For centuries, people have relied on the natural world to color their textiles, and it’s still a viable option today. While chemical dyes have become more prevalent over the past few centuries, many cultures around the globe continue to turn to plants as their primary source of dye. This ancient practice allows for the creation of unique hues derived from various plant parts and readily available mordants. In fact, you don’t have to venture far to find suitable yarn dyeing materials.
Your own backyard or nearby natural areas may be teeming with species that can be used to create a diverse range of colors. From common weeds to wildflowers, there’s likely at least a dozen species within your area that can be foraged and used to dye yarn.
How to Use Plants for Dye
To produce a dye from plant components, one must establish a dyebath by boiling an ample quantity of plant material in water to extract the pigment contained within. The duration of this process can vary significantly, ranging from 40 minutes for delicate aerial parts like flowers and leaves to several hours when working with bark or roots. The readiness of the dye can be confirmed by holding it up to light, at which point it should appear richly colored.
Once prepared, the liquid must be thoroughly strained through multiple layers of cheesecloth, a crucial step that cannot be overstated. Failure to do so will result in an abundance of plant debris being tangled with your yarn, a tedious and frustrating process to resolve.
Mordants
Mordants are the unsung heroes of natural dyeing, facilitating chemical reactions that bind plant-based colors to fibers. These fixatives don’t just produce a range of hues depending on their interaction with plant components – they also ensure colorfastness, meaning the dyes won’t simply wash out of the fabric over time. The quality of colorfastness varies among different dye-mordant combinations, with roots and bark-based dyes generally proving longer-lasting than those derived from berries.
The type of mordant used determines not only the final hue but also the longevity of the color in the finished fabric. Common mordants include alum, baking soda, copper sulfate (also known as Blue Vitriol), iron, potassium dichromate, salt, tin, and vinegar. In our upcoming article on dyeing yarn with plants, we’ll provide insights into pre-mordanting, step-by-step guides, and a comprehensive overview of the entire process.
Plants to Forage for Dye
When it comes to foraging plants for natural dyes, the options will naturally differ depending on your location. To get started, consult a reliable botanical guide specific to your region, whether that’s a state or province. As you browse through the guide, take note of which species catch your eye. While some plants are widely available across the globe, it’s interesting to see how different regions have their own unique varieties.
For instance, I’ve used white oak (Quercus alba) acorns from my Quebec property to create natural dyes, whereas in California, where I previously lived, I opted for blue oak (Quercus douglasii) instead.
Acorns (nuts from Quercus spp.)
When working with natural dyes, it’s often beneficial to use the entire nut, but taking a unique approach by smashing it into pieces first can be surprisingly effective. A hammer is an excellent tool for this process, and the tactile experience can even provide a sense of catharsis. This unconventional method allows you to harness the full potential of the nut, resulting in rich hues like dark brown when paired with an iron mordant in a strong dye bath.
Alternatively, you can achieve a warm golden brown tone by using tin as your colorant. Regardless of the outcome, the excellent color fastness of these natural dyes ensures that the results will remain vibrant and unchanged over time.
Alder (Alnus rugosa)
When it comes to harvesting natural hues from leaves and bark, the possibilities are endless. Leaves, in particular, have been used for centuries to create a range of vibrant shades. With an alum mordant, they produce a warm yellow dye that’s perfect for creating intricate designs or adding a pop of color to any textile. Copper sulfate brings out a beautiful olive green hue, while tin yields an orange-yellow tone that’s reminiscent of the sun-kissed earth.
Meanwhile, bark has been used to create rich reddish browns with iron. One of the most impressive aspects of these natural dyes is their exceptional fastness – they resist fading and bleeding beautifully. However, it’s worth noting that some colors may darken slightly over time, adding a touch of maturity to your finished products.
Asters (Aster spp.)
