Black walnut wood stain

Anyone ever make wood stain from black walnut hulls?

Ive found recipes online that are water based and one that is methyl alcohol based. Seems to me like the water based would really soak into the wood and possibly cause warping when it dried (using it on a countertop). Some people report boiling the hulls/nuts, some just steep them in hot water, some for a week, some for months, all in different ratios of liquid to hulls…

Also wondering if it makes a difference using fresh green walnuts, old rotting walnuts, dried hulls or a mix of all of them. Im considering saving all of the early nuts that drop every year for making stain. Either could cut the hulls off and dry them to save or just leave the nuts in a bucket to rot if that works too.

Any advice or experience is appreciated!

I'd lov3 to know. We inherited so much wood and so many walnut trees. There's a liquor where you use black walnuts that's all I know.

I am a fan of using oil based stains.

I found some discussions about using Tung oil and walnut as a stain.  I wanted to check the forum for info on Tung oil and found this:

https://permies.com/t/24199/Linseed-oil-Raw-Tung

Here is the discussion about the walnut stain:

https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/17q97m1/is_it_possible_to_make_an_oil_based_stain_out_of/

Silly story:  One evening when my little brother was a little kid, we were outside and he noticed leathery nuts had fallen out of a neighbour's tree down the road, the trees were little, so I didn't realize these were walnuts.  So we got a bucket and he added water and was pulverizing them, playing apothicary, and our hands got sooooooo stained, my mother came home and she was none too happy, it took about a week for the stains to come out of our skin haha, and she teased me about it for years afterword.

I don't know about black walnuts as we don't really have them in France, but I would assume it is the same as the ordinary walnut Juglans Regia which happens to be abundant in  the county where I currently live - in fact, around here it is a cash crop.

The French folks have been using walnut for staining, dyeing, painting, writing etc for hundreds of years.  Here, it is called " brou de noix".

Anyway, I can tell you what my grand mother and her mother before her used to do if it is of any interest.  Here goes:

It is the green outer shell of the walnut that is used.  You can use the green immature walnut in the spring or the green more mature outer shell that falls off in the autumn to reveal the walnut.  Either one will work fine but be aware that anything that comes into contact with it will be stained, including your skin as mentioned in the post above.  So use gloves, old containers and spoons, wear old clothes or an apron especially when brewing the concoction..

Whether you use the spring or fall shells, the method remains the same, although my preference is for the autumn one so that you do not waste the fruit.

Collect as many green shells as you want/need, put in a pan and cover with water.  Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 2 hours. Strain the resulting liquid twice through a cheese cloth, old t-shirt or paper coffee filter.  Put in a jar/bottle with a couple of drops of clove essential oil to prevent mould and/or bacteria and keep or use as needed.

For wood staining, use a fine paint brush to apply lightly.  There is no need to soak your furniture with it and no warping will take place.  Add a second coat when dry, if you wish for a darker shade.  you can then use any preferred method for preserving, i.e oil, varnish, wax, etc.  In the olden days, wax was the method of choice.

You can dye your hair.  I would not recommend rinsing your hair with it, a) because your scalp will get stained as well as any skin that the concoction will touch and b) because you may have an allergic reaction to it.

My grand mother used to dip a comb into the brew and brush it through her hair, repeating every day until she liked what she saw.  I would try on a small section of hair just to see if you are happy with the result before embarking on a whole head job.

Of course you can dye cloth with it but unless you need or are very fond of brown I would not personally bother.

Also, at a time when they still used nibs, it made a fine ink.  I happened to have seen some fine monochrome water painting made with that brew as well!

Now, of course, being French and loving the good life, we tend to use those shells to make a fine liqueur!

Anne Miller wrote:I am a fan of using oil based stains.

I found some discussions about using Tung oil and walnut as a stain.  I wanted to check the forum for info on Tung oil and found this:

https://permies.com/t/24199/Linseed-oil-Raw-Tung

Here is the discussion about the walnut stain:

https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/17q97m1/is_it_possible_to_make_an_oil_based_stain_out_of/

Thanks! I read of someone trying to make walnut stain with an oil base and they said it didnt get nearly as dark as the water or alcohol based stains. I like the idea of alcohol based because it wouldnt spoil and would probably dry way faster than water, maybe evaporating before it all seeped into the wood. I worry a bit about water based warping the countertop I want to use it on. But maybe if its very concentrated and I just use multiple thin layers the warping will be minimal.

Did the stain with walnut husk and walnut hulls using a water base and was rather disappointed with it.  Not nearly as dark or sunlight durable as expected.  So I would suggest trying an alcohol base.

