Walnut hull stain recipe needed

Re: Walnut hull stain recipe needed *LINK*

mikew

>Hi Adam,

Start here...but google is your friend .

Mike


Walnut husk dye

Re: Walnut hull stain recipe needed

Greg B�tit, Crown Point NY

>Hi Adam,

It is hard to go wrong- smash them up, steep them in water (warm or not), and filter out the chunks. I've done this with butternut and walnut husks. The stain does it's job. Because it's an organic concoction, the stuff can go rancid on you, but it keeps on staining.

If you come across a recipe that has more thought put into it than that & it improves the stain in some way, please let us know.

Greg

Re: Walnut hull stain recipe needed

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi

>Adam,

I'm with Greg on this one. There may be more complicated ways to do it, but I just put the husk in water and let them soak for a while, actually a couple of months if I remember correctly. I them strained the liquid through a filter and put it in a canning jar for storage.

I've used this mixture for about two years now and I think it works great.

Jim

My method

David Barnett - Venice, Florida

>Adam, I was taught to place walnut husks in a large SS or enameled stock pot, cover with charcoal filtered or settled water (the less chlorine and iron the better), then bring to boil, reduce, simmer for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Cool, then strain liquor into a glass reservoir (jars, a large bowl, whatever). Add a couple handfuls of new shells to the pot, add water to not quite cover, then repeat boil/simmer cycle, strain, add to previous liquor. You maybe can do one more time but twice is a good bet for richest color. Empty shells from stock pot (or not), boil liquor slowly to reduce to half or a little more or less. Dip paper strips during reduction to test for color concentration. Add about three capfuls of vinegar if you intend to use this on cloth or certain thermoplastics. Otherwise, you can test for pH and buffer if you intend to dye leather or paper as buffering will usually increase longevity. For wood, bone, ivory (netsuke), use it straight up and store in glass or Nalgene containers in a dark and cool corner. Also, straining is best done with a SS sieve, anything from 80 to 200 mesh will work.

I should probably add...

David Barnett - Venice, Florida

>The slower methods of brewing walnut husk liquor will eventually produce a darker color. However, this color is less bright and warm to my eye, somewhat muddier with secondary hues of greenish raw umber and narrower in its saturation levels. This really makes a difference when dying bookbinding leathers/vellums (I have little experience on wood, btw). Also, the 'several days' methods run a greater risk of mold, although this is more a nuisance than initially detrimental to the dye. While vinegar will work to forstall mold, it will develop at some point. I actually prefer citric acid to vinegar, but it's the pH more than the choice of acid that matters.

Are you talking shells or hulls?

Greg B

>There's a big difference. Anyone who has harvested by hand, even for 10 minutes will have had dark brown fingers for weeks. It's from the tannins in the hulls. Even the workers on the grading tables wearing rubber gloves will get there in time, and that's after most of the hulls have been scrubbed off. My impression is that the dye comes from these hulls. Shells are used for other things, but maybe a good deal of soaking could get some out?? If you want to see a lot of dark stain, look at the rivlets of it trailing away from a big pile of hulls at a commercial hulling operation as they are left out in a field to rot. (we used to spread them back in the orchard with a manure spreader.)

Cheers,

Greg