When working with blue-violet asters, the combination of fresh or dried petals and various mordants can produce a range of hues. For instance, mixing copper sulfate with alum yields a yellowish-green tone, while using alum alone results in a vibrant yellow. A tin-based dye bath produces a bright lemony yellow. In contrast, pink asters reveal distinct colors when paired with different mordants.
Copper sulfate and iron, for example, create a soft gray-green shade, whereas alum on its own produces a pale yellowish beige. While the color fastness of these natural dyes is generally good, it’s essential to use a strong, saturated dye bath to ensure the best results.
Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
When experimenting with natural dyes, it’s fascinating to explore the range of hues that can be achieved using common materials like leaves. One approach is to create a strong bath by infusing leaves in water and adding a mordant like tin. This will result in a stunning rust-colored dye, perfect for imparting a warm, earthy tone to your fabric. Another option is to combine the leaves with alum, which will produce a vibrant yellow shade.
What’s more, these natural dyes boast excellent color fastness, ensuring that your creations remain vibrant and unchanged over time.
Birch (Betula spp.)
When it comes to creating natural pigments from plants, two distinct parts of the plant are often used: leaves and inner bark, also known as cambium. The unique combination of these components yields a range of hues. For instance, the inner bark reacts with iron to produce a grayish purple-brown color, while tin brings out an orange tone. In contrast, the leaves offer a more vibrant palette when mixed with alum and tin, resulting in shades of yellow and gold.
Interestingly, both parts display good color fastness, meaning the colors remain true even after time.
Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp.)
When working with botanicals to create unique hues, the combination of flower heads and leaves is crucial. By experimenting with different parts and mordants, you can unlock a range of colours. For instance, using iron as a mordant will yield a deep, rich olive green. Alternatively, copper sulfate will produce an earthy avocado hue, while alum mixed with copper sulfate creates a versatile khaki shade.
One of the standout features of these natural dyes is their exceptional color fastness – a testament to the durability and longevity of the colours achieved.
Burdock (Arctium lappa)
To achieve the desired shades, I experimented with combining leaves and various household chemicals in my crock pot. After 24 hours of simmering, I was left with three distinct hues. When using vinegar, I obtained a beige-tan color, while tin yielded an intense yellow. A combination of alum and iron produced a vibrant greenish-yellow shade. Notably, the color fastness varied depending on the strength of the dyebath used.
For optimal results, it’s essential to use a very strong dyebath, which ensures a fair to good level of color retention.
Cattails (Typha spp.)
To achieve a range of hues using natural dyes, you can combine young leaf shoots and brown female flower heads. For example, when paired with alum and copper sulfate, the leaf shoots will yield a vibrant yellow-green color. Alternatively, tin can be used to produce an intense yellow shade. Meanwhile, a triple-strength dyebath featuring the brown flowerheads will result in a warm beige tone when combined with alum or a rich chocolate brown hue when iron is added.
The colorfastness of these natural dyes varies, with excellent results obtained using leaf shoots and moderate fastness achieved with the flowers.
Cedar (Thuja occidentalis)
To create a rich and vibrant color palette, the process begins by soaking leaves in water for an extended period of 48 to 72 hours. This initial step allows the natural pigments to break down and release their vibrant hues. Following this, the leaf infusion is then simmered for three to four hours, allowing the colors to fully develop and meld together. The result is a range of stunning shades that can be achieved through the use of different mordants.
For example, adding tin to the mixture produces a beautiful golden yellow-orange hue, while alum yields a bright sunshine yellow color. Meanwhile, iron results in a warm light brown tone. One of the most impressive aspects of this natural dyeing process is its remarkable color fastness. Not only will the yarn retain its vibrant colors, but it will also have a wonderful earthy scent that is sure to captivate.
Chestnut (Castanea spp., OR horse chestnuts, which are Aesculus hippocastanum)
When working with natural pigments, the key is to combine different parts of the same plant in unique ways to achieve the desired hues. In this case, we’re combining green nut husks and chopped nuts to create a palette of earthy tones. By experimenting with various combinations, you can produce a range of colors. For instance, using iron with the husks yields a grayish tone, while chrome adds depth and warmth to create a rich brown color.
