Walnut Hull Leather Dye

[mike e]

I made my first batch of walnut hull leather dye today.  It seemed to work better If I rubbed it in with a pice of flannel. It was about 99 degrees outside so I didn't have to wait long for the leather to dry between coats.
This piece of veg tan was coated about five times then treated with bear oil. The other is un-stained for comparison.

[skillman]

Mike
I have never used walnut dye. Did you gather them yourself or buy them? Did you use a available formula or your own? I'm interested in trying this an inquiring minds want to know!
Like your results.
Steve

[mike e]

 Steve, I got the walnuts from a park that has a stand of trees. Just picked up twelve that were on the ground. I peeled them and chopped up the pieces. Boiled them in about 1 1/2 gallons of water for about 1 1/2 hours. Let it cool then strained it out into a plastic coffee can. I tried painting the leather with a piece of flannel then letting the pieces dry between coats. This was working but too slow. Today I poured the dye into a large flat plastic storage box and put the pieces of my bag into that and let it soak until completely wet. Let the pieces dry in the sun. These pieces are not perfectly evenly dyed but that's ok because I'm looking for a rustic look anyway. These pieces have not been oiled yet.

[skillman]

Mike
I'm interested to find out how permanent this turns out to be when oiled. In other words does it rub of on clothing etc. Please keep us posted.
Steve

[RoaringBull]

I really like those results...just what I am looking for...gotta go get some walnuts now!

[mike e]

I'm working a lot of overtime this week but I'll try to finish the bag this weekend.  The pieces are very stiff after drying but I hope they'll soften up after being well oiled.

[mike e]

I finished sewing the bag but have not finished oiling it. The leather was stiff as a board after drying. When I soaked it in water to soften it enough to turn outside out, a little dye came out but not much.  It will probably darken a little when I get around to oiling it.


 Not good light, the bag is darker than it looks in the picture.