On this channel I document my process of dyeing fabric with plants. Solar dyeing is my preferred method, however I sometimes employ other techniques to extract color from plants. I am located on the island of O'ahu in Hawai'i and take pleasure in sourcing and using plants that grow in the natural environment.
This channel is about exploration and experimentation. My purpose isn’t to tell you what to do; it is to show you how things can be done according to my own experimentation and interpretation.
I don't necessarily follow what others do when it comes to natural dyeing. Please keep that in mind.
@@okashakhan6338 if the dye is warm, I presoak the fabric in warm water. If the dye is cold, I presoak in cold. Whatever the temperature of the dye is, I try to match the fabric to that. For this Java plum dye, I poured cold water over the fruit and left it in the sun to heat up. It was probably warm when I put the fabric in, so I would have made the fabric warm.
I typically pre-mordant textiles, and these samples had been previously mordanted with alum power. The combination of that with the high tannic acid content of avocado skins and seeds helps with color retention. I don't always use a mordant when working with plants high in tannin, but I do think that a combination is good for cellulose fibers. Thanks for watching and commenting!
So happy I came across your channel. I am from Puerto Rico and we have similar flora. I was googling on how to dye with annatto which we call ‘achiote’. Then proceeded to hyper focused on your page 😅 Love the way you communicate. You’re officially my favorite natural dye channel 😊🖖🏼
That is so sweet! ☺I'm glad your interest in using achiote as dye brought you here to share such great energy! And I hope you find something else on the channel that helps you learn more about making dye from tropical plants!
Thanks for watching! The skin and seeds are both high in tannin, which typically contributes to colorfastness, at least for a while. This can be improved with the addition of a chemical mordant. Like with many other natural dyes, it will eventually start to fade, but that could take a long time I think it's worth a shot!
Thank you! For alum, I've read about people using anywhere from 5-20% weight of fiber for 100 grams. I usually do 10%, so for 50g of fiber, I'd do 5% of alum and the same for the salt. Sometimes I'll just go with .5 to 1 teaspoon. It seems to work well, especially when combined with tannic acid of some sort.
If I"m understanding correctly, you're saying you use this as an alternative to alum. Nice! I want to experiment with it some more, but I do like the outcome I got with it.
Cellulose fibre like Cotton needs to be scoured very well before mordanting for plant dyeing. Also when you have mordanted squeeze only and do not rinse the fabric… it should then be dried in the sun till completely dry. After this it can be dunged with either wheat bran or Calcium Carbonate ( chalk), this process helps the mordant stay bound to the fabric and once the dunging process is done, rinse well and then the fabric is ready to dye.
I love how you are experimenting! I dry my leaf and flower dyes and have begun leaving them for about a week before I wash . I find more color adhering to my cellulose fabrics. Good dyes to you!
Thank You for the great Video!! I heard hot Air fixates natural 'Stains' into the Fabric and makes them more difficult to remove, so maybe You could try Ironing the Fabric, put it into a Dryer or Oven at different Temperatures and Durations, maybe that has a positive Effect. :)
That's a great suggestion! I rarely do iron or machine dry dyed textiles, but I have ironed some of my eco-printed fabrics with the hopes that the process would help the color stay. It actually does seem to help. I should do that more. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Nice video! I have found with some plant dyes like avocado skins/pits that the dye is more color fast if the fabric is dried without rinsing first. It seems like the dye has to "cure" in the fabric for it to stay. But maybe what's happening is more like a stain that gets set in and resists washing out. I also find that using equal(by weight) dye stuff to fabric or more will produce a deeper color. I have tried hibiscus flowers in their dried form and that seems to give a deeper color. I love the results you had with your bundles!! I will try that next time for sure.
I have unintentionally done that as well: "cure" the fabric with avocado pit dye and some others, and I've thought about what you mentioned about staining. I do think there's something to that, and I should experiment more in that area. Now, I've been struggling to get my dried and powdered hibiscus to work on fabric the way the fresh flowers work, but I need to try just using dried petals. I really like working with hibiscus! Thanks for this comment. I'm going to be thinking more about what you've said.
Those are fibers I don't work with, but it seems like Epsom salt functions similarly to alum powder when used as a mordant. I know people use alum for wool and silk. So, I think it would work.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching this process. Your surroundings are beautiful too. Loved seeing the mountains in this he background and hearing nature sounds. Very soothing 🥰
Years ago when I studied textiles, we'd first cook the dye material in a large pot, having 4 pots on the go. Then add a different mordant to each pot, and then add yarn or textile to each pot. It was wonderful to see the different colour produced by each mordant. We'd use alum, tin, iron, and I can't remember the 4th one. I have to check my ancient binder of notes from college, lol.
@@karenramstedt4614 Ahhh...82. My year of birth! I'm always telling my girls how things were different "in my day" and before. 😊Thanks for sharing that information. I've worked with tin only once, and I was adding it to turmeric dye. If I recall correctly, the dye turned an interesting pinkish-orange color. This was done with no heat. Actually, most of my experiments with different mordants were done with turmeric. I really liked the outcomes.