Meanwhile, adding tin gives the mixture a yellow-green tint. When it comes to the nuts themselves, combining them with vinegar and alum produces a medium brownish tan hue that’s surprisingly vibrant. And the best part? The colors produced by this natural pigment combination are remarkably color-fast, ensuring your artistic creations will remain true to their original beauty for years to come.
Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
To achieve the desired colors, the roots undergo a meticulous process. First, they are roasted to unlock their natural pigments. Next, they are ground into a fine powder, allowing for maximum extraction of colorants. The mixture is then simmered in a crock pot for an extended period of 48 hours, permitting the slow release of vibrant hues.
This labor-intensive process yields stunning results: rich, dark brown tones infused with iron, light brown shades enriched by alum, and khaki hues with a subtle warmth imparted by copper sulfate mixed with tin. The colorfastness of these natural pigments is nothing short of spectacular.
Clover (Melilotus alba OR Trifolium pratense)
When it comes to extracting hues from red and white clover, you can use either the flower heads or the entire plant. The resulting colors are truly striking. For instance, using tin as a mordant will produce a vibrant chartreuse shade when processing red clover heads. Meanwhile, white clover plants will yield a warm orange hue with tin, a soft pale yellow with alum, and a fresh spring green color with copper sulfate.
One of the notable benefits of working with these plant-based dyes is their exceptional color fastness.
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)
The hues of flowers that have been dyed using various metals can produce a wide range of colors. For instance, when using tin, flowers can be infused with a bright gold hue. Alternatively, alum can yield lighter shades of yellow. Interestingly, combining tin and alum in different proportions can result in a variety of intermediate tones. In terms of color fastness, the resulting hues tend to be excellent.
Daisies (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum)
When it comes to extracting colors from this remarkable plant, one can harvest a rich array of hues by using various methods. The entire plant, once chopped into smaller pieces, serves as the foundation for a vibrant dye bath. With the addition of vinegar, the resulting color is a warm beige, reminiscent of sunshine-kissed sand.
A touch of iron introduces a soft, pale sage green reminiscent of spring mornings, while tin brings forth a bright and lively spring green that evokes the first days of the season. For those seeking a bold and striking shade, baking soda can be used to produce a vibrant chartreuse hue, perfect for making a statement. And in terms of color fastness, this plant truly excels, offering spectacular results that will not fade quickly.
Dock (Rumex crispus)
When it comes to natural dyeing, the entire plant is a potential source of color. From roots and stalks to leaves and seeds, each part can be used to create a unique hue. For instance, using roots with vinegar can produce a warm tan tone, while iron and copper sulfate will yield a khaki green shade. The stems and leaves, on the other hand, can be combined with alum to produce a vibrant yellow, or paired with tin and copper sulfate for a slightly muted yellowish-green color.
As an added bonus, the colors produced through this process are known for their excellent lightfastness properties.
Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)
Blossoms, when treated with various mordants, can produce a range of hues. Specifically, when combined with aluminum (alum), they yield a medium yellow shade. In contrast, the addition of tin results in a vibrant and intense bright yellow color. It’s worth noting that the color fastness of these blossoms is moderate, meaning they may not retain their vibrancy over time or under exposure to light.
Fir (Abies balsamea)
When it comes to achieving vibrant colors on young branches, there are a few secrets to keep in mind. One effective approach involves combining certain materials, like tin, alum, and vinegar, to produce stunning shades of gold. The bright gold hue can be achieved by using tin, while pale gold requires the addition of alum and vinegar. What’s more, these colors have been found to be remarkably durable, with excellent color fastness that resists fading.
