If you’ve ever tried to remove a stain caused by a splash of beetroot juice or an accidentally squashed blueberry on a brand new white T-shirt, then you’ll know the tremendous staying power and intensity of the colour produced by the juices of those fruits and vegetables.
Therefore, it’s understood why anyone one looking for a more organic and sustainable way to dye their fabrics would turn to nature as a source for a kaleidoscope of colours.
From deep purples and reds to subtle ochres and citrus hues, colour can be found in your backyard or fruit bowl.
Here’s a simple guide on what produce to use to achieve your desired colour.
For red and pink tones use raspberries, beetroot and cherries.
If you’re looking for intense purples, go for blackberries and red cabbage.
Onion skins and carrots will give you warm orange tones.
While spinach, celery tops and basil will offer you various shades of green.
Making fabric dye with fruits and vegetables is fairly easy and inexpensive. But to obtain the desired effect, it’s important to know how to prepare the fabric and, of course, how to extract the colour to create the dye.
Using an old pot, put one cup of fruit into four cups of water. Once the water has come to a boil, add your fabric.
The fabric needs to be fully submerged in the water. Simmer gently for at least 20 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and put it, with the fabric and the dyed water still in it, aside to cool.
How long you leave the fabric inside the water depends on how intense you want the colour to be. Your fabric can even be left in the cooled water overnight if you want. Remember that the final fabric will be lighter than what appears in the dye bath.
Once you are happy with the colour of your fabric, put on gloves, take the fabric out of the water, and hang it outside to dry.