Black Walnut Shells ~ Dye Colour Earthy light and dark browns 

*Cultivated in the USA

Black Walnuts are a pleasure to dye with, the first dye bath will give a beautiful deep earthy brown colour and the second dye bath a light brown. Black Walnut Dye works best on silk and wool fibres.

Black Walnut is used in many different areas from dye to cosmetics to medicine. 

Colourfastness: good

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Basic Recipe:

50% ground or 100% whole Black Walnuts Soaked overnight

mordanted Fibre/Fabric 

After you have soaked the Walnuts in cold water overnight bring to 80 degrees Celsius for one hour. 

Strain out the shells/powder  and add mordanted fibre/fabric.

bring to 80 degrees for 1 hour. 
Leave overnight or 12 hours for deeper results. 

 Rinse and dry.

LAC DYE ~ Dye colours violet to red to brown

Lac is a powerful dye and probably mostly know in relation to the Tibetan Monks' Tunic - all dyed with Lac. It doesn't have the brilliance of cochineal red, but a much more mature red, like wine.

*Lac is the scarlet resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated species is Kerria lacca.

**Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick (brood lac) that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infested.[1] Thousands of lac insects colonize the branches of the host trees and secrete the resinous pigment. The coated branches of the host trees are cut and harvested as stick lac.

The harvested stick lac is crushed and sieved to remove impurities. The sieved material is then repeatedly washed to remove insect parts and other soluble material. The resulting product is known as seed lac. The prefix seed refers to its pellet shape. Seed lac which still contains 3–5% impurities is processed into shellac by heat treatment or solvent extraction. (Wikipedia)

Colourfastness: good- - excellent
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Basic recipe:

3-5% Lac
wool (no mordant needed)

use 10-15% ALum, if using more than 5% Lac

Dissolve lac in warm water and add to dyepot.

Add wool (always wet) to dye pot and bring to a simmer.

leave for one hour.

One bath can dye several skeins of yarn.


Add wool to the dye bath simmer for one hour.
Let it cool and leave in dye bath overnight.

Rinse and dry.

Lac dyed yarn benefits from a vinegar soak for 20min after rinsing.

CATECHU DYE ~ Dye Colour Brown and Beige

Catechu, or better known as Cutch, is a powdered dye which results in beautiful brown tones. It can be used for Cotton, silk and wool Fiber.

Cutch contains two dyes, catechu-tannic acid, which is soluble in cold water, and catechin, which needs hot water to dissolve.

*Catechu is apparently very good for eczema.

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Basic Recipe

200gr wool (mordant optional see note below)

20gr of Cutch extract made into paste with boiling water (keep on adding, tends to be sticky)

Add to dye pot (hot water) and simmer, stir regularly; 
Add the wool and simmer for 1 hour, leave overnight. The longer, the deeper the colour of the dye.
Leave wool out to oxidize before rinsing.

*Several more skeins can be added later for lighter colours. Catechu is difficult to exhaust

**mordant wool with Alum for brighter results, but it will also dye a nice browns without any mordant.

***use Iron for darker results

OAK MOSS ~ Dye colour Champange Beige to Brown

*Oak Moss from responsibly harvested forests in Mazedonia.

Champagne is the closest colour I can think of to describe the colour obtained by Oak Moss. You can influence the nuances by adding different mordants, but generally no mordant is necessary.
Oak Moss is also used for Soap making to add texture and scrub to the soap.

Colourfastness: good

From Wikipedia
Evernia prunastri, also known as Oak Moss, is a species of lichen. It can be found in many mountainous temperate forests throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including parts of France, Portugal, Spain, North America, and much of Central Europe. Oak moss grows primarily on the trunk and branches of oak trees, but is also commonly found on the bark of other deciduous trees and conifers such as fir and pine. The thalli of oak moss are short (3–4 cm in length) and bushy, and grow together on bark to form large clumps. Oak moss thallus is flat and strap-like. They are also highly branched, resembling the form of deer antlers. The colour of oak moss ranges from green to a greenish-white when dry, and dark olive-green to yellow-green when wet. The texture of the thalli are rough when dry and rubbery when wet. It is used extensively in modern perfumery. 

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A basic Recipe:

50% oak moss or more
wool/yarn ~ no mordant needed

Simmer moss for 3 hours.
Strain through Cloth.

Add wet wool to the dye pot.

Let it simmer for 1h, cool and leave overnight.

Rinse and dry.

Dried Organic Oak Bark ~ Dye Colour Golden Beige and Browns

*Organic Oak Bark is cultivated in Poland, European production

**Oak Bark is used for plant dyeing Wool and Silk. You can use them as a dye without any need to fix the colour due to the tannin content or you could throw in a few oak galls to bring up the tannin content.

*** Oak bark tends to go darker with a higher PH (8) and lighter beige colours with a lower PH (5)

Colourfastness: Good
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Basic recipe:

50% - 100% of Oak Bark
Wool (Mordant not necessary)

Soak the bark overnight
Simmer for 2 hours
Strain through cloth.

Add wool to the dye bath simmer for one hour.
Let it cool and leave in dye bath overnight.

Rinse and dry.

Dried (non-organic) Walnut Shells Ground ~ Dye Colour golden and dark Browns

*Walnut Shells powdered harvested in the wild of Macedonia 

Walnut shells or husks are used for plant dyeing Wool and Silk. Preferably, you would like to use green Walnut husks, the dye colour brown is more radiant, but not everybody has a Walnut tree in the back garden, so try these dried shells instead.

IF you do have a tree handy, do collect the green husks and freeze them. You can use them as a dye without any need to fix the colour due to the tannin content.

If you use the dried husks, I would suggest to use a mordant, too. But do try without it, you might like the result!

Colourfastness: good

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Basic recipe:

100% of Walnut shells
Wool (Mordant not necessary)

Soak the shells overnight
Simmer for 2 hours
Strain through cloth.

Add wool to the dye bath simmer for one hour.
Let it cool and leave in dye bath overnight.

Rinse and dry.

Dried Organic Walnut Shells ~ Dye Colour golden and dark Browns

*harvested in the wild in Croatia

Walnut shells or husks are used for plant dyeing Wool and Silk. Preferably, you would like to use green Walnut shells, the dye colour brown is more radiant, but not everybody has a Walnut tree in the back garden, so try the dried shells instead.

IF you do have a tree handy, do collect the green husks and freeze them. You can use them as a dye without any need to fix the colour due to the tannin content.

If you use the dried husks, I would suggest to use a mordant, too. But do try without it, you might like the result!

Colourfastness: Good - Excellent

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Basic recipe:

100% of Walnut shells
Wool (Mordant not necessary)

Soak the shells overnight
Simmer for 2 hours
Strain through cloth.

Add wool to the dye bath simmer for one hour.
Let it cool and leave in dye bath overnight.

Rinse and dry.