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Homemade Walnut Stain

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CherokeeKC:
I threw some walnut hulls with walnut still inside in 5 gallon bucket with water 2 years ago.  I put a sealed lid on it.  It stayed in storage and then in my garage the whole time.  I know I should have taken the hulls and everything out after a month or so but I was graduating college and moving etc.  Anyway I opened it up the other day and there was an inch thick "growth" on top of water.  It stayed together when I removed it.  I poured the water through several layers of cheese cloth into another bucket.  I made the mistake of trying to get most of the liquid out by removing some of the hulls and stuff settled at bottom.  There was  a bit of a stench to it which is understandable.  The stain I strained out has a little bit of that stench to it although it isnt overwhelming.  Does anyone have experience with this or know what I might do to remedy it?  Maybe boil it?  Or do you guys think it would be ok to use to stain my bow like it is?

Adam:
I had that happen once too.  I filtered it through an old t shirt, boiled it down and added rubbing alcohol to get it back up to the consistency I wanted.  That seemed to work pretty well, and I've had it about a year now.  There is still some sediment (possibly some mold?) in it, but it is much better than it was.  I've also heard using vinegar can keep mold from growing in it, but I haven't tried myself.

Eric Krewson:
I crushed up a bunch of walnut hulls, soaked them in water and poured the slurry into a qt jar. Within 6 months I had a thick mold growth on top of the slurry, dumped everything out.

For my next batch I mixed the same water hull slurry and added a cup of denatured alcohol. Been about ten years since I mixed up my stain, no mold, no stink and very usable. I wipe it on grainy slurry and all, let it soak in and wipe off the chunks and sand like slurry, stains really well, used it on some arrow shafts last week.

CherokeeKC:
Thanks guys!

I will boil it then add alcohol

Pappy:
I made a large batch several years ago,boiled down the hulls and even had some whole ones in it ,no alcohol added ,but might be a good idea,and it is still fine,no stench and nothing growing in it.  :)
   Pappy

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