Natural Dyes
By Chloe
Lets say its Easter and you want to dye some eggs, or your stuck in quarantine and want to create a tie-dye sweatsuit. But lets avoid that artificial crap. My quarantine-mate is allergic to it and I’d rather use natural foods and reduce waste anyways. Let’s pursue the challenge of making naturally colored dyes. Its a lot easier than it looks, and is made using scraps from your produce drawer!
Put awareness towards your contribution to food waste, and next time you’re thinking of a fun project to do at home, follow my lead! Below are easy-peasy recipes for creating dyes from onion skins, cabbage, spinach, turmeric and beets.
INGREDIENTS//
Water
White distilled vinegar [1 Tbsp per cup of dyed liquid]
Colors:
Blue: Chopped Purple Cabbage [1 cup per cup of water]
Rusty Red: Red Onion Skins [1 cup per cup of water]
Orange: Yellow Onion Skins [1 cup per cup of water]
Purply Red: Shredded Beets [1 cup per cup of water]
Green: Chopped Spinach [1 cup per cup of water]
Yellow: Ground Turmeric [2 Tbsp per cup of water]
Neutral Oil (vegetable, grapeseed, canola)
TO MAKE //
1| Choose your colors and gather your ingredients. Depending on the amount of sauce pans you have, you may have to repeat the steps multiple times to make different colors.
2|Add water to a saucepan or pot. Use the amount of water you would like to use for your dyes given the ratios above. [remember that the amount of vinegar and dye matter you add to the water is dependent on the amount of water you use]
3| Add dye matter (see ratios above) and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
4| Check the color - the dye is ready when it reaches a hue a few shades darker than you would want for your masterpiece. When the dye is as dark as you would like it, turn off heat and let dye cool to room temperature. Then, strain the dye through a colander or mesh strainer.
5| Add the vinegar (1 Tbsp per cup of dyed liquid) into the dye and stir. Refrigerate until use.
If dyeing EGGS, fully submerge hard boiled eggs into the dye and let sit until your desired color is reached. Then carefully dry and massage a little bit of oil onto each one.
If dyeing CLOTHING, see here. However if you simply want to purchase naturally-dyed wonders or want to be wowed with what you can do with natural dyes, check out the best, Homebody Textiles.
