocarbon, it tends to bond better with the leather fibers.

Update: early results on the mordant test are very positive. So far the control has faded and the treated pieces haven't budged at all. I'll post pictures when I am more confident.

Fantastic! I've bookmarked the links. I appreciate all of your help, and your note on temperature vs. reaction time gives me high hopes. If I might venture another question (for anyone): Is there a recommended boiling time for the dyestuff? I've read anywhere from 1 hour to even 6...

Very helpful -- thank you! So it will be some time before I attempt coloring again so as to allow my stuff to ferment for an adequate amount of time. I'll need fairly strong liquor to color the leather. Going back to the mordant issue... I've been going over it again and again, and it...

Ack, I forgot a question in my last post -- excuse me. In proportion to the contents of the jar, how much alcohol is advisable to add before straining? Thanks, C.

Excellent information -- thank you! I need to backtrack some and ask a question about proper fermentation. I've been using Ball jars. Should I leave the lid snug, or cover it with cheesecloth or other breathe-able fiber and allow the fermentation jar access to the air so as to vent...

So far no success using egg yolk as an emulsifier, at varying strengths along with the dye liquor, and some oil. Several different combinations all resulted in me just painting the leather surface :D This is from a book by Master Bookbinder Joseph Zaehnsdorf, as an example: "For a plain...

Thanks -- that is helpful, I will be sure to try that and post my results when I have a batch ready. (I've a jar with stuff that's been fermenting for a few months that I've left untouched.) Also, your reference to Alkanet got me thinking that perhaps I should try an emulsion of dye with...

If it helps, I thought I should post a photo of where I am with leather coloring and what I’ve tried so far with natural and fermented dyes. Here’s my first attempt at hand-coloring a book (hence the erroneous splash): http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/9239/example1e.jpg The only natural...

Hello, Toddy. --Thanks. I've scoured the 'net and some historical books that I've been able to find, and so far not much on natural dyeing... at least, it seems that certain key ingredients had been left out of published formulae, so it's all trial and error. I sure hope someone out there...

Hi, folks. This is my first time posting here, and there's a lot of new things I've learned just by reading many posts. I now have a dilemma and I hoping someone can help. I'm a traditional bookbinder, and I severely dislike aniline dyed leather -- it tends to corrode and I want to pursue...