Dye from walnut husks?

[FilipT]

Here in Europe people start to take walnuts and there are a lot around me. I collected over 2 kilograms of husks which range from almost complete green to the rotten ones with maggots inside.

My question is how do I make a good dye made from husks and possibly make it a little darker or stronger (alcohol maybe?)?
Last year I simply cooked them and got brownish color that stained well, I stained my first bow which I made then with it and looked really good. Problem is that kind of dye went bad, it smelled really bad and looked like it when I opened can of it some couple of weeks ago.

So you see I am seeking some sort of durability here.

Also I heard there is possible to make dye from bark of alder trees, anyone did that?

[cantshoot]

I have been playing around with this. I soaked some in alcohol last year and it hasn't gone bad yet. It is a dark brown dye.

In addition to it's naturally dark colour walnuts are rich in tannic acid. This can be used to make a chemical reaction with iron to produce a natural black ink. Ink for pens used to be made tho way. By dissolving some steel wool in vinegar you can get an iron solution you can mix with your dye or apply it in layers to modulate the colour through dark brown all the way to jet black.

I'll try to dig up a photo.

[cantshoot]

Here's a piece of red oak I did a full ebonizing on. For my next bow I want to make it BLACK and glossy finish.

[Zuma]

Neat thread.
Lots to learn here
Zuma

[Spotted Dog]

 Agreed with steel wool and vinegar. You can put it in a milk jug and lid and it lasts a long time.
Or freeze it.

[mullet]

I've crushed the old hulls and brought them to a roaring boil. Strained through a cheese cloth and put in Mason jars. I did this a year ago and they do not stink. If you look for the tread on Primitive skills you can see my Brain Tanned pants I just dyed with it.

I will say the first time I tried making it and just let them soak in a bucket of water. It got dark and I bottled it up 2 weeks later it stunk like crap.

[nclonghunter]

As said, boil it to get it to a thickness and condensed state for staining. Some have added Sumac bark and leaves to the dye which is suppose to be a mordant and cause walnut to be darker. I would think once you get it to the thickness you want,  then strain it and clean it removing all the plant matter that remains. Add some Vodka to the mix when you put into jars. All the folks that make tinctures from plants add vodka to preserve it so I would believe adding half to the mix and drinking the other half would make the entire process a little more fun.

[TacticalFate]

I distilled my leftover dye, filtered it through a cloth and boiled all the water off in my firepit. Ended up with nice walnut dye flakes. Just be careful when the water gets really low, best at that point to just let it dry in the sun.

[Pappy]

I do it like Eddie did, got some I have had for 2 years , no problem.
 Pappy

[---GUTSHOT--->]

Denatured alcohol with walnuts that are laying on the ground with the husk still on (whole) and put it in a paint can with lid get good results with some shaking once a day, straining it after a week or so.

[FilipT]

What ratio water to husk mass should I use and how long should I boil them? Also, I am Croatian, we use rakija here instead of vodka

[Eric Krewson]

My first batch with boiled ground husks and water turned moldy on top. I dumped off the mold and most of the water and added denatured alcohol, no more mold. I could see no reason to strain my grainy mix which is as thick as pancake batter. I stain arrow shafts, bows and other wood by wiping the slurry on the wood, letting it sit for a few minutes and wiping the stain off, I get some really dark stain this way.

My quart bottle of stain is at least 10 years old, I add more alcohol from time to time to keep it liquid.