Dyeing with black walnuts is something everyone can do. Black Walnut dye is considered a 'direct' dye. This is a dye that needs NO mordant to produce a 'colorfast' fabric. A mordant is something a fabric needs to help the dye attach itself permanently to the fiber. It is the large amount of natural tannins in black walnut that helps to 'set' the color into the fiber. The best fabrics for dyeing with black walnut are animal fibers. 100% wool, cashmere, or silks. You can experiment with old clothing and test it out to start with. Indigenous Americans used the husks of black walnuts to obtain a rich dark brown color. To learn more about native uses of this tree see link below.
PROCESS: The first thing you will need to make your own dye are black walnuts. The dried powder can be obtained online although it is not going to produce the same deep rich chocolate browns that the ripe green husk will give you. If you can find a black walnut tree, you want to collect the FALLEN walnuts from the ground, preferably before they dry out as the color is a lot stronger from the green husks. Once on the ground they will stay green for less than a week. Many textiles designers or 'fiber artists' work to an 'exact recipe' in order to obtain the 'exact' results. I prefer to work organically and attempt to obtain color from nature in the most sustainable way possible. Perfect color matching is not my priority, and so I don't worry about 'precise' measurements. Here is a list of what you will need to get started: *fallen green or old black walnuts or black walnut powder (less walnuts = less color) *some good THICK rubber gloves to prevent the dye in the husks from dyeing your skin and nails for the next month. *a clean enamel pot large enough to put black walnuts and your fabric in (if you have none use an old pot you will never EVER cook food in again) *barbecue tongs *100% wool or silk fabric (find an old piece of clothing that is any light pale color *bucket or sink for rinsing rubber bands if you want to tie-dye or create a shibori technique (shibori is a precise and very detailed Japanese technique of doing tie-dye) Now the easy part - place your green or dried WHOLE black walnuts (husk on) in the pot with enough water to easily soak up the fabric you intend to dye, along with the walnuts. The fabric needs to be constantly covered by the water. If you have powder - mix it in some warm water thoroughly before adding to pot of (half filled) water. Do NOT put fabric in till water with black walnuts just YET. Turn on stove ( I do outdoors on a fire) and heat up water to a boil with the black walnuts in the water. Once the water has boiled for some time (with a lid ON) you will see the color changing and the husks starting to get softer. You can reach into the pot (with THICK rubber gloves on) and help separate the husks from the hard walnut shell inside. I keep all pieces of the walnut boiling in the pot as there is color coming off the hard walnut outside edges too. Now is the time to add the fabric to the pot. Some (most) people wet the fabric first to help get an 'even' shade of color on their fabric. I just throw it in because I like subtle variations in the color. You can do what you choose. It's time to relax and let the walnuts get busy with the fabric for at least 3 hours to get a nice shade of brown (with the pot and its contents hot enough to keep boiling but not a 'rapid spitting out the sides of the lid' type boiling. More than a simmer though). If you want a darker color then boil for 12 hours. Seriously. A long time. Some people want to remove the husks and boil in the pretty clean dark brown 'no lumps in it' water. But the color is IN the husks. The water may be lumpy and grainy and messy but the color you will get is going to be much stronger by keeping it all in there with the fabric. Just don't let it get too thick. It needs to be watery enough so the fabric can be free to move about and soak it all in. You do NOT want it to get pancake mix thick. After fabric has been in pot for desired time - take a look at it by pulling fabric up with tongs. Squeeze fabric with your thumb and fingers to kind of remove the wet dye and see if color has penetrated well. Keep it in and boil some more if you want to get a deeper color. Or remove and rinse. RInse in warm water first then rinse with soapy water and rinse again till water runs clear and you can be sure it is 'colorfast'. (will not run). Some people may choose to wear a dust mask during dyeing as smell can be quite strong. Have fun with it and think of all the things you can re-style and make new again. http://www.aihd.ku.edu/foods/black_walnut.html
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