How to Make Food Dye to Color Wool Fabric

Homemade food dyes will work on wool yarns and fabrics.

Wool fabric and yarns can be dyed an endless variety of hues, and many different types of food dyes can be used to create those colors, including food coloring, Kool-Aid, and Wilton's paste. Dying your own yarn gives you control over the intensity of color, letting you customize every project with ease.

Things You'll Need

• Food coloring
• Two large buckets
• White or cream-colored wool yarn
• Water
• Dawn dish soap
• Stockpot
• White vinegar
• Plastic gloves
• Paper toweling

Instructions

1. Make a food-coloring dye by mixing several drops of food coloring with two cups of hot water in a bucket. Stir the dye thoroughly. Continue adding drops of food coloring until you have achieved the shade you want.

2. Wash the wool yarn before dying. Roll yarn into loose bundles. Tie the bundles loosely at the middle to prevent the yarn from tangling. Use a mild detergent soap like Dawn when cleaning yarn or delicate items. Soak the yarn in a bucket of water. Only a couple drops of soap are needed. Rinse and wring out excess water.

3. Soak the bundles of wool yarn in a stockpot of lukewarm vinegar water for at least two hours. Make the vinegar water by stirring in approximately one cup of white vinegar per gallon of water. This prepares the yarn to accept the dye better and more evenly.

4. Add the dye mixture to the stockpot with the vinegar water and wool yarn. Stir the entire mixture thoroughly to mix the dye in evenly.

5. Heat the mixture on the stove to boiling. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat and simmer the yarn until the water appears clear. This means the yarn has absorbed all of the dye.

6. Allow the mixture to cool completely before handling the yarn. Using gloves, remove the yarn carefully over the sink or bathtub. Use paper toweling to blot all of the excess water from the yarn. Once the yarn is no longer dripping wet, it can be unbundled and hung loosely to dry.

Tips & Warnings

• If dying yarn for a specific project, dye more yarn than required to be sure there is enough of the same color to finish the project. Trying to match a color dyed from a previous batch is extremely difficult.

• Acrylic and synthetic yarn are difficult to dye. Natural fibers work better.

References

• Spindle and Wheel: Dying Wool with Kool-Aid
• Pea Soup of the Day: How to Dye Yarn
• Kaity Knits A lot: Dyiing Wool Yarn