Learning how to natural dye at home can feel pretty overwhelming. Especially when there is so much misinformation floating around out there. However, it doesn’t have to be intimidating or overly complicated.
Here are 5 Tips to Help You Begin Your Natural Dye Journey
1. You Don’t Need a Studio or a Large Space
Natural dyeing can easily take place in your kitchen or even outside. Good ventilation is the most important thing to consider when trying to decide where you’ll dye. This can be as easy as the vent hood above your stove or a fan and open windows.
I often use a small electric burner to heat my dye and mordant pots outdoors.
2. Supplies
You don’t need much to begin experimenting with natural dyes. When I first began, I kept all of my natural dye supplies in one tiny cabinet. I thrifted all of my dye pots and spoons and used my local facebook BuyNothing page to source many of the other supplies I needed.
Click here for a tip on finding second hand stainless steel pots.
These list may look a bit different for each person, depending on how experimental you choose to be in the beginning of your journey. For instance, if you want to follow specific recipes from the get-go you may feel that a scale and thermometer are necessary instead of optional.
Here are the necessities:
- A stainless steel pot that will never be used to cook food again
- A heat source
- Dye stuff (the plants you will use for dye)
- Mordants
- A water source
- Spoons that will never be used to cook food again
- Fiber to dye (this can look like old bed sheets or thrifted clothes) – see my tips for using thrifted clothes here
- Rags for cleaning
- Rubber gloves
- Face mask to wear while mixing fine powders
Optional Supplies (these can be added as you go):
- Stainless steel sieve
- Thermometer (I love my $3 candy thermometer)
- pH testing strips
- Scale that measures in grams
3. Embrace Mistakes as Learning Opportunities
This will look different for each person and depends greatly on what your immediate dyeing goal is. When you’re just beginning you can either, experiment and learn by trial and error or learn from mentors or teachers. If you’re able to take a solid natural dye course, you will be on a path for immediate success. However, I know this isn’t a realistic option for everyone.
In the beginning of my dye journey, I wasn’t able to afford natural dye workshops and courses so I did a lot of experimenting. It was a time that was often frustrating but also enlightening. I learned so much throughout those experiences.
It can be tempting to buy every dye book available but I recommend starting with one or two. It can be beneficial to learn from many sources but it can also be confusing when each recipe or technique slightly differs from teacher to teacher.
Regardless of what route you choose to take, I highly recommend documenting everything – even mistakes. I can’t tell you the amount of times I wish I had written something down.
Click here for a free printable natural dye journal.
4. Learning How to Properly Pre-treat Fibers
I can’t stress this one enough. It can be tempting to jump right into making dyes and dyeing – those are the really fun parts after all. However, learning how to scour and mordant right from the beginning will make all the difference in how well your fibers take color and how long the color lasts.
5. Save Money by Saving Food Scraps & Foraging
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already heard me talking all about the controversy over using food waste dyes.
Here’s the thing, there are some food waste dyes that make absolutely terrible dyes because they lack the molecular structure to bind onto the fiber. These types of foods will make stains, not dyes.
Some of these are:
- Red cabbage
- Beets
- Edible berries
- Edible parts of veggies
- Turmeric
However, there are some food waste dyes that contain the proper phytochemicals for dyeing. Some make dyes that are quite colorfast while others are less so. I’ve listed some of my favorites in order from most to least colorfast.
Food Waste Dyes:
- Pomegranate skins
- Yellow onion skins
- Avocado skins
- Avocado Pits (seeds/stones)
- Red onion skins
Foraging for local dye plants is another great option for saving money on dye materials. It takes a bit of experimenting to figure out which of your local dye plants will make a good dye.
If you’d like to dive deeper into what chemical groups constitute a good dye plant and how to test for them in your local plants, check out my latest online course.
Some of my favorite locally foraged dyes:
- Acorns
- Oak Galls
- Pecan husks
- Coreopsis flowers
- Sycamore leaves
- Four Nerve Daisies flowers