walnut dyed clothing

[steve free]

How do you wash clothing dyed in walnut hulls? I'm talking about when they are freshly dyed and repeat washings also.

 

[Flintlock]

What is this WASH thing you speak of ?

 

[George]

On a trip into Kentucky in 1775, Nicholas Cresswell described the clothing of his companions.

"The rest wear breechclouts, leggings and hunting shirts, which have never been washed only by the rain since they were made."

Works for me. :haha:

Spence

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Rinse in cold water, no soap, line dry. IF you did not add iron oxide to the dye bath OR you did not make the dye in an iron pot, the color fades faster over time when used on a plant fiber garment...but it's not too bad, and plan on a re-dye once a year if you wear it a lot.

LD

 

[Brokennock]

What about for those of us who are O.C.D. anal retentive scent control freaks when hunting. (I know, I know, hunt into the wind) Is there a way to set the walnut dye so one could use a mild detergent like those sold for bowhunters to eliminate human odor? Would baking soda added to a rinse, then a second rinse in plain water be okay?

 

[necchi]

Just wash it and do what Dave suggests;

plan on a re-dye once a year if you wear it a lot.

It helps a lot if you live in an area where Walnut trees grow.
I don't know if it's a high-bred or typical, my sister and brother-in-law have a Walnut tree in their yard and it only gives up seed every other year. But when it does there has to be near 200 pounds!

 

[steve free]

For a darker stain do you mainly use the older darker shells, or will the green ones work just as well?

 

[Stophel]

I wash, and wash, and wash, until brown no longer comes out. Because it WILL come out. I will not have dirty clothes. Much less, purposefully dirty. And if you're soaking in walnut hulls and not washing it out, that's all it is. Dirt. :haha:

The simple fact of the matter is that linen (and cotton) is an incredibly difficult fiber to dye. Mordants like ferrous sulphate can HELP set a SLIGHTLY darker color, but it's just probably not ever going to be "dark brown". Not now, not 200 years ago. There are some other natural dyes that work a LITTLE better on linen that were used then... but they dye blue and red...

Wool dyes easy and color fast. Linen just doesn't. And for the most part, 200+ years ago, they seem to have not bothered trying very often. One does occasionally see original linen clothing that apparently was dyed with walnut hulls (or perhaps butternut). And they are tan, at best. Wool, on the other hand, can be made a very nice dark brown that "sticks".

:idunno:

 

[necchi]

Green ones work just fine. Toss'm in a stockpot of water and let'm set a few days,, then render the whole mess down. The more water you boil off the stronger the concentrated stain.

 

[steve free]

Thanks guys! You have all been very helpful, and came through like always. One more question. Is there anything else that gives a darker color than walnuts?

 

[LaBonte]

try logwood for a darker brown a common and period dye. Look up what mordant to use with which cloth.

 

[Len Graves]

India ink. Walnut will give a blacker brown, butternut will give a slightly warmer brown. Modern dyes will go darker but will look like modern dye. The walnut, like all the old dye will eventually fade, usually unevenly, which we call " patina" .modern dye is very even and color fast.

 

[George]

There are accounts from the day of putting cloth into a tanvat to dye, and the cloth was said to came out the color of dry leaves. Tanvats were containers of shredded bark soaking in water, used in making vegetable tanned leather. Has anyone ever tried dying using this method? Is it darker than walnut?

Spence

 

[Stophel]

Speaking of tanning, one could actually tan leather with walnuts. I dye my leather with walnuts. In addition to the pleasing brown color it imparts to the leather, I have found it very definitely improves the "temper" of some of the cheaper, white, "vegetable tanned" leather. Apparently, I'm retanning the leather when I do this. :wink:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Don't know from experience, but a woman locally who does a lot of natural dyeing gave a demo and said she found that adding some yeast to the dye material so it ferments slightly for a few days, then the mordant and finally the cloth. She was able to make some rather colorfast bright hues with this process. She had a "day-glo" pink wool shawl she dyed with poke berries that had been washed several times, and was still very vibrant.

Not sure how dark or color fast it might get, but old folks around here dyed Easter eggs with onion skins for centuries. They came out an interesting brown with a slight reddish tinge.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

In my trapping days we dyed traps a With a ground bark (walnut I think). I wonder what color cloth one would get from a tub of trap dye that had a few dozen rusted traps and chains run through it?

 

[ohio ramrod]

For a dark color I use grape juice and apple cider!. I just put the newly made items in the bottom of the cider/grape press and by the end of the week they are really dark! Line dry and then rinse in cold water and dry again.! :idunno:

 

[Mad Irish Jack]

those of us who are O.C.D. anal retentive scent control freaks when hunting.

I use a simple and inexpensive spray scent killer. It's unscented "FABREEZE" $3-$4 a nice size bottle. My field test got me 10 yards from a small group of bedded whitetails while walking with the wind at my back. I was driving deer after bagging mine. It was kind of a field test. Now the members of the camp get a case every couple years and keep it at the camp for our hunters to use. The guys keep telling their buds and say save money or spend on Names. FABREEZE Does Work!!! If you want to use something other than or in addition to your skills.

 

[LaBonte]

In my trapping days we dyed traps a With a ground bark (walnut I think). I wonder what color cloth one would get from a tub of trap dye that had a few dozen rusted traps and chains run through it?

Probably not walnut but Logwood - It's been used for dying traps for aloooong time, I started using it in 1962 and would still be using it but trapping in Colorado is a no go pretty much due to the guv'mint...