spinoff: dying wool with natural dyes?

anyone done this? any tips?

i've heard that shelf mushrooms can give some nice colours to wool, but i dont have any idea of how to do it.

it's getting chilly, and i want to get some wool dyed for this years hats 'n mitts

 

Oh! I have a book on this! Hurray for Library Sales!

What colours are you looking for? I don't know if you'll be able to find the plants so late in the season, but I could tell you what plants you could plant in your area for future reference? Have to know your area and climate first though, eh? haha.

 

what's your book called?

i'm not sure which colours i want to do, i guess it would depend on materials available, and stuff like that. i live in the pacific northwest on a lovely island, so i think i probably still have time to harvest things. probably reds, oranges, browns, the warmer colours are what i'd be most interested in. purple?

 

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when I was a park ranger, I did a program on natural dyes. We used walnut hulls for a nice yellowy color, poke berries for pink (other berries would work as well, poke just grew everywhere), coffee or tea will give a nice light tan. Like she said above, purple is really tough, as is blue. We didn't use mushrooms, I don't think they were very plentiful in that area. Beets will make are good pink. Are you starting out with carded wool or yarn?

 

if you want a less toxic mordant you can dye your wool in an iron or copper pot. the copper or iron leeches into the water and into your wool. iron and copper or both excellent mordants. if you don't have copper or iron pots you can also toss in peices of iron or copper wire into the dye pot.

another way to make sure that what your dumping down the drain has the least amount of toxins in it is to make sure you really exhaust the dye bath. that just means you should keep using that batch of dye until it won't dye anymore wool. there shouldn't be a whole lot of mordant left in the water when your done.

a dyebath of natural dye and mordant can be saved and used again if it isn't exhausted. otherwise you should only use the amount of mordant needed for the amount of wool your dyeing if you don't want any left over.

i love dyeing wool!

drumminmama - that's cool info about the history of reds and purple dyes. i remember reading about artisan guilds origins and how they basically horded markets in certain items like fabric dyeing. you needed to be a guild member to dye reds and purples and becoming a guild member was difficult. dyers with permission to produce these colours obviousily made much more money than other dyers. the guild did not permit them to share recipes for reds and purples which is why it is so hard to find written recipes for these colours in historical refrences.

another interesting historical dyeing tidbit - some of the old traditional recipes called for pee as an ingredient!


nope, haven't tried that one yet, lol!

kathy

 

My book is called, oddly enough, "Dye Plants and Dyeing - a handbook". hahaha! It was printed in 1964, and i got it for 25cents.

Dyes that should work in your area are as followes, the mordant needed and how to prepare follows.


RED: Bloodroot - Alum (mordant), use the root. Cut 8oz of fresh root into small pieces, soak for an hour, then boil for 30 minutes. Strain liquid into bath for dye. Heat bath until lukewarm. Enter the mordanted, wetted wool. Continue heating slowly and simmer until desided colour is obtained. Rinse and dry in shade.

YELLOW: Scotch Broom - a yellow flowered European shrub, often planted in gardens. In N.A. often found in sandy areas of eastern US. Alum. Soak one pound of chopped flowering branches overnight, then boil for one hour. Strain liquid into bath for dye. Heat until lukewarm. Enter mordanted wetted wool, simmer one hour. Rinse and dry in shade. (if wool is first dyed with indigo, overdying with scotch broom will result in a nice green)

GOLD or YELLOW: Golden Marguerite - yellow flowered, daisy-like European perennial also know as dyer's chamomile. Sometimes seen along roadsides in Northern US and adjacent Canada. - for gold, use chrome. for yellow, use alum. Chop one peck of flower heads and boil for 30 minutes. Strain. For yellow: enter wetted and alum mordanted wool in cold dye bath, heat slowly and simmer for one hour. Rinse and shade dry. For gold: Dye soon after mordanting with chrome, while wool is still wet, but after it has cooled. Enter into cold dye bath, bring to slow boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Rinse in several clear waters of gradually reduced temperatures. Shade dry.

Burnt Orange - Onion (the brown skins of the normal cooking onion are used). Alum mordant. Boil on pound of skins for 30 minutes. Strain. Steep alum mordanted, wetted wool in hot dye bath for one hour. Rinse and dry. To make colour more durable, dip the wool two or three times more in dye bath, drying it after each dipping.

The book is actually broken up into areas. Like, the dyes they used in Japan, Eire and Scotland, Malaysia, Thailand, Morroco, Greece, Yugoslavia, England, Norway and by the "Canadian Aboriginals" (gee, that term dates the book, eh?).

Just PM me if you want some more, or from a specific area.

 

Wow. I've always wanted to try my hand at dying my own wool. With a bit more research I think that I will be ready to give it a try.
All you mamas rock!

 

urine= urea. Still used!

wow! i somehow didn't make that connection, lol!

 

I forgot about onion, it makes a lovely color for fall.
I wish I could find a book like that, it sounds really interesting!