How to How to Dye Wool With Plant Dyes

You can use a wide variety of plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables--even those in your own yard or garden--to create natural dyes for wool yarn. By collecting the right materials and preparing a dye bath correctly, you can create dyes in many different colors: reds, blues, pinks, oranges, yellows, browns and more. You can follow specific instructions on which plants to use for certain colors, or simply experiment with plants you find around you to see what shades you can create from them. This example uses goldenrod flowers, which produce a deep yellow color.

Things You'll Need

• Large enamel or stainless steel pot, 4 gallons or larger
• Mild laundry detergent
• Large wooden spoon
• Cheesecloth
• Strainer
• Stove
• 2 lbs. fully bloomed goldenrod flowers and stems
• 1 lb. wool yarn

Instructions

1. Prepare your wool yarn for dyeing by scouring it. Fill your pot with 3 gallons of water for 1 lb. of yarn and add mild detergent to make suds. Place the pot on your stove and submerge the yarn underwater. Slowly heat the water and allow it to simmer for 45 minutes. Then let the water cool, drain the yarn and rinse it until it is free of any suds. Set the yarn aside and rinse the pot well.

2. Make a dye bag. Shred the goldenrod flowers and stems into small pieces in order to extract the most color. Remove any insects or other materials. Wrap the goldenrod securely in cheesecloth--tie a knot in the cloth if necessary to keep the plant material inside.

3. Place the dye bag in your pot and fill it with enough water to cover the bag. Bring the water to a simmer and let the dye bag steep for 30 minutes. Remove the dye bag; if any plant pieces escaped into the water, pour it through a strainer to remove them.

4. Create your dye bath by combining the concentrated dye with 4 gallons of cold water in your pot. Wet your wool yarn, then submerge the yarn in the dye bath. Slowly bring the water to a low boil and cook the mixture until the yarn is your desired color, at least 30 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to gently turn and stir the yarn.

5. Remove the yarn and allow it to cool, then rinse it with cool water until the water runs clear. Gently squeeze the yarn to remove excess water--don't wring it--and hang it to dry.

Tips & Warnings

• The color of wet yarn in the dye bath is darker than it will be when the yarn is dry.

• You can reuse a dye bath, but it will produce progressively lighter shades of color.

References

• Pioneer Thinking: Making Natural Dyes From Plants
• "Back to Basics," Reader's Digest, 1981