Black Walnut Dye Questions

[Oldetexian]

Just brought home about a half trashcan full of Black Walnuts. Plan on trying my luck at making some dye. Dumped all the nuts into plastic buckets full of water so they can soak for a couple weeks. After that is done I plan on boiling everything for an hour of so.

After all of that I should have some decent dye...at least that's the plan. I do have a couple questions, however.

1. Should I put shirts into mixture while it is boiling?
2. What should I use to help set the dye so it doesn't wash out?

[doggoner]

Try these.
http://pioneerthinking.com/crafts/natural-dyes#more-254
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Natural-Dyes
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/dyes.shtml

They may get you started on the road to natural dyes. By the by Salt is one of the best mordants (sp:) Good luck. It can get to a "colorful" experience.

doggoner

P.S. sorry for the bad pun. Couldn't resist.

[Uncle Russ]

Try these.
http://pioneerthinking.com/crafts/natural-dyes#more-254
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Natural-Dyes
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/dyes.shtml

They may get you started on the road to natural dyes. By the by Salt is one of the best mordants (sp:) Good luck. It can get to a "colorful" experience.

doggoner

P.S. sorry for the bad pun. Couldn't resist.

 
 "A very colorful experience" is exactly how my own first  experience turned out with Black Walnut dye
I somehow made a mess out of the whole deal!....something I did not want to happen was a tye-dye effect, and although I had washed that old frock twice, and rinsed it three times, both the left side and the right side at waist level simply refuse to take color.
Sometime later I figured out the places that wouldn't take color was exactly where my dirty hands would have touched, and somewhere along the line I had gotten Beeswax and/or lube on those areas and practically water-proofed those areas.....enough so that even boiling water didn't get it out.
I am certainly no expert in this area but I would strongly suggest that preparation of the garment is likely the real key to success in dying about anything.
Back 25 or 30 years ago, it seems a handful of Rock Salt was thought to be the best for "setting the color".
I have no clue what is the best way to do all this is, but I do believe a "perfectly clean" garment will get you off to a good start.

[BEAVERMAN]

Uncle Russ is on the money with the rock salt, or.. any uniodized salt, ( at least a cup) you need a mordant to set the color and salt is a traditional mordant, add to the dye while boiling, then rinse in cold water several times then into the dryer to set , good luck and post a pic when your done, we like pics!

[Oldetexian]

  As always, appreciate the good feedback. I like the sound of using rock salt as a mordant and will definitely do that. Will also make sure my items to be dyed are as clean as I can get them.

And as fur pics...if I can learn to get them small enough I will post them...

[Uncle Russ]

As always, appreciate the good feedback. I like the sound of using rock salt as a mordant and will definitely do that. Will also make sure my items to be dyed are as clean as I can get them.

And as fur pics...if I can learn to get them small enough I will post them...

Ray, as far as pictures......
Most of us learned several years ago that in order to get good pictures on the forum, we had to use a "host".
I had used Photo Bucket for my "host" for many years until they went haywire several years back. Since then I have used Imgur.
They are free, and the best, in my own humble opinion.
Imgur.com

It's a very simple process, plus you can have files pertaining to subjects you most post about.

You can google it, or maybe try the link I just gave you.
I'm on my tablet right now and can't see it, but it's something you may want to think about.

[Oldetexian]

Hey Russ. Thanks.Appreciate to suggestion.