NATURAL DYING RESEARCH

The DIY natural website has lots of information on the basics of making natural dyes.

they state:

Not all fabric can be easily dyed with natural materials. The best ones to use are those made from natural materials themselves. Cotton, silk, wool, and linen will take the dye the best.

Synthetic blends will take some dye, but will usually be lighter in color. If you’re not sure and can risk the item you’re planning to dye, go ahead and do it. If it’s something valuable, try to find a similar scrap of fabric and try that first. I use a piece of muslin to gauge my color saturation before I dye my clothes.

Not all natural materials will produce a dye, and some produce colors that are nothing like the original plant it came from. Here’s a list of colors and the plant material that will give you shades in that color.

Natural Dyes

• Orange: carrots, gold lichen, onion skins
• Brown: dandelion roots, oak bark, walnut hulls, tea, coffee, acorns
• Pink: berries, cherries, red and pink roses, avocado skins and seeds (really!)
• Blue: indigo, woad, red cabbage, elderberries, red mulberries, blueberries, purple grapes, dogwood bark
• Red-brown: pomegranates, beets, bamboo, hibiscus (reddish color flowers), bloodroot
• Grey-black: Blackberries, walnut hulls, iris root
• Red-purple: red sumac berries, basil leaves, daylilies, pokeweed berries, huckleberries
• Green: artichokes, sorrel roots, spinach, peppermint leaves, snapdragons, lilacs, grass, nettles, plantain, peach leaves
• Yellow: bay leaves, marigolds, sunflower petals, St John’s Wort, dandelion flowers, paprika, turmeric, celery leaves, lilac twigs, Queen Anne’s Lace roots, mahonia roots, barberry roots, yellowroot roots, yellow dock roots

Note: You want to be sure to use ripe, mature plant material and always use fresh, not dried. Dried plant material will usually give you muted colors and sometimes no color at all. Chop the plant material very small to give you more surface area. If the plant is tough, like yellow dock roots, smash the root with a hammer to make it fiberous. This will also give you more exposed surface area.

(DIY Natural. 2020. Natural Dyes For Fabric: All Natural Ways To Dye Fabric Different Colors. [online] Available at: <https://www.diynatural.com/natural-fabric-dyes/&gt; [Accessed 24 April 2020].)