Making and using natural black dye

This is something I originally found at Primitive Ways.

Primitive Ways black dye link for reference.

Their's is a great source for the basic method of making this
natural black dye but I wanted to share my experience with
making and using it...

This will dye pretty much any natural material a very deep
black and from my experience with it sometimes will dye
certian synthetics like nylon temporarily.


We start out with the basic ingredients of the dye...

Iron salts solution

I made mine by using a what I had on hand to work with, in
this case, steel wool and a few rusty nails..





Just drop them into a large (clean) peanut butter jar.



Then I added 1 cup of white vinegar and 1/2 cup of lemon juice.



Opps, not quite enough...



So I added an additional cup of vinegar and an addition 1/2 cup of
lemon juice.



As you can see, the steel wool was still above the line of the
liquid but after twenty-four hours it had dissolved enough to allow
it to be pushed down using a chop stick.





Those fine particles in the liquid are partly from the steel wool
being dissolved and partly from where it had stripped the rust from
the nails.

Important note: This stuff is way nasty smelling Don't leave
it open longer than you need to.

Next we move on to the tannic acid solution...

Tannic Acid Solution

The name makes it sound like something you would find in a mad
scientist's laboratory but it just a simple solution, in this
case made from water and finely ground acorns.

I started out with 25 acorns..



Then dropped them into an electric coffee grinder.



Now this is where I should add a note that might or might not make a
difference. The article at Primitive Ways says to husk (shell) the
acorns. The first batch I made last year I did this but I wanted to
see if it would make any difference in how the dye worked so this time
I just ground them shells and all.

And here we have a finely ground acorn powder.


And then dump it into another large peanut butter jar.



While it was never stated in their article, I decided to treat it the
same way I would if I was making tea to antique something and used
two cups of very hot water, not boiling just hot enough to steam.


Looks nasty doesn't it? Actually it had a surprisingly pleasant
sweet nutty smell. (No, I didn't taste it! :P )

After twenty-four hours this was the final solution.





Ok, So now what?

Now we test it to see if it will work as expected.

We start out with one deer antler bead I had made a few days before.


I suspended the bead from a length of nylon twine in the tannic acid
solution.


After twenty-four hours of soaking.


The drop it into the iron salts for twenty-four hours.


Doesn't look too black yet does it?


So it went back into the tannic acid for another twenty-four hours.


Voila! One black dyed bead.


I'll admit that I had briefly considered dropping back into the iron
salts for another day but it occurred to me, How black can you make
anything?? lol

So next I let it hang for a good day before checking it again.
After which I gave it a gently buff with extra fine steel wool
to bring it's shine back and this is the end result.



As a few final notes, the dye can be reused quite a few times
before it loses it's potency and it can be freshened up by
adding a little more acorn powder in the tannic acid and
a little more vinegar and steel wool in the iron salts.

However, I would suggest dumping it after six to nine months
and making a fresh batch. The tannic acid will grow mold but
that can be removed easily with a fork and disposed of.


~Fin~