Directions on How to Tea Stain Fabric

Tea staining produces an antiqued look to fabric.

Tea staining has been used for centuries to dye natural fibers such as cotton, linen, silks and to a lesser extent wools. Today, tea staining has been incorporated into a plethora of crafts and employed by "green" consumers who wish to alter the hues of their fabrics without artificial or chemical dyes. Staining with tea is best on smaller amounts of fabric because of the unpredictable nature of the stain and the impossibility of recreating the same staining pattern. Tea staining produces an antiqued brown stain.

Things You'll Need

• Washing machine
• Clothes detergent
• Fabric (such as muslin, cotton, silks, linen, lightweight wool)
• Tea bags (orange pekoe or black pekoe)--2 teabags per cup water
• Boiled water --4 cups per yard fabric
• Bucket
• Stirring spoon
• Sink
• Clothes dryer
• Iron
• Ironing board

Instructions

1. Wash the fabric in cold water with the manufacturer's recommended amount of detergent before tea staining your fabric. Don't dry the fabric.

2. 

   Pour the boiled water into a bucket.

   Pour the boiled water into the bucket. You'll need 4 cups for each yard of fabric. Add the teabags. Use two teabags per cup of water in your bucket (eight teabags per yard of fabric). Allow the tea to steep in the bucket for five minutes. Remove the teabags.

3. Squeeze the excess water from your fabric and place the fabric loosely into the bucket of tea for about one hour. Stir the fabric with a stirring spoon for an even stain. For a marbled appearance, allow the fabric to soak without stirring. Pull out the fabric and observe every 15 minutes. When the fabric is stained as dark as you prefer, remove it. About half of the stain's darkness will wash out when you rinse the fabric.

4. 

   Rinse the fabric under cold tap water.

   Remove the fabric and rinse it under cold tap water in the sink. Gently press the excess water from the tea-stained fabric. If the fabric stain is too light, return the fabric to the tea in the bucket and re-soak. If you've achieved the tea stain hue you desire, proceed to the next step.

5. Place the wet fabric into the dryer. Once the fabric is dry, iron the fabric on a high setting on an ironing board. Heat sets the tea stain, creating a semi-permanent stain. Tea stain is removable by most detergents and bleach, and isn't recommended for items necessitating regular washing.

Tips & Warnings

• According to the Huntington Library Botanical Garden Programs, other tints you can make from natural ingredients include the following: For yellow, use onion skins, turmeric, chamomile, sage, annatto, zinnia, marigolds, safflower or green tea. For an orange hue, use carrot peels, beet juice or goldenrod. To achieve a green color, use spinach, kale, parsley, red onion skins, rosemary, thyme or carrot tops. Lavender hues can be obtained with blackberries, red cabbage, blueberries or grape juice concentrate. To achieve a darker brown tint, try black tea, coffee, pine cones, acorns or pecans.

• According to Crafty Moms, "The pronounced amount of tannin in the tea dye can compromise the fibers of the fabric and it will rot away. The tannin will supposedly cut the longevity of the fabric to 30 to 40 years."

References

• The Huntington Library Botanical Garden Programs: Discovering Plants (Tea Dyeing) with Lesson Plan for Grades K-12)
• Crafty Moms: How to Tea Dye Fabric