Yaaayy! Love love love this. I’m starting an “artist residency in motherhood” and want to involve my toddler in my work so this is absolutely perfect. Thank you so much for the ideas! I just found a video of someone using a bubble wand to literally blow colored bubbles onto fabric to make a “tie dye” design. I assume he wasn’t using natural dyes but I thought I’ll try it with turmeric or cochineal and see what happens 🤔
That sounds wonderful, and you're very welcome! ☺ After I read your comment I saw someone doing that very thing with bubbles in a reel on Instagram! It was possibly the same video you saw. It was being described as a "classic" bubble activity, but I don't recall ever hearing about it before your comment. But We're definitely going to try it.
@@robinm7599 there are several options available for it on Etsy. That's where I first saw it for sale 2 years ago before I decided to make it. I just did a search, and saw at least 5 vendors selling it.
Thank you so much! I"m glad you've found inspiration here. The loss was the primary catalyst for my work in plant dyes as a hobby, and I'm always happy to know that it helps others as well.
Hey there, I left a comment on your powdered dye video a little bit ago. I was going to say I can remember reading a book what seems like a 1000 years ago now lol that talked about the Hopi Indians I think & was talking about how they were famous in trade for their blankets, & handmade pottery because of the vibrant colors they were able to achieve. Colors that are still vibrant on some of the pieces found in museams with very little restoration work ever having being done to them. And one of the things I remember it said was on some of the colors from flowers it may take hundred or thousands of the one flower to actually make that color to get it vibrant enough to make or "capture" the color. So maybe try more flowers in less water to make a less diluted color? Just a thought that popped in my head from that book. Anyway best of luck dear & as Always much L ❤VE from Kentucky !
Yes, I do think that's the key! The next time I try it, I want to squeeze as much water/"juice" from as many flowers as I can, and I want to see what happens if I do that directly into the white flour mixture without even using additional water for making dye. Doing it that way will likely weare me out and not be the most efficient use of flowers, though. So, I was thinking also to try using even less water. Thanks for sharing about the work of the Hopi people. It's amazing the colors have lasted so long. That really speaks to the powers of natural dyes!
I left the other comment, went off to do something, and then it hit me: one of my intended uses for the powdered dye is to use it to make paint! I had completely forgotten (poor memory has been one of the consistent effects of grief, but it's always getting better.) After making this paint video, I was inspired to go ahead and make powder, something I'd been considering for a while, primarily to see how it would do in paint. With it being more concentrated (like the spirulina and turmeric powders), I think it will work well. Interesting how that slipped my mind. I probably would have eventually remembered, but your comment brought it back up for me, so thank you!
@@plantdyefortextiles oh no worries dear & honestly they could have added other steps to the processing too I just remembered that 1 fact it's been probably 25 years since I read that somewhere. Believe me I understand how the memory & the brain in general works when experiencing True Loss & Grief. It can turn you into a completely other person, but as I said I do pray that the Lord is working on healing your heart & that you find happiness in the joy & laughter of your children until you find your own true joy again. We take the small moments when & where we can find them. 🙏 😊 🌹
Hey there, first time finding your channel, of coarse im sorry to here of the loss of your Husband, especially with such a young child. I pray the Lord has heeled your heart, or at the very least is working on it. 🙏 As for your plant dye idea I personally haven't tried this with fresh or powdered but just in expierence with gardening & cooking & dehydrating items myself I knew you would at minimum need bouling water to extract the color. OR largest amount of it. However, I think you can also leave it in the sun and it will do something very similar as it leeches all nutrients including colors from plants over time. So im guessing a good hot day or so in the sun would work out just about the same as the boiling or super hot water just a little slower. Anyway, im off to look at your fresh dye extractions to learn something new!😊 Much L❤VE from Kentucky!
Thank you for those kind words regarding our loss. I really appreciate it. ❤ And yes! Just today I started working on a part 2 video on this topic, and I poured boiling water over one of the powders and boiled the others in water. My favorite mode of dyeing textiles is in the sun, but since we've been getting mostly rain lately, I figured it would be best to boil/add boiling water first then let the dye and fabric rest out in the sun--when it does peep through the clouds. Some of the dyes will work faster than the others. I look forward to sharing the results soon. Thanks for checking out the videos!
Yes, it was outside, uncovered in a stainless steel bowl for at least 2 months. This is mostly due to neglect, as I just never got back around to dealing with it. It just sat there gathering rain and whatever else. I walked past it daily telling myself I needed to do something with it. It didn't go bad likely due to being open and receiving air and direct heat from the sun over time. Whenever I leave turmeric in a jar with a lid on, it will definitely go bad after several days. In terms of the long soak, I like to get as much color absorbed into the fabric as possible. I can tell when It reaches the point where it's reached its full potential in terms of color absorption. Soaking it for a long time doesn't influence permanency in my experience, especially when it comes to turmeric. It will eventually fade regardless!
Travaillez sur votre hygiène personnelle, notamment les ongles, les poils sur les jambes et la propreté de l'évier, mais pour être honnête, d'un point de vue technique et de combinaison de couleurs, vous êtes excellent.
