DIY Natural Dying w/ Marigolds
Natural Dying with Marigolds
Natural dying is super fun, but at first I was a little intimidated. I read so many blogs and how tos and was overwhelmed by all the different approaches. I eventually just decided to go with one and see what would happen. I was beyond pleased with the results. I was imagining dried marigolds would impart a dull color and instead produced a very, very bold and beautiful unique yellow color.
I’ve compiled a brief tutorial. Give yourself a hand at growing marigolds (they’re pretty forgiving!) and dry some to pull out and experiment with one day. Or buy dried marigolds online.
Important notes:
I’ve only naturally dyed with 100% cotton, so that’s what these directions are for.
Mordanting the fabric is key. I used alum (potassium aluminium sulfate).
If tie dying, don’t remove rubber bands until after the item has been washed in the machine. Maybe this is obvious? But I removed rubber bands on some items before washing and the design blurred together.
You can mordant one day and let the items dry and then dye them another day.
When making the dye, use a pot you’re okay with adding a bit of a golden stain to.
Alright, lets go!
Gather your cotton material, dried marigolds, mordant (alum powder), big pot(s), kitchen scale and tongs.
Weigh your cotton materials and weigh your mordant (15% of WOG (weight of goods) Ex: shirts weigh 18 ounces, measure 2.7 ounces of alum).
In a large pot of water, bring water and alum to simmer, dissolving alum.
Add fabrics and simmer for 45 minutes.
In a different pot or once the one pot is free, fill with clean water and dried marigolds. You want enough water for your fabrics to be submerged. And you want 20% of WOG in dried marigolds. Let’s say the total amount of fabrics to be dyed weighs 100 ounces, you’ll want 20 ounces of marigolds. The amount of water does not dictate the color, just the amount of marigolds. Which seems kind of odd, but that’s how it works.
Simmer dried marigolds in pot of water for 45 minutes.
Skim off dried marigolds and compost.
Time to dye! Place mordanted fabrics in dye pot. Stir them around so dye covers fabric in all the nooks and crannies.
Let items dye for 10-30 minutes, depending on what color you’re trying to achieve.
Remove from dye bath and rinse. Add more fabric to dye and repeat step #9.
Wash dyed fabrics in washing machine on a cool cycle.
Admire your beautiful creations!
