Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Refurbishing Camo

Just thought I'd pass this on, take it for what's it's worth.

If you're like me, you have a camo shirt or pants that the colors are fading. Or, maybe you just want to dye a favorite light colored shirt. I know there are commercial dyes and I'll be honest, I never tried any of them. So, I cant say they are good or bad. But if you want a really good natural dye, that I think works excellent, try black walnut hulls.

Yep, the same natural dye used on traps. I have a old camo long sleeve shirt, that is as comfortable as they come, that had faded to almost white in places. A couple of years ago, my son told me the shirt stood out in the woods rather than blend in. I was getting some black walnuts ready to plant and had this pile of hulls. Wishing I had my traps ready to dye made me think of the shirt. So I threw the hulls in a bucket of water, stirred/crushed them till the water was almost black, and threw in the shirt. Left it for a day or so, then took it out to dry.

What color it is depends on what you are standing around. If your standing next to something brown, the shirt has a dull green shade. If standing next to something green, it has a dull brown shade.

My son says that it is the best camo color he's ever seen.

Just my .02

That's good to know. Do you think walnut case cleaning media would work? I have a couple sets of Army issued green digital camo that could stand to be a few shades darker.
Also, how does this method stand up to washing?

The walnurtumbling media is crushed walnut shell. What you want for stain / dye is the husks (outer covering).. somewhere around here, I've got a recipe for drying cloth with plant based dyes, and I think you really need to "set" the dye with something so it doesn't bleed out. Vinegar, maybe?

I've used Rit Dye in a few instances with good results. I usually used the green or the brown to refurb a faded piece of camo. 100% cotton works the best. I just used the washer on Hot/Cold and then just pulled the stop button in the middle of the wash cycle and let it sit for an hour or two. By the time it was done rinsing, the washer was clean and the clothes were done.

[quote=River_Ridge]That's good to know. Do you think walnut case cleaning media would work? I have a couple sets of Army issued green digital camo that could stand to be a few shades darker.
Also, how does this method stand up to washing?[/quote

RR, I wash my hunting clothes in baking soda in cold water. This shirt has been washed 3 or 4 times and is holding up good. I guess time will tell

Ah yes, walnut husks. I remember those. Way back in the 50's when I was in grade school, a friend of mine got ringworm on his head. His mother was a DIY type. She cut his hair real short, painted it with juice from walnut hunks (nice shade of yellow) and made him wear a skull cap made from one of her old nylon stockings for weeks. He was as thrilled about it as you might expect. I don't remember if it cured the ringworm, though.

I wonder what the husks from pecan shells would do. I’d have to think they’d be about the same.

The walnut shells work best if allowed to turn black. The original army grunt uniforms were dyed olive drab with walnut husks. Adding steel wool will make it darker and browner. Borax fixes it but the colors can shift, test before using. Either experiment or use walnut only. You can buy the husk powder on line.

Pecan husks result in a browner stain, sometimes olive drab but not sure why the color shifts. I know my hands are a yellow brown after husking a bunch.

Both of these are more fade resistant than things like Rit Dye. Something to do during the off season.

What do you mean by color 'shifting'?

Here is a link to info about mordants and modifiers. These can change the color of the fabric and also make it more colorfast https://www.fiberartsy.com/iron-mordant-recipe/ If you wanted to get really artsy-fartsy you could tye dye with different modifiers and then Eco print leaves in different shades over all. Here is a link for Eco Printing leaves. https://www.fiberartsy.com/eco-printing-fabric/ You could sell these at the Safari Club and Shot Show Expo's. all the trophy wives would want one.

I friend that does Tye Dye T-Shirts gave me one of her rejects as it turned grey, it turns out to be great camouflage for West Texas and has become my lucky mule deer shirt.