Have you ever tried to naturally dye some of your garments white using ingredients that are commonly used in the kitchen? One possibility is to create original colors using the golden yellow of turmeric or the brown of coffee.
Have you ever tried to dye naturally some of your white garments using ingredients that are commonly used in the kitchen? One possibility is to create original colors using the golden yellow of turmeric or the brown of coffee.
In home products shops we find various possibilities for dyeing fabrics, but these are obviously options made with chemicals and consequently pollutants. Fortunately, the alternative exists and we often have it ready in the pantry. It is about the possibility of using some food ingredients that can become real natural dyes, solutions that among other things have been known and used since ancient times.
This is the case, for example, of turmeric, a spice known above all for its beneficial properties but also for its characteristic color that makes it a perfect food dye as well as useful for dyeing fabrics. In this way it is still used today especially in India and eastern countries. Another ingredient that can come in handy is coffee.
So let's find out how to use them to dye a fabric according to a recipe from the Elegans & Elephants blog.
ingredients:
half a meter of white linen or 100% cotton fabric
turmeric
½ cup of coffee
2 cups of white vinegar
Acqua
Preparation
Put 8 cups of water and 2 cups of vinegar (the proportion must always be 4 to 1) in a large pot in which you will also immerse the fabric to be dyed and boil over low heat for about 1 hour. This step is to prepare the fabric to absorb the color and to ensure that it adheres well to the fibers.
Depending on whether you want to use coffee or turmeric for dyeing, add 6 cups of water and half a cup of ground coffee or 8 cups of water and a tablespoon of turmeric powder to another pot. In both cases, boil for 1 hour.
At this point, remove the fabric to be dyed from the vinegar and immerse it in the dye you have prepared by boiling it further for about 1 hour. Then rinse until the water appears clear and wash the fabric in the washing machine cold, drying it well before using it.
Have you ever tried a natural dye like this for your fabrics at home?
Read also:
- Natural dyes: how to make various colors starting from common ingredients
- How to dye fabrics at home in a natural way in 3 steps
- Shibori: how to dye and decorate fabrics in a natural way with the ancient Japanese technique (PHOTO and VIDEO)
- The rediscovery of the vegetable dyeing of fabrics from herbs
