Brewing Walnut Dye with Black Walnut Hull Powder & Black Walnut Hulls

[Johnny McCrae]

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Here is a recap of my experiences brewing Walnut Dye with Black Walnut Hull Powder rather than fresh Green Black Walnut Hulls.

I made five different Holsters and tried several different methods of dyeing and finishing. I finally got reasonably close to the results I was looking for. My main issue was uneven coloring and darkening in certain areas on a Holster. Dyeing a flat piece of leather produced good results. Dyeing a sewn item caused problems.

Attached are pictures of two Mexican Loop Holsters and a Belt. These were immersed in the Walnut Dye for 12 hours and finished per Ten Wolve’s procedures with one exception. I omitted the Lexol and Neets applications and went right to applying Skidmore's. So far this seemed to produce the best results with "Powder Brewed" Walnut Dyes.

My conclusions after all of this experimenting with "Powder Brewed" Walnut Dyes is that dye brewed with fresh Green Black Walnut Hulls probably works the best and is more forgiving. I do not recall having any big issues with uneven coloring or darkening with my previous batch of "fresh Green hull brewed" dye. Just speculating but that may be because when brewing with fresh hulls, the solution dissolves completely. The powder may not. I had to scoop out a lot of sediment after brewing with powder. The quality of hides does definitely make a difference. I cleaned everything with pure Lemon Juice before immersing. I also was able to go right to Skidmore's omitting the Lexol and Neet's application. This may not be the case with fresh Green hulls. I learned that it is only necessary to keep the Pistol in a wet Holster for one half hour to wet mold.

Finally, I would say that "Powder Brewed" dyes can be acceptable substitute for "fresh Green Hull Brewed" dyes but one must experiment and test to see what works the best. As soon as fresh Green Black Walnut Hulls are available again, I will brew up a batch.

Here is a link to a Tutorial I made about brewing Walnut Dye with Black Walnut Powder: http://www.johnnymccrae.com/BREWING_WALNUT_DYES.html    This Tutorial describes how I brew the dye with powder. If you decide to brew some Walnut Dye using Black Walnut Powder, please try a small batch first and do some testing on scrap leather.

Attached are pictures of the completed two Mexican Loop Holsters and the Belt. Also attached are pictures showing the darkening and uneven colors. Some Leather Workers may like the look of the darkening and uneven coloring.

Below is a note from Ten Wolves Five Shooter on brewing Walnut Dye with fresh Green Black Walnut Hulls.
Just a note on walnut hulls, TRY TO USE GREEN black walnut HULLS when making your dye, you will get much better results, problem is you can only get them once a year and usually the beginning of fall, if you have access to them, you can gather as much as you can and freeze them if you're not ready to cook your nuts at that time, later you can add the black walnut  powder to your batch and this will only enrich your dye, some scummy looking stuff will form on your dye after a while, this doesn't hurt your dye, just scoop it up and remove it, your dye will last for years if you just add to it and take care of it, natural dyes are the best in my opinion, they are through and through and won't wear or rub off...

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Good information, John. Thanks for the write-up and the link to your website in it. Lots of research there that should help others get started with their own walnut dyes.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Well done John, this information can be used for years to come, thanks for doing this I know our members will appreciate all the testing you have done..

   tEN wOLVES

[Cliff Fendley]

After all this time I've concluded I've put to much work into making walnut stain.

I've got the best batch I've ever had right now and it was a result of doing nothing.

I gathered two five gallon buckets of walnuts last fall I never found time to do anything with them. After sitting gathering rain water and sitting all winter in the Kentucky weather freezing and thawing (that's what makes our bourbon age so well ) I poured off through a screen and walla, a great batch of walnut stain.

It's a strong batch that I don't have to soak the pieces long and I get some highlighting on the edges with it which I actually like.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I like your method, Cliff. Do you have a sample of the result you could post?

[santee]

I have had similar results to Johnny's. Really a nice color can be achieved.

[Cliff Fendley]

I like your method, Cliff. Do you have a sample of the result you could post?

I just stained some belts in it, I'll post them up when I can get some pics.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I just stained some belts in it, I'll post them up when I can get some pics.

Looking forward to seeing them.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Sounds good Cliff, I wish I could find another black walnut tree here, living here in Oregon I haven't found any yet, but if I do, you can bet I'll give your method a try, thanks for sharing...

tEN wOLVES 

[Cliff Fendley]

You're welcome, give it a try. I guess we are lucky to have Walnuts all over the place here.

