DYEING: Easy Grocery Store Dyes

Anyone who has ever had to try and remove a coffee stain from something knows that items from the grocery shelf can stain cloth with scant effort. But you can apply this information to your advantage when conducting your dyeing experiements. Many household products can be used to dye cloth, particularly cloth of protein fibers like wool. Since these are all food grade (you eat this stuff!!!) this type of dyeing makes a good project for children.

Coffee and Tea: The first most likely options in you kitchen dye projects are coffee and tea. They are already ground for use and you are familiar with the extraction process. Just brew a very strong cup! You can use discount store tea and coffee as -- obviously -- flavor has little effect. I recommned a one to one ratio of dye tea or coffee for every pound of fiber to be dyed. To get an antique look to linens and cotton use less dye stuff as you just want a tint. When dyeing wool with tea or coffee brew the grounds over night. Strain. Then put the wool in the next day and simmer under a boil for an hour. Let cool over night in the dye bath and remove. You should have a nice amber brown.

Tumeric: Tumeric and other curry powder spices have a nice yellow orange dye within them. You can use old stale cans of dye or grocery store discount brands as like tea flavor has no effect on color. Place the tumeric in a piece of old panty hose and boil. I've used one ounce of tumeric for a pound of wool as it has great dye power. Remove the dye bag and immerse wool or cotton and hold just under simmer for an hour or so. Let cool over night in the dye bath. Unlike some dyes, this makes the most wonderful smell! You should get a good orangey yellow. If you reuse the after bath the color will be a more pure yellow with greenish undertones.

Onion Skins: Onion skins make a nice yellow orange also. Follow the same procedure as above using a two part skins to one part fiber ratio. Simmer the skins and then strain. Place fiber in pot and simmer under a boil for an hour or so. Let cool over night and remove. A light purple dye can be made from the purple skinned onions.

Many other grocery items can be used too. Red Cabbage, fruits like grapes and berries, any thing that stains is a dye stuff!

The most important point to remember is not to boil! Simmer the dyestuff under boiling to keep the coloring matter from breaking down. Then immerse the fiber an keep just at a very low simmer. Let the fiber cool over night to get the last of the dye power in the liquid.

Have fun. You can feel that your experiments are cheap, and safe for the kids.