Black Walnut Hulls! Get them when they are brown and crumbly and almost falling off of the nut. Soak them in water for several weeks before heating to remove the colorant. If necessary soak them in pure grain alcohol such as Everclear and then cover with water to soak. The alcohol will act as a preservative as well.
As for removing the ensuing stench from the soak, use a little bit of Surf laundry detergent, it does a great job of removing the hog lot smell, if you only use a couple of tablespoons of the stuff it won't remove the dye color. Also note that some years the walnuts themselves don't yield much color, it all depends on the local climate, last year was a great year for walnuts here, this year they are very small and the husks very tight to the shells. Kimberly http://www.prairiefibers.com http://www.prairiefibers.blogspot.com http://www.kbaxterpackwood.etsy.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
