Dying a linen shirt with walnut hulls

[rollingb]

To those of you that may have seen my ad in the "Trade Blanket" forum when I was looking to buy black walnuts w/hulls, to dye some of my drop-sleeve hunting shirts,.... I just discovered sumpthin' that makes life a LOT easier. 

I received several reponses to the ads I had on 2 different websites offering to send me some walnuts so I could dye my shirts.
Now if any of you have ever dyed shirts with walnut hulls,,....  you know how messy they can be to handle, even to the point of dying your hands "brown" (if you fail to wash your hands frequently during the handling of the walnuts, or, wear rubber gloves.)

For years I did a lot of trapping for furbearers, such as beaver and coyotes,.... one of the things that helped my traps "blend in", as well as to help prevent rust,.... was to dye and wax the traps.
One of the ways to dye steel traps,.... is to boil the traps in a tub of water containing black walnuts and their hulls (actually all that is really needed are the "hulls").

Another less messy way, or, if you didn't have access to black walnuts laying on the ground,.... was to buy some "Logwood Trap Dye" from your local trapping supply house. This Logwood trap dye is sold as a powder in a (double) plastic bag. 
During the years I was trapping in Wyoming, and then in Alaska,.... I used the Logwood Dye on my traps as I had no ready access to walnuts.
Las night,.... while talking to a friend (and fellow trapper) in Tennessee (but formerly from Montana), I asked him if he had any idea what Logwood Dye was made from?
After a bit of discussion about the different ways to dye traps, I got to wonderin' if MAYBE the Logwood dye was simply just some "ground up" dry black walnut hulls,... so today I did an experiment by putting a scrap piece of linen material in a pan of boiling Logwood trap dye.
I turned the heat, under the pan, down to just a simmer, and let the dye work it's magic for about 30 minutes,.... then took the scrap-linen out of the pan, rinsed it with cold water, and the dye worked perfectly.

I just thought I'd share this little bit of info with those of you wanting a nice convenient way, to "walnut-dye" your linen (and cotton) 18th. and 19th. century hunting shirts, without going through the mess associated with whole black walnuts, or, if it's the wrong time of year to find walnuts laying on the ground.   

[Uncle Russ]

 

Uncle Russ...

[rollingb]

Uncle Russ...

Well after more research it appears the Logwood dye isn't made from walnut hulls after all, but from Haematoxylum campechianum. 

I'll bet everyone is now wonderin' what "Haematoxylum campechianum" is  :.... well it's a flowering tree commonly called Logwood, or, Bloodwood.
The tree grows in southern Mexico, and northern Central America, where it was logged for export to Europe during the 1600's on into the 1800's for dyeing fabrics.

Anyway,.... it's an "historically correct" dye, that can be used by those of us that care about such things. 

[Winter Hawk]

Very interesting!  I remember reading in a book about being on safari in Africa, that they boiled the author's white shirts in coffee in a 5 gallon can to dye them. 

In a similar vein, my Dad taught me to stick a new knife in a banana tree and it darkens a bright blade.  You night have to stab the tree several times and let the knife sit for a while between such attacks to get a good dark color.  "course this was in Hawaii, and there have been precious few banana trees in my wanderings in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska or here in Ohio...      So my favorite knife has a bright, shiny blade!   

~WH~

[amm1851]

Very interesting!  I remember reading in a book about being on safari in Africa, that they boiled the author's white shirts in coffee in a 5 gallon can to dye them. 

In a similar vein, my Dad taught me to stick a new knife in a banana tree and it darkens a bright blade.  You night have to stab the tree several times and let the knife sit for a while between such attacks to get a good dark color.  "course this was in Hawaii, and there have been precious few banana trees in my wanderings in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska or here in Ohio...      So my favorite knife has a bright, shiny blade!   

~WH~

I use ordinary vinegar to give a forced patina to my high-carbon blades, to help protect from rust. Usually a 24-hour bath is sufficient, and it turns out pretty good if I remember to degrease the blade thoroughly before I dunk it.

[RobD]

i opted for the non-period correct rit dye, triple dose of dark brown, hot bath, salt and vinegar for the mordant.

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[Ohio Joe]

Looks good! 

[Uncle Russ]

Hey Rob, looking good! 

I was just wondering, in that 1st. Picture, should we be addressing you as "Father Rob, Man of the Cloth"? 

Just kidding, but I swear that image made me wonder if yer collar had shifted a bit, and then I was thinking, "I sure hope I didn't use any bad words in front that guy"...lol

I have seen some "Walnut Dyed" frocks that I really liked.
They were done right, and everyone of them had that very distinctive color, which I like a whole lot.

However, I totally ruined my first Frock attempting to Dye it in Walnut hulls!
I don't know what, or rather how many things I did wrong, but I sure messed it up, but good...large spots with no color, some spots were so brown they almost looked black, most the fringe had a yellow appearance, it was in all respect, butt ugly, and I was so disappointed I had to throw it away.
The guys that "coached" me through all this just threw their hands up...."You should have done this, you should have done that, I tried to tell you, and yada, yada, yada," to say I was disappointed would be an understatement, that "experiment' cost me well over $100 Bucks and I was not a happy camper.

Years later, about the time we were starting up the TMA, Ohio Joe pointed out a good deal on Crazy Crow and I ordered one...it was the Rifleman's Frock IIRC but it was just a bit too light in color for me, so I dyed it.
That non PC Rit Dye stuff is exactly what I used in our non PC Washing Machine.
I could have likely used the guidance of a higher power when it come time to "hand pick' the fringe, using a tooth pick, and a tooth brush. I'm sure I used a bunch of ugly words, but I finally got it done.
Here is the Frock, and the choker I wear when I'm wearing that Frock.

 

About 5 or 6 years ago I bought another Frock, it is a dark maroon color with white fringe and is pretty doggone fancy in my eyes, in fact it's too fancy for this old boy to be traipsing around in.
So it spends its life in closet...it's too small for my grandson or he would have already had it.
The other grandkids don't have enough interest in Muzzleloading for me to just give it to one of them. It's just another one of those things that I need to deal with someday.

Here is a picture of it, but the color didn't come out right, it's actually a dark maroon, not black.


Years back, after getting the "brown" Frock, the guys at Greeen River Mountain Men suggested I needed an all fur shooting bag to go with it, so I made the bag, and Beaverman made me a leather strap for it.
The bag is 9" x 8" wide, lined with a heavy cotton material, and the fur is Rabbit.
I wanted to make it like the bag Big Smoke gave me, but I sure didn't have the talent for that.
The bag will hold a lot necessities, although noting is organized, ie, pockets, etc., and it's very lite to carry.
(I probably get more nice compliments on this silly old bag than all of the other bags I have, and I spent a lot less less time making this bag than any other I've ever made.)
 


Uncle Russ...
 

[RobD]

Hey Rob, looking good! 

I was just wondering, in that 1st. Picture, should we be addressing you as "Father Rob, Man of the Cloth"? 

...

hah!    but that t'aint me, i lifted that image off the vendor's website.