I have some older natural gear camo pants and tshirts that I just noticed have faded quite a bit. I have read on here about folks dying wool with walnut hulls. Will this work for cotton. I'd like to just darken up the pattern abit. If so how do you go about doing it. Do you pick up black walnuts on the ground this time of year or do you do it when they are green? What is the process? After you dye the clothes can you wash them in a washer, or will the color wash out?
I have used walnut hulls to dye cedar shafts before.
I get them when they start to turn black. I peel the husk off and boil then in gal.tin can outside on camp stove. I let them boil til water is black then scoop hulls out and let them cook down til it starts to thicken up then let it cool and strain through old T shirt. I then store in glass jar.
This works good for arrows. Don't know about wool.
Hedgeapple
Getting them while they are green and then crushing them until the hull separates from the nut will render a darker stain. They will turn black once crushed. You can pick up the ones that have already turned black and still get a good stain. I have used the same hulls for over a year to stain my selfbows by just keeping a few in a can and then adding water to the solution to make more stain. No cooking involved. You might need more than I typically use to dye clothing but I'd say once you get it on the cloth it won't wash out easily. Same thing for your hands so wear gloves while handling. Good Luck
I stained a Rancho Safari Ghillie suit with the walnut stain and there were some areas that I thought were too dark after it dried so I hosed it down and let it drip dry. This did lighten those areas (made it less dark) so there is a good chance that a washing machine will take out a good portion of the stain but I bet the garment will still have a dull dirty look to it. Repeated dips into the walnut stain after each wash would probably make the stain become permanent. There's one sure way to find out professor...
I shot a 6 point last year and just capped it and left it with just the skull plate sitting in a bucket of water full of oak leaves and it turned the skull plate a nice brown color from the tannins in the leaves
David,
Google black walnut and mordants. I used to dye stuff w/ black walnuts in my reenacting days w/ black walnut... I think it was salt I used to "set" the dye... It's terrible getting old! My best advice is to PM Stumpmpkiller (Out of NY) since he was (is?) the moderatator of a muzzleloading forum. He can point you in the right direction!
I have used walnut hulls for years to dye traps, but have never tried it on clothing. I wouldn't consider it a permanent stain.
Walnut husks will work; but Rit dye from the supermarket will work a LOT better.
IMHO the best camo has contrasts - neither all light nor all dark. How about highlighting a few features with a Sharpie marker? Or dabbing on dye in places rather than just making it all darker?
On the other hand, Is there anything that can be used to make the material a little lighter ? Rit dye again? If so, what color(s)?thanks