Olga Booker wrote:I don't know about black walnuts as we don't really have them in France, but I would assume it is the same as the ordinary walnut Juglans Regia which happens to be abundant in  the county where I currently live - in fact, around here it is a cash crop.

The French folks have been using walnut for staining, dyeing, painting, writing etc for hundreds of years.  Here, it is called " brou de noix".

Anyway, I can tell you what my grand mother and her mother before her used to do if it is of any interest.  Here goes:

It is the green outer shell of the walnut that is used.  You can use the green immature walnut in the spring or the green more mature outer shell that falls off in the autumn to reveal the walnut.  Either one will work fine but be aware that anything that comes into contact with it will be stained, including your skin as mentioned in the post above.  So use gloves, old containers and spoons, wear old clothes or an apron especially when brewing the concoction..

Whether you use the spring or fall shells, the method remains the same, although my preference is for the autumn one so that you do not waste the fruit.

Collect as many green shells as you want/need, put in a pan and cover with water.  Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 2 hours. Strain the resulting liquid twice through a cheese cloth, old t-shirt or paper coffee filter.  Put in a jar/bottle with a couple of drops of clove essential oil to prevent mould and/or bacteria and keep or use as needed.

For wood staining, use a fine paint brush to apply lightly.  There is no need to soak your furniture with it and no warping will take place.  Add a second coat when dry, if you wish for a darker shade.  you can then use any preferred method for preserving, i.e oil, varnish, wax, etc.  In the olden days, wax was the method of choice.

You can dye your hair.  I would not recommend rinsing your hair with it, a) because your scalp will get stained as well as any skin that the concoction will touch and b) because you may have an allergic reaction to it.

My grand mother used to dip a comb into the brew and brush it through her hair, repeating every day until she liked what she saw.  I would try on a small section of hair just to see if you are happy with the result before embarking on a whole head job.

Of course you can dye cloth with it but unless you need or are very fond of brown I would not personally bother.

Also, at a time when they still used nibs, it made a fine ink.  I happened to have seen some fine monochrome water painting made with that brew as well!

Now, of course, being French and loving the good life, we tend to use those shells to make a fine liqueur!

Black walnuts are Juglans Nigra or American Walnut. They are a little smaller, thicker shelled and stronger tasting than other walnuts. They taste good but are a bugger to get into. The wood is very valuable as well.

I might try a small test batch soon to see how it looks on a piece of red pine, and to see if it raises the grain or not. Im assuming more hulls will make a darker stain per volume of water than less hulls. Also wondering if I should boil off some of the water to condense it. That would make it darker and mean less water would get on the wood Im staining. And I can always dilute it later. I never would have thought to use clove oil to preserve it, but thats a good idea!

C. Letellier wrote:Did the stain with walnut husk and walnut hulls using a water base and was rather disappointed with it.  Not nearly as dark or sunlight durable as expected.  So I would suggest trying an alcohol base.

My only concern with alcohol based is that I read it really raises and opens the wood grain and you need to sand afterwards.

What was your process for the water based stain? Were the nuts green or old and black? Did you boil the hulls, and if so, for how long? And what kind of ratio hulls to water? Im thinking of completely filling whatever container I make it in with hulls and covering them with water, possibly also evaporating off some of the resulting stain to concentrate it more.

The autumn shells will make a darker dye then the spring ones.  Make sure you make a big enough batch for what you need it for, as natural processes do not always give the same result twice.  You may end up with a different colour the second time round.

Olga Booker wrote:The autumn shells will make a darker dye then the spring ones.  Make sure you make a big enough batch for what you need it for, as natural processes do not always give the same result twice.  You may end up with a different colour the second time round.

When you say “autumn shells” do you mean green but not fully ripe, or do you mean once they start turning black after they fall? And do you mean shells or the outer hulls?

Here’s a trial run! I filled a pot with green walnut hulls, covered in water and simmered for like 3 hours or more. Then strained it, cooled and applied with a rag.

The skinny piece of wood is raw pine for reference. The bigger piece underneath has a coat on half and 2 coats on the other

Brody Ekberg wrote:Thanks! I read of someone trying to make walnut stain with an oil base and they said it didnt get nearly as dark as the water or alcohol based stains. I like the idea of alcohol based because it wouldnt spoil and would probably dry way faster than water, maybe evaporating before it all seeped into the wood. I worry a bit about water based warping the countertop I want to use it on. But maybe if its very concentrated and I just use multiple thin layers the warping will be minimal.

That is why I like the oil based stains.  The show off the beautiful wood grains.  

I am also not a fan of dark stains.