Nothing written here below is intended in any way to be advice or instruction, and I caution most strongly against the use of any of the methods that are detailed herein.
There are many ways to stain a keris blade.
All will produce some sort of result.
However, there is only one way to produce a quality result, and that involves massaging into the blade the lime juice into which the arsenic or warangan has been stirred.
The suspension is brushed onto the blade, and then it is massaged with a pinching action until the blade becomes very sticky; more suspension is applied and the procedure is repeated time and time again until the desired colour is achieved. The blade is then rinsed with water, dried with a lint free cloth, and then dried in direct sunlight. Then the complete procedure is repeated again however many times required, until the blade is the correct colour.
If this procedure is carried out on a dull, cloudy day, the resulting stain will lack life; it will be a fair stain, but it will not lift and sparkle. The same, but more so applies if it is done inside.
If the suspension dries too quickly the result will take too long to achieve, and because of this length of time involved, the result will be dull. It is best not to carry out the procedure on a very hot day, and neither the blade, nor the suspension should be heated. When I have done this job in Solo, I have found that the best time is about 8am to 11am during the dry season. That means low relative humidity and a temperature of around 25 to 30 degrees celsius.
If the suspension dries too slowly it will generate yellowish green spots under the black.
The two factors that principally affect drying speed are temperature and humidity.
Excellence of the final result also depends very strongly upon the blade being absolutely white and free of any rust prior to commencement.
Here is a photo of me staining a blade, this shows clearly the way in which the suspension is massaged into the metal.
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