By: Rebecca Hearn
As we are all staying home during this time, many people have been finding unique ways to stay entertained. People have been doing puzzles, organizing their rooms, and even dyeing their hair. Another thing people have been doing to fill up their time at home is to tie dye their clothes. While you can order synthetic dye kits off of the internet, you can also dye your clothes with regular household foods and food scraps. Natural dyes are an awesome new hobby to discover while practicing social distancing at home, and it is a hobby that I have learned a lot about lately. Natural dye is a more sustainable option than synthetic dyes because you are using natural materials, and often food scraps, that you would otherwise just be composting, like avocado pits (which create a beautiful pink dye). Creating dyes from food is a creative way to upcycle and be sustainable and it can leave you with a beautiful product that you can be proud to say you created.
There are many tutorials on natural dyes that provide helpful visuals and information. Rather than repeating their instructions, I want to point you towards the information I found most helpful and provide the tips that I learned in my own journey of using natural dyes.
The first thing I learned was that natural fibers hold color much better. My best and most vibrant color pay off came from using cotton.
I also learned to take instructions seriously when they tell you to treat your fabric with Alum or sodium bicarbonate. These can easily be found in most houses or ordered, but using it really does make a difference in the pay off you get.
Additionally, the methods of doing this are not going to give you a typical tie dye pattern, so don’t expect a widely colorful spiral. But, you can bunch your fabric together and secure it with rubber bands to get some variety and added texture.
Most importantly, be patient, some parts of this process may seem tedious, and they might not make sense, but for the best results you should take your time. What else is there to do!
tutorials and resources for natural dyes:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fImpanUPjS8
2. http://www.allnaturaldyeing.com/natural-dye-colors/
3. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/how-to-naturally-dye-using-foods