Natural Dyes

The people over at RCTN sent me over here . . . . said you guys know
more about dying stuff?

..

My Girl Scout troop has expressed an interest in using natural dyes
(like berries, onion skins, etc.). We've been doing a Renaissance
badge and talking about clothing/status shown by clothing etc. and
this came up. I told them I had dyed with
onion skins and other things when I was a GS and they all perked up.
We've been sort of in the doldrums so I need something different but
fun - and this seems to fit the bill.

As I said, I did this when I was a GS, years ago. If .anyone has done
it
recently and has hints, I would appreciate it. Like - what did you
dye
(I was thinking maybe bandanas)? What did you use? What fixative?


TIA!

Linda

On 21 Mar, 02:20, lewmew wrote:

As I said, I did this when I was a GS, years ago. *If .anyone has done
it
recently and has hints, I would appreciate it. Like - what did you
dye
(I was thinking maybe bandanas)? What did you use? What fixative?

Maybe you could give us a bit more info? Such as what age range is
your troop, what facilities are available for them to use (dyeing can
be messy!!!), how many hours a week/month do they meet?

Erin

On Mar 21, 11:00*am, Erin wrote:
On 21 Mar, 02:20, lewmew wrote:
*

As I said, I did this when I was a GS, years ago. *If .anyone has done
it
recently and has hints, I would appreciate it. Like - what did you
dye
(I was thinking maybe bandanas)? What did you use? What fixative?

Maybe you could give us a bit more info? Such as what age range is
your troop, what facilities are available for them to use (dyeing can
be messy!!!), how many hours a week/month do they meet?

Erin

We meet every Monday from 6 to 7:30. My girls are a bit older - 11 to
13 mostly. If we can't do this in one meeting, we could do it in a
special meeting or on a campout.

In article ,
lewmew wrote:
On Mar 21, 11:00*am, Erin wrote:
On 21 Mar, 02:20, lewmew wrote:

As I said, I did this when I was a GS, years ago. *If anyone has done
it recently and has hints, I would appreciate it. Like - what did you
dye (I was thinking maybe bandanas)? What did you use? What fixative?

Maybe you could give us a bit more info? Such as what age range is
your troop, what facilities are available for them to use (dyeing can
be messy!!!), how many hours a week/month do they meet?

We meet every Monday from 6 to 7:30. My girls are a bit older - 11 to
13 mostly. If we can't do this in one meeting, we could do it in a
special meeting or on a campout.


From what I've read on websites and blogs, a campout would be the
best bet. Most natural dyeing should be done outdoors. Powdered
dyes and mordants are things you don't want to breathe even if they're
not actually toxic. The more cautious people say to wear those
dust-protection masks while doing the measuring and mixing. Also,
most materials need to be either soaked overnight or boiled and
cooled - it's not a quick procedure.

You can do Kool-aid dyeing by extending your time-frame just an
hour or so, but that's not natural dyeing, of course.

Bandanas are cotton and cotton isn't all that easy to dye.
At the very least you would have to prepare them by "scouring"
(washing) them in advance. It might be better to buy undyed
natural fabric and scour it - then you cut it to size for
bigger bandanas or long sashes.

It might be better to try getting some natural undyed white
wool yarn and then have a knitting or crocheting lesson with it.

The best website I came across (I may have missed a great one)
was at www.maiwa.com which is a handpaints company; they had a
pdf to print out that had a lot of good solid information on
natural dyeing.

Whatever you choose to do, I think I would recommend that
you try it by yourself before you do it with the troop, just
to be sure of the procedures and test for results and how
long it will take.

Good luck!

=Tamar

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:20:46 -0700 (PDT), lewmew
wrote:

Linda,

My Girl Scout troop has expressed an interest in using natural dyes
(like berries, onion skins, etc.). We've been doing a Renaissance
badge and talking about clothing/status shown by clothing etc. and
this came up. I told them I had dyed with
onion skins and other things when I was a GS and they all perked up.
We've been sort of in the doldrums so I need something different but
fun - and this seems to fit the bill.

That sounds like a lot of fun! As far as dyeing with natural
materials, do you want the dye to last? Berries usually give what are
called "fugitive" dyes, meaning that they fade quickly in sunlight.
Many plants and flowers also give colors, but they vary by region.
You may want to look up what Native American tribes you had in your
area and see what they used to make their dyes. Keep in mind they
would sometimes use plants that are toxic to make different things
like inedible plants to make cordage, so cross reference and make sure
you don't use something that could be harmful to your GS if they
aren't as good at washing their hands afterwards as they should be.

For a simple project, people have already mentioned tea, coffee, and
you mentioned onions. Walnut shells are also supposed to give a good
dye as well, from a dark brown to black.

Simple non-toxic mordants that help set the dye into a fabric include
white vinegar and salt.

Also, I should add that color can be affected by what type of dyepot
you use, ceramic, aluminum, copper, or stainless steel, because small
amounts of the metals will leach into the dye and possibly react with
it, causing a color change, and you also shouldn't use pots intended
for continued cooking to dye yarn; I'd go to the local thrift shop or
an estate sale and look for inexpensive dedicated dye pots there.

HTH.

Leah

In article ,
Leah wrote:
snip
For a simple project, people have already mentioned tea, coffee, and
you mentioned onions. Walnut shells are also supposed to give a good
dye as well, from a dark brown to black.

I believe walnut husks (the "fruit" that the walnut is the seed of) give
a better brown than the shells. If you have access to a fallen oak
tree or dead branches, oak bark can be boiled to make a tannin-rich
liquid that ought to produce a brown. Pistachio nuts can make green,
and pomegranate skins and eggplant skins can make reddish or purplish
colors.

But all natural dyeing is subject to the differences that happened
to the plant while it was growing, the weather and season it was
harvested, and some of them can be major, so treat all dyeing as an
experiment. Don't expect consistent results.

Simple non-toxic mordants that help set the dye into a fabric include
white vinegar and salt.

The alum that you find in the spice section in the grocery story is
a safe mordant.

Ammonia can also be used for some purposes.

For stronger colors it's said that you need as much plant material
as you have materials to dye.

Also, I should add that color can be affected by what type of dyepot
you use, ceramic, aluminum, copper, or stainless steel, because small
amounts of the metals will leach into the dye and possibly react with
it, causing a color change,

Yes, copper will definitely affect it and so will iron.
I think copper brightens colors and iron makes them dull by adding
a gray tone.

and you also shouldn't use pots intended for continued cooking
to dye yarn; I'd go to the local thrift shop or an estate sale
and look for inexpensive dedicated dye pots there.

Yes, that's another important point. Stainless steel is probably
ideal, and porcelain-coated steel (the old blue spatterware, or
white) is good if it isn't chipped where the dye will reach - it's
okay if the outside is chipped. You don't want to use old refrigerator
drawers; they weren't designed with heat in mind and might react badly.

You may also want to get an inexpensive older microwave oven to
use just for dyeing. It's faster than boiling the yarn in a
dyepot - just paint the yarn with the dyes and cook them in the
microwave (5 minutes, then cool, then another 5 minutes, then cool).

=Tamar