I do appreciate the compliment with which you ended your remark. Regarding the other matters, it is all fine from my perspective, the one that matters most. I work outside with plants and soil constantly. I am also a hygienic mammal with hair. Also a full-grown adult, with children, not a child myself. I'm happy, healthy, and free. All is well with my soul. I hope the same for you. Merci beaucoup. :)
I would love to see a video on how you involve your kids in natural dye / paint making or any of the other activities you mentioned! I have a toddler with a lot of energy and could use some ideas 😅
Yes! I really need to do a full-length video on this topic. Here's a short from a year ago related to my own high-energy toddler: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eJjkvPLhDnI.html Thanks for your comment! I'll definitely work on a video. My children are consistently involved, and it would be fun to show that!
I know you like to focus on the plants that are in your environment, but i wanted to know what makes you decide whether a flower or root etc may be good for dyeing with?
Thanks for such a good question! Initially, I was using one specific book as a resource to learn plants around me that can be used for making natural dye. Over time-with the understandings gained from that book- my approach became more based on experience and intuition as I explored extracting natural color from plants the book doesn't mention. So for instance, when looking at a flower, I know that those that have a light pastel color like lavender or yellow will not give me color that translates well to cellulose fibers, which is all I use. The dye will be even lighter than the petals and will just barely show up on the fabric, especially once it dries after being dyed. But if I see boldly colored flowers, it’s almost a guarantee that they’ll produce nice color on textile, and it might be a color or colors completely different from the color of the petals. For instance, we discovered that pink azaleas-when pounded on fabric-will produce 3 or 4 different colors, and none are pink. Same with red hibiscus. In terms of leaves, I’ll see a bush covered in leaves of some sort, and maybe one or two of the leaves are showing a color other than green. And it’s not that they’re dead or dying leaves, but there will just be a patch of a contrasting color on a seemingly healthy leaf. Out of curiosity, I’ll get a few of the leaves, boil them, and end up with a dye the same color that I saw on the leaves. It’s almost like a clue. Many, many leaves will just give off the same light green dye when boiled, but there are others that are also green but make orange, burgundy, and even blue dye. I haven’t done a whole lot with roots, but right now I’m curious about some red coconut roots out in my garden still left over from a coconut palm we dug up a few years ago. I’m also curious about the roots of purple sweet potatoes I’m growing. Sometimes I take a very simplistic approach: if the potato is purple, maybe the roots will make purple dye! Same with tree bark. A lot of it is really just trial and error, but with more experience, I understand more and more about plants and what they can do in terms of color production. This is so long, but hopefully it’s helpful! I’ll be glad to clarify more if needed.
@@plantdyefortextiles thank you for this detailed response! It’s very helpful to hear your thought process and what you’ve intuited from experience, it’s inspiring me to take a closer look at the plant life around me too!
@@diasporicsol it's called Hawai'i Dye Plants and Dye Recipes by Val Frieling Krohn-Ching. It's pretty specific to the plants where we live, but I think it's useful for tropical places in general. It's been such a useful resource for me over the past few years.
I've heard of using table salt- sodium chloride- to help hold the color, too. Has anyone experimented with using cucumber skins or lamp black when dying for a black color?
@@tinnaz1 I haven't tried either and hadn't heard of cucumber skins producing black. I'm definitely willing to try that! Also never heard of lamp black until researching it just now. I've got charcoal powder, but it seems to be different from that. I'll look more into it. Thanks!
I forgot to comment about salt. From what I've read and experimented with, table salt can be used to help the dye particles transfer from the dye bath to the fabric, yet it doesn't function as a means of fixing the dye to the fabric. I've put it in dye here and there with no results of it helping the fabric hold color, but I'm actually currently doing an intentional experiment with this process to better understand how it works as an aide for natural dyes.
@@plantdyefortextiles Thank you for your kind replies. I have very little experience with these things actually. I ran across the black dye options while doing some research a few years ago. I have boiled cucumber skin and it did produce a nice dark color which was surprising. When I heard about lamp black I had to look into it. I realized I had washed it off my pots and pans for years. The best results were from camping or cooking outdoors on a fire pit. Lately, I've been watching how to gather and process fibers. It's all very interesting!
@@tinnaz1 oh, that info. gives me a bit more insight into lamp black. I'm sure I've encountered many times! The dark color from cucumber skin is so intriguing. I probably wouldn't have considered that. All of this and the seemingly endless possibilities is definitely very interesting! And you're very welcome. :)
Thanks for the question! Salt can be used but it does not help dye permanently bond to the fabric. It's useful for pulling the dye out of the dye bath and onto the fabric. The most common mordant is alum (aluminum potassium sulfate). It can be used to help the dye bind to the fabric and not just superficially stick to it like salt. You can also use aluminum acetate. I posted a video on how to make it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Nju4mQy3MvM.htmlsi=uRS7A3y0h_ezR0H8. If you're dyeing cellulose fibers like cotton or linen, an even better process is to first soak the fabric in a tannin solution before applying the mordant. I've found that this can help form an even better bond.
The turmeric will fade over time, and given my experience with other berries, the blackberry die probably will, too. But if used gently and not exposed to the sun too much, it should have decent longevity!
