Dictionarium polygraphicum. To Colour Leather...

Dictionarium Polygraphicum:
Or, The Whole Body of Arts Regularly Digested.
Vol II.
London: Printed for C. Hitch and C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, and S. Austen in St. Paul's Church Yard. MDCCXXXV.
1735
To colour white leather the best way.
Hang the skins in chalk or lime-water, till they are grown supple, that the hair or wool may be stripped off, stretch them on tenters, or by the means of lines, and smooth them over: then brush them over with alum-water, very warm, and colour them with the colour you would have them, and dry them in the sun, or in some warm house, and they will be useful on sundry occasions, without any farther trouble.

To colour black leather the German way.
Take of the bark of elder 2 pounds, of the filings or rust of iron the same quantity; put them into 2 gallons of rain-water, and stop them up close in a cask or vessel, and let them stand for the space of a months: then put to the liquid part a pound of nut-galls, beaten to powder, and a quarter of a pound of copperas, heating them over the fire, and suffering them to stand 24 hours after, and then use the liquor with a brush till the skin has taken a fine black.

To colour leather a fair red.
First rub the Leather well in alum-water, or alum it; boil stale urine, scum it, till half of it is wasted: then put in an ounce of the finest lake, the like quantity of Brazil in powder, one ounce of alum, and half an ounce of sal-armoniack; mix them well, and keep them stirring over a gentle fire about 2 hours, and so use the liquid part to colour or tinge the skin.

To colour leather of a curious French Yellow.
Take one part of Chalk, and another of wood-ashes, and make of them a good lye; then strain out the fine liquor, and set it in a vessel over the fire: and put into it turmerick in powder, and a little saffron; and let it simmer till it becomes pretty thick; then set it a cooling, to be used as occasion requires.

To make white leather blue.
Take a quart of elder berries, strain out the juice, and boil it with an ounce of powder of alum, and half an ounce of indigo, or smalt-blue, and brush over the leather with a fine brush dipped in it 3 times, suffering it to dry between whiles, and the business will be effected.

To colour Spanish leather, &c.
Take that which the Dutch call Pomplemelch, warm it, and rub the leather with it; then take of Venice tot appelen, and having pounded it small, put a quantity of water to it, and let it soften over a gentle fire; then press out the water, and rub or wash out the skin in it; repeating the same several times, and after that, take the finest shoe-makers black, and rub the skin over with it, having in the melting added a little vitriol or copperas, and letting it dry, take goose or hog's grease, and with a woollen cloth rub the skin over for a good while, where there is a good fire to supple it, and afterwards rub it over with your hands, till it disappear; or instead of grease, you may use Unseed or train-oil, and so in case of any other colour, according to the colours you design.