Fashion, How To, Style, eco fashion

Raspberry, Onion, Saffron: DIY Natural Clothing Dyes!

Take control over your eco friendly coloured clothing like never before.  Gaining fabulous colour from plant or vegetable dyes is a centuries-old process, derived from countless cultures.  Do-it-yourself dyes are surprisingly simple; with only a few ingredients and a bit of natural know-how, you’ll be ready to revive an old (or just tired) wardrobe and achieve the season’s most popular hues in a completely ethical way.

Many do-it-yourself enthusiasts attribute deeply pigmented substances, like berries, to being the only go-to source for clothing dye, but colorful natural sources exist everywhere from your favorite coffee shop to a floral garden!  Have you ever thought of using shredded petals of saffron to achieve a gorgeous bluish green color..  or roses for that pretty pink?  Even tea tree flowers (a favorite ingredient of skincare) serves as the source for a sultry green hue.

The secrets to head-turning organic fashion can be found within hundreds of earth-derived ingredients.  Here’s some of your best bets:

How…

The following will give you a general understanding of how this works.  If you are serious about giving this a go – there is a science to this process and we also recommend you check out the books listed at the bottom of this post.

What you’ll need:~

• Choice of fruit or vegetable, shredded or chopped. All pieces should be fully grown
• Hot (boiling) water
• Additional heat-safe pots. We recommend using a separate pot for each dye colour
• Plastic or rubber gloves
• Dye fixative. Use salt as a fixative for berry dyes; soda ash or white vinegar should be used as a fixative for all other plant dyes.
• Garments to dye.  Luckily, natural fabrics work best for this dyeing process.  Choose a simple organic white (or lightly colored) cotton, denim or silk. You use vinegar for wool and silk which are protein fibre but not cotton, rayon, linen which are cellulose fibre.

Method:~

1. In a large pot, place 2 parts water to 1 part plant (dye) material.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat; let mixture simmer for 1 hour.
2. Put on gloves; strain water into your heat-safe pot.  Discard the shredded plant material.
3. Apply the fixative.  For berry dyes, add 1/4 – 1/2 cup salt to 8 cups cold water. For vegetable dyes – 1 part vinegar to 4 parts cold water.
4. Add garment to your pre-made dye solution.  Simmer on medium heat until the clothing becomes your preferred color. Remember, colours will appear lighter as fabric dries.
   Lighter shades = about 1 hour.  Deep/Dark shades = 3-4 hours
5. Then rinse in cold water.

Post-Dyed Fabric Care…

Washing naturally dyed garments separately in cold water is the best way to keep new dyes from transferring to other laundry.