black walnut dye

I want to dye my hunting frock with walnut dye should I heat up the mixture before I dip in the frock?

I learned the hard way about hot dyeing an already sewn shirt it would now fit a T Rex with itty bitty arms. If the material was not pre-shrunk before sewing I would cold dye it

I learned the hard way that when shucking walnut hulls you need to wear rubber gloves. It takes about 2 weeks for that stuff to wear off your fingers. :redface:

I have used walnut dye for years.I use hull powder I get it from a basket making supply place. Then run it thru a thrift store Mr.Coffee then I use old rusty nuts and bolts for a mortant. Has worked for me. Also do not make any thing without washing the cloth first. An I cold dye as I let it soak up to 4 or 5 days' to get the shade that I want.

Never used walnut dye on clothing, (not intentionally anyway) :idunno:

I did my traps every year before the season. I would throw them into a #2 washtub and put in a handful of walnuts.

The green ones, (that fell before they were ready)or the outer green hull that falls from the nut as the nut does its final ripening, are best to use. I always picked up as much of that outer hull as they fell that I could find. That has the strongest dye in it!

Put it all together in a the wash tub and bring it too a rolling boil. It would dye the traps a dark brown or almost black, but the real reason I started doing it was I found out it would keep the trap from rusting even when used underwater in a water set! It has to do with the tanic acids reaction to the metal in the walnut hull.

As for clothing any spill or intentional dip is pretty much permanent but the act of boiling a garment will probably lead to shrinkage! :rotf:

Whatever you do, don't get braintan anywhere near warm to hot dye. It will almost disappear before your eyes. Don't ask me how I know ...

:redface:

Pick up a buicket full of walnut hulls and cover them with rain water or distilled water. this is important because any contaminants in the water will affect the final color. Soak the hulls in the water for several days to soak out all of the color. Then pour off hte water and boil it down to about half of its original volume. Let it cool and then put in your cloth. Let it soak for a day or so stirring frequently so tht the dye colors evenly. Remove it from the dye and soak it in water that has had old iron parts soaked in it for several days. The rust will add iron to the water. The iron will act as a mordant and will set the color. Different mordants will result in different shades and sometimes different colors. Read up on mordants and you can select the one that gives the shade or color that you like best.

If you prefer a hot dye, here is another method for doing it that way: http://www.practicalprimitive.com/skillofthemonth/blackwalnutdye.html

Thanks everyone for the info.

Go to this website and scroll down a ways and you will come to a list of some of the various mordants and the color they will give with walnut hull dye
http://www.azerbaijanrugs.com/arfp-natural_dyes_walnut_husks.htm

So true :grin: ! Looks like old grease on your hands , ha-ha.

I dyed my plum-colored hunting frock using the hot dye method - it turned out a lovely shade of woodsy brown. Am very pleased with the result. I am also planning on dying all white or light-colored articles of clothing or bags that I use for hunting...

In addition to the hunting frock, I dyed my buckskin hunting pouch (that I made from hides I tanned from deer I harvested) using the same black walnut dye (unheated though), applying it with a sponge.

Will try to post some pics of both.

I'm sorry that I have not done this sooner. Here's a photo of my buckskin hunting pouch I dyed using black walnut dye.

And here's a pic of before the dye: