How to Make Dye Out of Fruits & Veggies
Replicating the colors found in nature with fruits and vegetables adds a handcrafted quality to your crafts and sewing projects. Dyes can be made from orange skins, red onion skins, apple peels and spinach leafs. These are just a few of the fruits and veggies that lend their colors well. By adding flowers, nuts and barks to your materials the possibilities are endless. With some experimentation you can make all the colors in the color wheel. These natural dyes will color fabrics, shells, bones, coral and wood. Anything that will pick up dye can be colored with natural dyes.
Things You'll Need
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Distilled water
- White vinegar
- Table salt
- Large enamel or stainless steel pot
- Glass jars
- Strainer
- Coffee filters
Instructions
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Vegetable Dyes
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1
Place 2 cups of chopped vegetables, 4 cups distilled water and half a cup of white vinegar in an old pot. Bring it to a rolling boil and then reduce the heat under the pot to low. Let the mixture simmer for one hour. Strain the dye into a glass jar.
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2
Prepare a dye fixative by adding 4 cups of water and 1 cup white vinegar to a clean dry pot. Place the pot on the stove and turn the burner to low. Add the material that you will be dying to the pot. Simmer for one hour. Remove the material from the fixative bath and ring out the excess liquid. Rinse the material and pot with cold water and set the material aside.
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3
Pour the dye solution through a coffee filter into the empty pot. Turn the burner to low and add the wet fabric. Simmer the material in the dye until the material has changed color. This will take approximately 15 minutes. For a more intense color, remove the pot from the heat and allow the material to soak in the dye over night.
Fruit Dyes
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4
Peel the fruit and chop the skins into small pieces. Add 2 cups chopped fruit skins and 4 cups distilled water to your pot. Bring them to a rolling boil and then reduce the temperature to low. Simmer for one hour. Strain the dye into a glass jar.
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5
Make a color fixative by adding 8 cups of cold water and a half cup of table salt to a large pot. Add the fabric to the pot and simmer over low for one hour. Remove the material from the pot and squeeze the excess liquid from it. Rinse the material and the pot thoroughly in cold water and set the material aside.
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6
Pour the dye solution through a coffee filter into the empty pot. Turn the burner to low and add the wet fabric. Simmer the material in the dye until the material has changed color. This will take approximately 15 minutes. For a more intense color remove the pot from the heat and allow the material to soak in the dye over night.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Fresh fruits and vegetables work best.
Small fruits like berries do not need to be peeled. They can be used whole.
Experiment with different fruits and veggies until you find all of the colors you need.
The dye making and fixative baths are different for fruits and veggies because the fruits already contain a natural acid and adding vinegar is not necessary.
You can prepare the dyes in advance and heat them to refresh the dye and remix the properties.
Straining your liquid dyes through a coffee filter prevents speckling.
Cover your work surfaces and avoid straining the dyes over countertops or sinks. The dyes will stain.