Goldenrod (Solidago officinalis)
When starting out with natural dyeing, the humble flowers, leaves, and stalks of this plant are an excellent choice. With a range of hues achievable without the need for complex mordants or processes, it’s no wonder why beginners love working with this plant. For instance, mature blooms can be used to create soft yellows, whether pale or richly toned, depending on the desired outcome.
Processing the same blooms in copper or brass pots will yield a muted khaki or olive green, while tin as a mordant can produce stunning bronzes. Meanwhile, combining leaves and stalks with iron and copper sulfate will result in delightful shades of avocado or olive green. And the best part? The colorfastness is truly spectacular.
Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.)
To achieve the vibrant colors, a unique approach was taken. Mature fruits were crushed and then simmered in a crock pot for an impressive 48 hours. This slow cooking process allowed the natural pigments to meld together and intensify, resulting in three distinct hues: bright yellow-orange with the addition of alum bloomed in tin, khaki with iron, and buttery dark yellow with alum.
Furthermore, these colors demonstrated excellent color fastness, ensuring they would remain vibrant and consistent over time.
Heal-All (Prunella vulgaris)
When it comes to extracting hues from plant materials, the aerial parts of a plant – including blossoms, leaves, and stems – can be used to create a range of vibrant colors. By utilizing different substances, such as copper sulfate, iron, tin, and alum, you can produce shades that include fawn brown, gray, bright gold, and gentle yellow hues. What’s more, the color fastness of these hues is excellent, ensuring they will remain true even after time has passed.
Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
The highlights of our product’s color palette include the stunning branch tip hues that result in a breathtakingly beautiful shade of golden yellow, reminiscent of the metallic tones found in tin or alum. Moreover, this vibrant color boasts an exceptional color fastness, ensuring its radiance remains untarnished over time.
Horsetail (Equisetum spp.)
The verdant fronds of horsetail are often mistaken as a nuisance weed, but they hold a secret worth preserving. This versatile plant can be used to create a range of natural dyes for yarn, offering a soft sage green hue when paired with alum and copper sulfate, a pale green tone with alum alone, a vibrant egg yolk yellow with tin, and a subtle gray-green shade with the addition of iron.
What’s more, these colors boast excellent color fastness, ensuring your handiwork remains richly colored for years to come.
Lamb’s Quarters (Chenopodium album)
When it comes to experimenting with plant colors, two crucial components come into play: leaves and stems. The fascinating aspect is that by applying different substances, one can achieve a wide range of hues. For instance, using copper sulfate on leaves produces a pale green tone, whereas vinegar yields a vibrant tan yellow shade. Even iron can be used to create a striking gray color.
What’s truly impressive is the excellent color fastness exhibited by these natural dyes, demonstrating their ability to withstand fading and retain their original vibrancy.
Madder (Rubia tinctorum)
To obtain various shades of red using RootsHues, you’ll need to go through a multi-step process. Begin by pre-soaking the roots in a mesh bag for 40 hours. Then, scorch and pre-mordant the fibers before heating them up with the bag of madder root in the dye bath. Be cautious not to boil the mixture as this can negatively impact the color’s overall appearance.
To deepen the red shade further, add some calcium carbonate (think Tums tablets) slowly raising the temperature to 180°F while gently agitating the fibers. The resulting colors boast excellent color fastness, with ancient examples found in Tutankhamun’s tomb still retaining their vibrancy.
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
To unlock the full range of colors from your plant-based dyes, you’ll want to utilize a combination of leaves and flowering heads. However, it’s essential to note that the leaves require some preprocessing before they can be used effectively – specifically, shredding and soaking them for a period of 48 to 72 hours.
This process will help to release the natural pigments within the leaves, allowing you to achieve stunning shades such as soft gray when paired with an iron mordant, bronze tones with copper sulfate, warm sunshine yellows with tin, or gentle yellows with alum. When it comes to color fastness, the results are truly impressive, boasting very good performance.
