Dyeing Cotton

[autumnrhapsody]

Hi everyone I've been skimming through some of the past threads about dyeing cotton, but I didn't find so much about the usage of coffee or tea... Does anyone know of any tutorials? and does it hurt to dye finished projects? In my case, it's just a set of coasters. Why did the bright idea of dyeing them come to me after I finished them? Ugh!

 

Thanks in advance

[needlesandpinza]

I do alot of coffee and tea staining for myself. I would not call it dyeing since it is not enternally wash fast, just a stain... BUT thats why it is so accrative, when it fades just re dip it again!

I dont know of anything online I just found out my own way by playing with it.

if you have any questions feel free to pm. its my fav way to "dye"

[furball1234]

My friend and I just used the Kool Aid to dye our cotton yarn. They ended up looking like Easter colors. I had to keep it down there to dry but can't wait to see the finishing result(I mean when I start crocheting with it) COOL BEANS!

[Shell]

there was a great tutorial on dying spread over 2 issues in of Simply Knitting (UK) magazine. In part 2 which is in Issue 27 it says that soaking your yarn prior is really important and there is actually a different method of soaking plant fibres as opposed to animal fibres. plant fibres being cotton, hemp, coconut, soya, linen etc and animal fibres being wool, alpaca, silk, mohair etc.

 

for animal fibres you dissolve 25g salt and either 100ml white vinegar or 25g citric acid in 3 litres of warm water per 100g of yarn

 

plant fibres dissolve 25g salt and 25g sodium carbonate in 3 litres of warm water per 100g of yarn.

 

There is plenty of interesting info in this article, but nothing on tea/coffee staining. Sorry Though the article even shows how white, natural and grey yarn looks when dyed, shows effects of over-dying and talks about proportions of the colours used etc. if you can get hold of this magazine I'd recommend it as it's very thorough. best of luck with you dyeing!!