Dyeing with pecan.

[Birdwatcher]

Just thought I throw this in here for general interest.

Pecan is a close cousin of walnut, differing in that the thinner husk often splits while on the tree, releasing the pecan. The husk is where the dye is, said to make a more reddish tone than walnut. Most husks I collected on the ground were alread dried out, collected enough to fill a smaller size trash bag, soaked 'em in a five gallon bucket for three days, turning the water slightly tan, and then boiled 'em for half an hour, at which point the water turned nearly black.

The object was a 7" x 11" light cotton tarp, undyed, prewashed in UV dye-free detergent and preshrunk by hot washing and drying, said tarp immersed in the hot, filtered pecan husk water overnight.

Here's the result, with a a yard of grey sumac-dyed linen cloth for contrast, the pale spots on the linen being due to the light from the late afternoon sun....

Sort of a pale reddish brown, as advertised in general tone but not as dark as expected. Dunno how this compares to walnut.

Perhaps the husks were too old. Anyhow, easy to do and might make a nice color for a shirt.

Birdwatcher

 

[Black Hand]

Did you add an Iron component?
It is my understanding that iron is necessary for walnut to "take" a dark color. Maybe it works the same for pecan?

 

[Carteret Kid]

I believe the Confederate formula for butternut was walnut hulls + iron rusting.
Poke berries have been used for red.

 

[simeon england]

Howdy!

True, iron or "rusty stuff" acts as a mordant to material one is dyeing.

I make my dye bath in a (designated for the process) cast iron dutch oven.

 

[codymobley]

I usually thrash the trees or pick the pecans from the tree while they are still in their green husks. This provides more tannins in the husk and will yield a better dye (more of a greenish gray/brown) and even dark red brown with an iron mordant.

Whatever's left in the dye bath you can boil out the water and add vinegar to the powder and make a color safe period ink.

 

[Birdwatcher]

Thanks for the advice all.

Used the tarp for a lean-to at a rondy this weekend. Just to see how color fast it is I washed and dried it hot/hot in the regular washer dryer, it held up just fine.

Birdwatcher

 

[crockett]

I also have used green hulls from pecan.