Mustard (Brassica kaber)
To harness the natural dyeing properties of this plant, simply use the entire plant, chopped and soaked for a full 24 hours. Instead of purchasing mustard at the store, take advantage of this abundant resource to create your own unique shades. When combined with alum and tin, the plant yields a rich gold hue, while alum alone produces a light yellow. Adding copper sulfate results in a lovely light yellowish green.
One of the most impressive aspects of this natural dye is its excellent color fastness, ensuring that your yarn retains its vibrant colors for a long time.
Nettle (Urtica spp.)
The process begins by boiling the entire plant and allowing it to cool. The mixture is then left to soak for 48 hours prior to being submerged in a dye bath. This pre-processing step allows for maximum color potential. When combined with tin, the resulting hue is a vibrant chartreuse, while iron yields a beautiful gray-green. What’s more impressive is that the final colors demonstrate excellent color fastness, ensuring they remain rich and consistent even after multiple wearings.
Onion (Allium cepa)
When it comes to natural dyeing, the humble onion plant is a versatile and accessible option. Its skins can be used to create a range of earthy tones, from olive green to golden yellow, with varying levels of brightness depending on the mordant used. For instance, adding iron will produce a deep olive hue, while alum yields a warm golden color. Tin, on the other hand, results in a vibrant orange shade, and omitting any mordant altogether produces a bright lemon yellow.
Vinegar adds depth to the dyeing process, resulting in a rich dark yellow tone, while salt can be used to create a metallic brass hue. As for durability, the colors achieved through onion plant skins have moderate fastness, lasting longer on cotton and linen fabrics than wool.
Plantain (Plantago major)
When it comes to creating unique colors using natural pigments, the type of part used and the hues obtained are crucial factors. For instance, when utilizing leaves as a pigment source, the resulting color palette is quite impressive. With alum, you can achieve a pale green hue, while copper sulfate yields a bronze tone. Iron also plays a significant role in producing a grayish color, and tin can result in a subtle blend of gray and green.
One aspect that’s equally important to consider is the color fastness – thankfully, the colors obtained through this process boast an excellent level of durability.
Rose (Rosa spp.)
PetalsHues offers a palette of vibrant colors that remain true to their hues. One of the standout features is the range of shades achievable through simple mordanting techniques. For instance, when using tin as a mordant, PetalsHues yields a beautiful yellow-orange hue. Conversely, alum produces a bright yellow tone, while iron results in a warm gray color. Notably, these colors demonstrate good color fastness, meaning they retain their vibrancy and don’t easily fade.
Rowan (Sorbus spp.)
When it comes to the vibrant colors achieved through natural dyeing, the combination of leaves and mordants is crucial. In this case, a selection of leaves yielded stunning hues when paired with specific substances. For instance, using tin as a mordant resulted in a radiant gold color, while alum produced a warm, golden tan shade. When iron was employed, the resulting hue was a cozy brown tone.
What’s more impressive is that these colors demonstrated excellent color fastness, ensuring they will retain their vibrancy even after repeated washing and wear.
St. John’s Wort (Hypericum spp.)
Flowering tops and leaves of the plant are a rich source of color, yielding hues that can be coaxed out through various mordanting processes. The blossoms alone, when treated with vinegar or salt, reveal warm yellows and golden tones. Meanwhile, processing the entire plant with copper sulfate results in a beautiful bronze hue. Interestingly, the fastness of these colors is moderate, allowing for a certain degree of lightfastness and washfastness.
Spruce (Picea spp.)
When it comes to natural dyeing, spruces offer a versatile option for creating a range of colors. Mature needles and cones can be used to produce shades that are both vibrant and long-lasting. For instance, using fresh spruce needles with tin will yield a beautiful golden hue, while combining them with alum results in a warm yellow tone. The cones themselves can also be used, producing a reddish-brown color when combined with iron.
What’s more, these colors have excellent fastness, meaning they will retain their vibrancy even after the yarn is washed and worn.
Sumac (Rhus spp.)
