walnut hull dye question

hey fiber folks! i am part owner-operator of a facility that processes nuts into food products. part of the streamlining of our process that we’re trying to do this year is to find more uses for shells and hulls, since they’re not generally as immediately saleable as the nut meats.

so, peeps with walnut-hull dyeing experience- what form would you want hulls to come in? they’re generally chipped up a bit coming from our dehuller, and any pile of hull left even fairly briefly starts to mold pretty quickly - so maybe we should focus on trying to dry them? is there a relatively easy way to make a stable liquid walnut dye ourselves?

i have very little dyeing experience, so any insights or ideas are welcome.

Looks like you've been waiting a while for a reply!  Walnut dyers use the outside cover of the nut - the green bit, or dark brown/black if it's been drying a while. Not the actual shells. Makes great dark browns as-is, and more cinnamon tones if using a mordant - for protein fibres.

My vintner friend Forrest uses his farm’s walnuts for dyes on his Schaad Cellars’ wine labels. I could pass along the questions for you. Let me know. The wine and beyond organic, dry farming practices are also top-notch in my opinion.