How to Make Natural Dyes to Dye Fabric & Clothes – 3 Easy Steps to Dyeing Naturally at Home

It may be hard to fathom, but we didn’t always use chemicals to dye fabrics. For millennia, people used plants, roots and berries to color cotton, muslin, linen, silk and other fabrics. The coolest thing about natural dyeing is that the ingredients you need are likely right in your backyard or at the grocery store. CLICK on the link below to see how easy it is to make natural dyes with 3 easy steps.

Naturally dyeing fabric at home is an especially fun thing to do in the winter months because, let’s face it, we’re stuck indoors and need activities! Plus, we probably all have many of the dyes, like onion skin and celery leaves, on hand as ‘waste’ anyway.

How to dye fabric clothes make natural dyes

Jane, our Bushcare Officer, did a little experimenting herself with some natural dyeing at home using Dahlias.

The Dahlias are out in full bloom and I wanted to capture some of their wonderful colours for longer – to keep me happy over winter. So, I popped on my experimenter outfit (sort of like my Bushcare uniform but more green than blue) and got out my jars…

I soaked the Dahlias in water for 4 days and watched the colour seep out into the water with much delight.

After this time, I got out my trusty dye pot and with half a cup of vinegar and a large dash of salt. I then boiled the Dahlia brew for about 1/2 hour and low and behold – the colour became stronger.

I then bottled the Essence of Dahlia, added a clove as the preservative and used Gum Arabic as the binder and the results are below!! A lovely dusky pink hue …

Now, as this is my first time natural dying with Dahlias – next time I may boil for longer to get a stronger colour. Now I’m going to explore trying orange Dahlias and Gum leaves – hoping for more lovely rustic hues 😊