Do you like black, Mr. Coal? I like black. Most of my clothes are black, my bed clothes are black, my piano is black, the windows to my soul are black, Mr. Coal. I also have this neat little spot of black hair on the back of my head; but that's neither here nor there. Well, it is there, on the back of my head, Mr. Coal, but I mean to say that it's not important.

And, so, Mr. Coal, absolutely despondent am I to see what it costs to make black dye; literal cost! MONEY, Mr. Coal! Rusty gears to make gray dye, and then double it to make black! Or maybe wander about and perhaps find some scrap metal with which to do the same.

Purple dye, Mr. Coal? Why, just gather some juicy berries! Green dye? Do some yard work! Blue dye? Get yourself some pretty flowers, Mr. Coal. Red Dye? MERCURY POISONING, MR. COAL! (I do quite enjoy that one, if I'm honest.)

But, black dye, Mr. Coal? Well, you better risk your life and pay the dye man if you want to be enrobed in the majesty of darkness, Mr. Coal!

Now, you see, Mr. Coal, I have a wonderful new way of making black dye, and you, Mr. Coal, you are going to help me.

Do I expect you to give me money, Mr. Coal?! Rusty gears for a favor? HA! No, no, no, no, no. No...

No, Mr. Coal, I Expect You To DYE!

What this mod adds:

• Grind coal into powdered coal!
• Combine powdered coal or powdered charcoal with water in a barrel to make black dye! (5L:2 powder)
• Combine black dye and powdered borax to make gray dye! (2L:1 powder)
• Combine white dye and powdered coal or powdered charcoal to make gray dye! (5L:2 powder)
• An all-expenses-paid trip (one-way) for you and four loved ones to fabulous Skullcrusher Mountain! Hope you like monkeys and ponies!

Compatible with:

• Expanded Matter - Crushed and powdered coal can be used to make black or gray dye.

Incompatible with:

• Asphalt - Compatible mod coming soon.

1.2.1 Update:

• Coal now grinds into 2 powdered coal for balance across other mods with similar recipes.
• Dye recipes have been increased to require 2 powdered coal/charcoal per 5L of liquid to reflect this change.
• Removed Asphalt compatibility

To do:

• Find a way to make coal powder. Probably just use a hammer in the grid if I can't figure out how to add recipes to the quern. I did it! I figured it out! Lots of tinkering, poking, prodding, and ripping out the guts of the game, but I got there in the end! The game will be fine. The staples will come out naturally or be absorbed by the body. Any personality changes are completely normal. :D
• If I'm going the hammer route, then may as well do the same for charcoal. No need!
• Add the extant charcoal powder item to the barrel recipe. Added in 1.0.1!
• Make gray dye with black dye + powdered borax. Added in 1.0.2!
• Maybe create a config for the amount of powdered borax for gray dye. Originally I had it at 1:5 to keep it in line with the rest of the mod's 1:5 ratio, but that artificially inflates the properties of borax powder beyond vanilla. All I want to do with this mod is add an irl ancient recipe for black dye. Making borax powder 1:5 for gray dye, I feel, is adding a cheat to the game. So, if borax powder is 1 powder:2L water for white dye, then it should also be 1powder:2L black dye for gray dye. However, if enough people feel it should fall in line with the rest of the mod, then I'll make a config to that end.
• Add all the languages. I have so far made 11 language files for this mod (Arabic, Czech, Danish, German, English, American Spanish, Spanish Spanish, French, Dutch, Russian, Ukrainian); though, all were translated using translation software. If it's incorrect, please let me know! If you want to make a language file, be aware that "Dye" in "Dye, Coal, Dye" (the creative tab name for this mod) is the verb form of "Dye" (as in "dye your hair red"; not as in "red hair dye").
• Sit and brood in my all-black attire.

Outfit in the preview provided by the nice folks on over at American Frontiersman: Western Wear! Tell 'em Tophie sent ya. They won't know what you mean. ;)

Thanks for all the downloads and nice comments! I've had this game for maybe a week, and I was surprised that a game which has such a focus on realism doesn't have a way to turn coal into black dye. I thought I was happy leaving the mod at "just chuck some coal or charcoal in a barrel and call it good". However, it kept nagging at me that I couldn't figure out how to add quern recipes. So, I started tinkering, as I am wont to do, and here we are; my vision realized. A nice little weekend project.
I neither expected anyone to, nor cared if anyone did, download it, but ya did. Your validation boosts my serotonin. I am grateful. :)