Black Walnut Dye

yarn and undersleeves dyed in black walnut

The first way I became acquainted with black walnuts in a historic context was as a dye agent.  When I first started reenacting, I was searching for something I could display.  I had read Ersatz in the Confederacy, by Mary Elizabeth Massey, and was fascinated by some of the ingenious ways people were able to make do.  The idea of using plants you found around you to dye wool and cotton fascinated me and I entered an experimental phase during which any possible dye plant was chopped up and thrown into my dye pot.

My research turned up many references to black walnut as a well-known dye.  One of its advantages was that its tannic nature meant it did not require a mordant, or chemical agent, to make the dye stable.  The North American Sylva, or a Description of the Forest Trees of the United States, Canada, and Nova Scotia, Vol 1,  by F. Andrew Michaux mentions that the husk of the black walnut was used to dye wool in the country.  

The process of creating a dye is virtually identical to creating an ink, except that the liquid does not need to be concentrated as much as it does for an ink.  

Black walnut produces a lovely rich brown dye, depending upon the length of time you allow the wool to remain in the dye bath.  Period sources mention using black walnut as an over dye, for example, over a blue dyed fabric for a black color.  Items dyed in black walnut may also be over dyed with another dye such as logwood, once again to achieve a black.