yellow buckskin recipe

[sookout sh'nob]

yellow buckskin like used for leggings or comanche boots here in Oklahoma are not dyed. They are chalked. Yellow chalk was and is used to get that color. In the old days it was railroad chalk. today most people use yellow chalk you can get as a powder at the hardware store. ( big pieces of sidewalk chalk I have been told is not color fast.) You rub it into the buckskin and then wipe the excess off. It is messy and if you have not done it before you should practice to get the chalk even. Put some of the powdwered chalk into the middle of a piece of old t shirt, wrap it iin the cloth to make a little ball, sprinkle a little water on the buckskin and pound the chalk into the buckskin. Braintan works best. commercial tans do not take the chalk as well. This is done last, after the piece is made. do not wet sections you do not want yellow.
Now this is the old way , the only way I have done it or seen it done. There may be a modern way people use today so maybe others know a different method.

This method also works pretty good with charcoal for a black color.

[Mr Bo Jangles]

I've found some nice, BRIGHT YELLOW leather dye in Albuquerque during Gathering of Nations downtown at the RL Cox Fur and Hide Company warehouse.

It's good stuff!! Beats chalking!!! No rubbing on and dusting off the excess.

Just pour it on, dilute in water, dip yer hide....and it comes out BRIGHT YELLOW.

....a bad comparison but, it's the color of YELLOW CAKE...the stuff they pull out of uranium mines if anyones seen yellow cake. It's this BRIGHT YELLOW.

anyhoo....it works.....and is just another option for folks out there.

[Blackbear]

better yet.. have you a picture of what you are trying to recreate?

[storm]

probably chalk or yellow ochre...you need to experiment to see. Also if they are very old you are likely not seeing the original color.
What tribe, style?

[waf2004]

I have this old pair of leggings and I'm just trying to copy them. They are like a golden yellow not so much of an orange.

[storm]

Yes. Chalking is a medeum yellow, rather briight. Tempera is the most vibrant yellow.
What are you making? this will help.
I think KIowa, Comanche and Osage leggings, or boots could be any of these yellows.

[Blackbear]

Like Goldenrod? or that almost orangey yellow?

[waf2004]

Is there a difference in the yellows from all of these methods? I'm looking for a golden yellow.

[storm]

powowbum49 You are absolutly right about the dye, and I am sure that was the original way. (and maybe the best) that yellow chalk is manufactured by mixing it with a mineral dye to give it color. So I guess it was a good source for the dye. The chalk powder kept it workable. and most of the chalk works out and the dye stays in, Very permanent. also the reamining chalk acts as a sealer ias it is worked into the fibers of the buckskin. Just like white chalk is used to clean, color and seal white buckskin. I have seen many museum pieces that were chalked,and many that seemed to be Dyed and some tempera ones too, I just had never used those other methods. I had not thought that some may have been dyed first and chalked later to seal them.

This is from the warning label on a bottle I bought almost 20 years ago
"WARNING: Yellow and Red Chalk Dyes are permant. There is no known way to remove them. Blue chalk dyes may be permanent on pourous surfaces."

[Blackbear]

the best yellow natural dyes I've seen come from boiling yellow onion skins.. if you want commercially tanned yellow (not gold, actually dandylion yellow) deerskin I know a place you can order it from.

[powwowbum49]

Never heard of folks using 'chalk', but I would think it should work (just not sure how permanent it would be). I have always used mineral paints (also know as earth paints) which are just dry, crushed mineral ores. Yellow is actually yellow ochre. It is worked in the same as Storm said for the chalk, though I have know folks to mix it with water, linseed oil or spit before...especially if they are wanting to do things like lines and such so it can be put down like paint...with a brush. It is very permanent and absorbs into the fibers of the hide well. Brain tan is the best to use but mineral paint will also work well on commercial hides too (as long as you are using the suede side). The only other thing I have ever heard used for this is powdered tempera paint from an art store and it was used because they couldn't find the mineral paints or they wanted a more modern color.

Well, that's my change.

[storm]

yellow buckskin like used for leggings or comanche boots here in Oklahoma are not dyed. They are chalked. Yellow chalk was and is used to get that color. In the old days it was railroad chalk. today most people use yellow chalk you can get as a powder at the hardware store. ( big pieces of sidewalk chalk I have been told is not color fast.) You rub it into the buckskin and then wipe the excess off. It is messy and if you have not done it before you should practice to get the chalk even. Put some of the powdwered chalk into the middle of a piece of old t shirt, wrap it iin the cloth to make a little ball, sprinkle a little water on the buckskin and pound the chalk into the buckskin. Braintan works best. commercial tans do not take the chalk as well. This is done last, after the piece is made. do not wet sections you do not want yellow.
Now this is the old way , the only way I have done it or seen it done. There may be a modern way people use today so maybe others know a different method.

[tiBBy]

I dont understand what you mean by 'yellow' do you mean tanned yellow in color...or like YELLOW YELLO...

sorry...*L* i am jus confused *L*...hee,hee

[waf2004]

I was just wondering if anyone new the recipe for dyeing buckskin yellow?