Terminal Verbosity

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Dying Wool with Natural Dyes

Posted on | May 5, 2008 | 2 Comments

My son, Gabriel, started preschool this past year at a local home-based Waldorf preschool. Although I knew little about Waldorf at the time, I was drawn to the gentle teacher at the preschool and had a gut-feeling that she was the right person to be my son’s first official teacher. One of the great things about Waldorf, besides its adherence to principles of play-based and creative learning, is the use of natural materials in toys and crafts.

This fall, I felted some wool at the preschool into a “meteor ball” for Gabriel and started looking into the craft projects I might be able to do with the children with wool and other natural materials. We dyed play silks and Easter Eggs, and even tie-dyed some silk. But then some research into the types of dyes used in food coloring made me wonder whether this was really a substance I wanted in my kitchen or my children’s toys.

I found a Natural Dyes Seed Collection on Seeds of Change and decided to try to grow my own natural dyes this summer. Having a brand-new landscape gives me lots of extra bed space that I can use for this rather experimental project. So far, I have Hopi Red Dye Amaranth (burgundy dye) and marigolds (orange-yellow dye) started in the basement and a packet of Bull’s Blood beets (red dye) to put out this weekend. I also hope to round out my colors with Hopi Black Dye (purple dye) sunflowers, some saffron that I have kicking around from a large bulk purchase (and which I’ve already used successfully on play silks and Easter eggs).

When I found a local source of very inexpensive wool at the Boulder Farmer’s Market ($1 an ounce, and an ounce is a good-sized ball of wool!), I bought quite a bit and upped my research. I needed to know more about this process than what I found on the seed packets. Gabriel’s preschool teacher provided a book on natural dyes and although it focused on using brazilwood, cochineal, indigo and other dye materials not readily available here in Colorado, it did introduce me to the concept of mordants (to this point, I have only used vinegar to fix my colors in the cloth I have dyed) and went over the general process of dying (which is not unlike what I described when I posted about dying play silks with Kool-Aid). Mordants like alum, cream of tartar, and washing soda, help the dyes “bite” into the fabric. Natural dyes tend to be lighter and less intense than man-made dyes, so these mordants help intensify the color and make them more long-lived in the fabric.

Some additional dye plants I found in my reading include:

  • Black Walnut husks (brown dye that doesn’t require a mordant)
  • Yellow onion skins (orange dye)
  • Purple onion skins (green dye)
  • Cherries (red/pink dye)
  • Roses and Lavender, according to Pioneer Thinking, with a little mint and some lemon juice to activate the alkaloids can make both a brilliant pink dye and a very tasty pink lemonade.
  • Rose hips (red/pink)
  • Red cabbage (red/purple)
  • Dandelion flowers (yellow)
  • Hollyhocks (mauves, pinks, and rusts depending on flower color) – And according to Gardenbed.com, you can make paper from the Hollyhock stems. Sounds like a fun summer project with the kiddos!

This article on dying wool with natural plant dyes has information about how to prepare the dyes that I think would apply to other types of natural dye plants.

I’d also like to look into growing some of the more traditional dye plants like woad (blue) and madder (its roots made the dye used to make the British Army’s coats red!), since I have the time and inclination.

Have any of you tried a natural dye for a craft project? What did you use and how did it turn out?

Category: Family, Make Your Own, gardening

Comments

2 Responses to “Dying Wool with Natural Dyes”

  1. Lanette Earley
    September 22nd, 2008 @ 10:50 am

    Hello! I found your website looking for more information about dying wool with Bulls Blood Beets! I just recently tried dying wool yarn that had already been premordanted with alum and cream of tartar and I got an golden orange color! I was hoping to get a red dye with the Bulls Blood Beets I grew, but maybe I put too much boiling heat in the dyebath or did something else wrong? Do you know if the Bulls Blood Beets are supposed to give a true red dye on wool? I’ve found out that other beets have not given the true color they look like they would give, but more of a golden or orange color. I wondered if you had tried dying anything with these beets yet and how it turned out!? Sincerely, Lanette Earley

  2. Julie
    September 23rd, 2008 @ 1:10 pm

    You know, I found several articles saying that dying with beets would produce a golden color, but I also read that different mordants encourage different dye colors. Try alum alone, that’s what I did here http://chezartz.com/?p=271 and was able to get a nice pink color on wool and a play silk that I used for wrapping a gift for a zero-waste party…Good luck!

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