Black Walnut Stain

[HoBow]

I've been wanting to make some natural wood stain for a while so here was my attempt.  If you've ever worked with black walnuts, make sure you are wearing nice rubber gloves.  The juice stained through my leather gloves and stained my hands, so I went and got some rubber gloves.

Picture 1
Black Walnut- both a curse and blessing for anyone that is familiar with the trees 

Picture 2
Make sure you wear rubber gloves.  It will stain your hands!

Picture 3
They are soft once they have fallen off the tree, so just tear the outside off.

Picture 4
Here's the nut in it's shell.

Picture 5
Just a few that have had the outside removed.

Picture 6
I collect about a bag full depending on how much you are wanting to make.

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[HoBow]

Picture 7
If you plan on eating the nuts, clean them and store them in a burlap bag or some type of netted bag.  This will let them dry out properly.

Picture 8
Put the hulls in a pan, cover with water, and boil for a few hours.  I added water about 3 times.

Picture 9
They hulls break down into almost a mud-like solution.

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Strain the stain into a jar through a cheese-cloth or old rag.  I ended up with about a half gallon of the stain.  I could have got more, but not much.  You can not compost the sludge you have left over as it will kill most garden and household plants.  You can refill it with water and let it sit overnight.  When you dump the water on the ground, it will pull worms up to the surface for easy fish bait.  Hope someone finds this usefull.

Note- There are other ways to do it- I was told you could use vodka as well.

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[youngbowyer33]

cool, thanks!

[Thwackaddict]

Hey jeff.I just made some using english walnut hulls and found that it set better when cut with a bit of alcohol.May prolong shelf life a bit to dunno but we'll see.Smells good cookin huh?

[HoBow]

Did you just use 70% isopropyl alcohol from the drug store?  How much did you add?  I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic about the smell, most do not like it, but I love the smell of black walnut hulls.  Green, my wife couldn't stand it....  cooked, I thought they smelled like cinnamon    but no one else can stand it 

[Thwackaddict]

I used 91% from walgreens i believe.i think around a 1/4 cup to a gallon,just added enuf to where i could smell the alcohol good.Heck yeah i like the smell,dunno why but it really made me wanna sample it! if it werent for stainin my teeth i prolly wouldve  i really like the smell and the longer it cooked the better it got!!

[mullet]

 I made some up about six months ago. I think it's ferminting though. It bubbles and stinks like sewer. It still works good , though.