#naturaldyes — Public Fediverse posts

How to Make #NaturalDyes in Every Color: A Step-by-Step Guide

Grace Waters - December 31, 2023

Excerpt: "Which Ingredients Will Make Which Colors?

You can use practically any plant, produce or spice to make a natural dye. Many of those ingredients are available year-round. Here’s how to make natural dyes with every color under the rainbow.

Red

Produce like raspberries, cherries, cranberries, and pokeberries will make rich dyes. You can also use hibiscus, rose, amaranth, and hollyhock plants. Most deeply red flower petals will produce saturated pigments. Beetroots will make a pink dye that is incredibly vibrant.

Orange

The flower calendula makes for a fantastic natural orange dye. To get that classic, bright color, use carrots or orange peels. Surprisingly, pomegranates can also produce deep orange hues.

Yellow

Tumeric is incredibly vibrant and easily stains. Ginger is another good spice, but it isn’t as bright. Flowers like goldenrod, yarrow, black-eyed Susan, and dandelions produce varying shades of yellow. You can also use lemon peels.

Green

You can use almost any plant’s stems and leaves to make a vibrant green color. Leafy greens like spinach also work well. If you want a very bright shade, you may have to add some blue.

Indigo

Blue flowers like bachelor buttons and Russian sage will create unique, rich hues. Of course, you can also use blueberries for a very dark dye. Red cabbage makes a classic, bright purple color. If you want something more saturated and subtle, use blackberries.

Brown

Red onion skin and #acorns can make light brown or tan dyes. If you want something darker, use #BlackWalnuts or used coffee beans."

Read more:
https://environment.co/how-to-make-natural-dyes/

#SolarPunkSunday #DIY #FiberArts #NaturalDyes #Dyes #Wildflowers #PlantDyes

And yeah, I've seen urine used for various purposes, but not as a dye mordant... Not for the squeamish!

20 Natural Dye Plants You Can Forage and Grow in Your Garden

By Catherine Winter

Excerpt: "Would you prefer to go a super-natural route, since you’re using plant-based dyes? If you’re aiming to be as self-sufficient as possible, there are also all-organic mordant options as well.

Natural Mordants:

- Sumac: Simmer fresh sumac twigs for about an hour, strain out the twiggy bits, and reduce the liquid by half
- Urine: human urine is ideal for mordanting, but you’ll need to age it. Collect it in a jar and allow it to age for several days. [🤢 ]
- Salt: You can use standard table salt as a mordant, but Kosher salt can yield some of the strongest color-fastness. [I've used that]
- Vinegar [That too]
- Wood ash lye

"You’ve probably noticed that some of these are alkaline, and some are acidic. Alkaline mordants tend to work best with plant-based fibers like cotton, linen, and #hemp. In contrast, acidic mordants like vinegar are better with animal fibers like #wool, #alpaca, and #angora.

"Note that if you use an acidic mordant and your colors still run, you can set the color by dipping the fabric in a 50/50 vinegar/water solution. In contrast, if you’ve used an alkaline mordant like lye or baking soda [another one I've used], an acidic solution will strip the color rather than setting it." [Been there, done that!]

Learn more [includes a list of #DyePlants -- does not include #BlackWalnuts though]:
https://morningchores.com/dye-plants/

#SolarPunkSunday #DIY #FiberArts #NaturalDyes #Gardening #Foraging #Goldenrod #Elderberries #Chicory #Beets #Onions #RedCabbage