Mature berries are a versatile and effective natural dye source. When used to create hues, mature berries can produce stunning results. For instance, when no mordant is added, the resulting color is a deep burgundy. However, when iron is introduced as a mordant, the outcome shifts to a warm gray tone. Interestingly, while the color fastness of the dye is generally good when a mordant is employed, it can be weak without one.
Sunflowers (Helianthus spp.)
When it comes to extracting colors from flowers, a combination of parts can be used. Petals are particularly useful for producing pale yellow hues when combined with alum and tin. In contrast, leaves and stalks can be used to create bronze tones using copper sulfate or gray shades with iron. One notable aspect of these color extractions is their good resistance to fading, making them a reliable choice for various artistic applications.
Violets (Viola spp.)
The process for obtaining hues from the entire plant involves a combination of natural and chemical means. For instance, when using iron as an mordant, the resulting color is a lovely sage green. Similarly, copper sulfate can be used to produce a vibrant gold hue. In contrast, alum serves as a mordant to achieve a pale yellow shade. While these colors show decent fastness, further experimentation may be necessary to ensure optimal results.
Walnut (Juglans nigra)
When exploring the various hues that can be achieved through the use of leaves in natural dyeing processes, a particularly striking example is the combination used to produce intense yellows. When combined with tin, this method yields a deep and vibrant yellow shade, while pairing with alum results in a lighter, yet still radiant, hue. One notable characteristic of these colorfast dyes is their exceptional resistance to fading over time.
Woad (Isatis tinctoria)
To produce a range of soft blues, the process begins by fermenting fresh leaves. Once fermented, the leaves are then treated with either ammonia or concentrated urine. The resulting hues vary in shade depending on the duration of the leaf’s exposure to the dyebath. Notably, the color fastness is good, ensuring that the vibrant blue tones remain resistant to fading.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
When it comes to harvesting flowering heads of the white plant, you’ll be rewarded with an impressive palette of intense yellows. The addition of tin or alum during the dyeing process yields even lighter shades. A notable aspect of this plant is its exceptional color fastness, ensuring that your yarn remains vibrantly colored for a long time. This makes it an ideal choice for foraging and using in natural dyeing projects.
Yew (Taxus baccata)
When working with yew, it’s essential to employ specific precautions due to its toxicity. Begin by combining bark and heartwood, then shave the mixture and allow it to soak for 24-48 hours. To achieve a deep orange, rust, copper, or reddish pumpkin shade, use pre-mordanted natural fibers and alum in a strong dyebath that’s been simmered for 40-60 minutes. It’s crucial to take safety measures when handling yew, such as wearing gloves and a face mask, and properly disposing of the dyebath liquid.
The resulting colorfastness is very good.
A Few Notes on Foraging
In the world of yarn plant dyes, it’s no secret that a plethora of colors can be achieved through foraging efforts. However, what may come as a surprise is the abundance of yellow, green, and brown hues that dominate the spectrum. This realization led to great excitement among enthusiasts who sought to unlock new ways to create vibrant yarns and fabrics. The highly prized intensely pigmented fibers were particularly coveted, given the rarity and expense of the dyes used to produce them.
As one might expect, the availability of dye plants is closely tied to geographical location. What may be readily accessible in one region may be scarce or even non-existent in another. For instance, woad may be abundant in the UK, while indigo may thrive in South America and saffron crocuses may bloom profusely in the Mediterranean.
It is essential to prioritize ethical and responsible foraging practices.
Conduct thorough research ahead of time to determine which plants are endangered in your area and take measures to ensure their populations remain healthy. Avoid taking the first plant you encounter, instead opting to leave a sufficient number behind to reproduce naturally.
/nFurthermore, it is crucial to thoroughly understand the properties and safe handling procedures for various mordants.
When dyeing fibers and fabrics with children present, consider using salt, vinegar, and baking soda as mordants to minimize potential risks.