[Johnny McCrae]

I recently finished brewing another batch of Walnut Dye using actual Black Walnut Hulls. Attached are some pictures (with a flash and without a flash). The darker pieces have several coats of Neets Foot Oil followed by a couple of coats of Skidmores. The lighter pieces have just a few coats Skidmores.
Both of these examples were immersed in the dye for around 24 hours. The It appears that I'll be able to control the darkness of the color with Neets Foot Oil and immersion times. Again each hide will react differently.

I'm encouraged by the fact that the color remains even after drying. I have several Holsters and a Belt in progress. It will be interesting to see how my new batch will work on these items.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I like that sample on the right a lot. It's deep and rich. Interesting how well the neets foot oil changes the tone completely. That's a good batch.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Looking good Johnny, well done pard, it does take a little time and use to understand what you're working with, there are so many variables that take play in natural dye, but it's always worth the time doing it..

tEN wOLVES 

[Cliff Fendley]

I've got me a new batch started for next year. Two five gallon buckets of green walnuts that had just fallen. Collecting rainwater and will sit freeze/thaw and brew throughout the winter.

Hope it comes out as good as this last years batch. I can't believe I went through so much trouble making and cooking down walnut dye before now. Last year mother nature did the work and was the best batch I've ever had.

[Johnny McCrae]

I have two five gallon buckets left over. I think I'll also try your method. Thanks for the reminder Cliff.

I did get to dye a few Holsters with my new batch. So far it's looking OK. I'm not getting any of the uneven coloring by the bend on the pouch. Attached is the only decent picture I have.

[Cliff Fendley]

Looks good Johnny

[Johnny McCrae]

A while back I made a Holster for a friend of mine as a gift. I just finished a Belt for him and used my latest batch of Walnut Dye brewed with actual Black Walnut Hulls. The Belt was immersed in the dye for four hours followed by two coats of Neet's and two coats of Shidmores. This Belt was made from pieces of left over leather I had laying around. Please excuse the lousy photos.

So far I'm pleased with my new batch of Walnut dye.

[Cliff Fendley]

Nice color Johnny

[Marshal Will Wingam]

That really looks good. I also like the color. Thumbs-up to that batch.

[Johnny McCrae]

Many thanks for the kind words Gents.

I just finished a Slim Jim Holster for myself using my new batch of Walnut Dye. Attached are pictures showing the transition of the Holster from just out of the dye through the final finishing. This one was immersed in the dye for two hours followed by four coats of Neet's Foot Oil and two coats of Skidmore's Leather Creme. Please excuse the lousy photos.

I have some more Holsters to make and I'm going to experiment with longer immersion times.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

These natural home made dyes are just the best for lasting color that only gets nicer with age, using the green walnut hulls make such a big difference in getting that dark rich color, over not using green hulls, nice work Johnny, and thanks for sharing your method..you should have enough dye to last a long time..


tEN wOLVES 

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Fine work, pard. Good explanation, too. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[Wallace Foster]

I have been using a coffee vinegar mixture recipe I got off here and I am very happy with the results, here is my latest after a couple hours and not completely dry.


And just to add my work is not up to par with the rest of your stuff on here but I am slowly learning

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Very nice dye job, WF. Looks really good. And your work is fine. That's a cool holster.

[Johnny McCrae]

Here is a Slim Jim I finished for an upcoming NCOWS Convention raffle. I've found that my current batch of Walnut Dye (brewed with actual Walnut Hulls) is on the strong side. Also every hide seems to react differently. What I've got in the habit of doing is testing small pieces from the specific project before dyeing. I tested this one at two, four and six hour immersion times. This Holster was immersed in the Walnut dye for 1-1/2 hours followed by two coats of Neet's Foot Oil and two coats of Skidmores. It has some variance in color probably due to my overdoing the first coat of Neets but I am getting closed to the color I'm looking for.

The first picture shows the Holster after drying but before oiling along with the two hour sample.

I wish I were a better Photographer. The pictures do not show the colors as they actually look. The six hour sample was the darkest.






I'm also following Cliff Fendley's advice. I have two five gallon buckets of Walnut Hulls brewing outside over the winter.