Monday 23 November 2015

Making My Own Walnut Ink

Walnut husks after boiling


Earlier in the autumn I was lucky enough to be given a bag of walnut husks.  Although keen to explore the possibilities, I'm ashamed to say they sat in the kitchen in a plastic bag getting a bit mouldy and smelly for quite a number of weeks until I finally took action.  The aim was to make some walnut ink. I put them in an aluminium jam pan (one I only use for dyeing and such like - my actual jam making has been spectacularly unsuccessful - see below!)

Plum concrete - my first and only attempt at jam!

I was following a method in Alice Fox's book "Natural Processes in Textile Art".  The walnut husks were covered with water and boiled with the lid on the pan for a couple of hours.  I then strained the contents through some muslin.  This turned out to be quite a messy process (probably more so than it needed to be - involving several pans, lots of spills and walnut detritus everywhere!)
 
Walnut husk detritus after being strained through muslin


After straining, the remaining walnut liquid was boiled for two and a half hours to reduce it down.  I tested the colour and consistency at regular intervals.  After two and a half hours I let the liquid cool, then strained it through a sieve and bottled it.

Walnut ink tested for colour and consistency at regular intervals

Whilst boiling the liquid I also added some fabric to the pan.  In fact after washing out the muslin used for straining, I tore it in half and put half back in the pan with the walnut liquid.  Half way through the next stage of boiling I added some more fabric - which I think was polycotton.  Here are the results from the fabric dyeing after washing out.

Original muslin colour, colour after straining only, colour after boiling for 2 and a half hours







Polycotton fabric showing darker areas

The polycotton fabric turned out a similar shade to the muslin that had been used for straining but it did have patches that were darker.   I suspect this was a result of some deposit on the fabric causing the dye to be taken up much more in those places.  Also, I expect the fabric would have gone a darker shade if it had been 100% cotton.

Although the total time taken was as I have said, I kept having to stop and restart as daily life got in the way and it was a couple of days before I finally got to the end of the process and managed to bottle my ink:

Walnut ink - bottled and ready to use


I think I could have stopped sooner.  The ink I bottled was too thick to write with and needs diluting for use with pens.  Having established this - I added some water and began having a go with my new ink.




Now I just need to practise my writing skills!
 

4 comments:

  1. I'm delighted that you were able to make use of the walnut husks! I have loads every year, as although my tree is small, it is amazingly productive. I'd like more people to respond to my offers of bags of husks.
    Cheers, John

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was very pleased to have them - it's been great to experiment!

      Delete
  2. How lovely to make your own ink! Looks like it would be lovely to draw with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's fun getting used to the dip pens - but you can use other things for mark making too - still experimenting!

      Delete