Has anyone tried to use natural dyes?

[Yammy]

In doing some browsing around the web I have seen that there are many natural dyes that I could easily access such as Oregon Grape which makes yellow and purple, Blackberry which is supposed to give results close to a burgandy and if I wanted to do alot of digging Dandelion root for a vibrant pink. I've read about mordants and it seems alum is used alot to make the colors 'stick'.

 

I have some wool on it's way that I want to dye soon....

so any help or suggestions would be very appreciated.

[goldi316]

Probably the best book you can get that gives a good deal of info on working with Natural dye substances is The Dyer's Companion, which is a small reference book in the "Companion" series. I believe I picked my copy up from JoAnns but I'm pretty sure it's available on amazon too. This little book is a wealth of info on all things Dye related, but the most important is the safety issue which is heavily stressed. Dyeing with Kool-aid is relatively safe but when you start to get into dyeing with other substances (including the natural stuff), you can get into some serious hazard issues, especially with regard to many of the mordants and fixatives that need to be used in order to make the dyes work and stick. You will learn all about these in this book, which also includes a bibliography for more in-depth information. Here's the ISBN # for quicker look-up: 1-931499-51-9

 

HTH

[minwifeof4boys]

For my burgandy I use onion skins( yellow onions) and set it with a vinegar bath. I have tons of natural herbs on my property and use the book Dyes from American Native Plants.. if you use alum as a mordant ( which I do sometimes)... I add cream of tarter... alum really brightens the dye... I think from what I have read that alum and vinegar are the safetest mordants to use...

Have fun!

[Yammy]

Thanks to you both for your input

 

I don't want to work with anything that isn't safe so likely I'll stick to the alum/cr. of tartar and vinegar.

 

I did a bit more research and it seems that purple cabbage gives you blue