Natural Dye Extract Instructions

Natural dyes are a wonderful way to learn about the hidden colors in nature. We obtain yellow and purple from exotic dye woods, red from the cochineal bug and brown from a sweet-smelling resin. Follow the easy instructions below for best results and enjoy the color journey!

Fiber Preparation and Mordanting

Your fiber should be scoured and mordanted prior to dyeing. Visit our How To pages for information on scouring and mordanting instructions for wool, alpaca, silk (protein), cotton and plant (cellulose) fibers.

Dyeing your Fibers

Calculating the amount of dye that you need can be done by first weighing the material that you want to dye. The material must be dry when you weigh it. This measurement is known as the weight of fiber or WOF. The amount of dye that you need is then calculated as a percentage of the WOF.

For example, an average large cotton t-shirt weighs approximately 150g. To dye it a medium brown shade with cutch, you could use 10% of the weight of the shirt (15g) of cutch. To dye it a medium brown shade with walnut hull powder, you could use 25% of the weight of the shirt (37.5g) of walnut hull powder. The following table shows general guidelines for how much of each extract you should use for various shades.

Dye	Color	Light	Medium	Dark	Notes
Chestnut	Yellow	1-3% WOF	4-10% WOF	–	Combine with iron to create dark gray shades.
Cochineal textile grade extract	Red	0.25% WOF	0.5 – 1.5% WOF	3-4% WOF
Cutch	Reddish brown	2-6% WOF	7-14% WOF	15-20% WOF	For deepest shades, mix cutch with water and let it sit overnight. Simmer your goods for 2 hours. Adding soda ash at 1% WOF will redden and deepen the color.
Fustic	Yellow	1-2% WOF	3-4% WOF	5-10% WOF	Fustic is sold as a liquid extract.
Himalayan Rhubarb	Yellow	1-2% WOF	3-6% WOF	7-10% WOF	Stir well to dissolve this powder fully.
Indigo	Blue	0.5-1.5% WOF	2-3% WOF	4-6% WOF	Indigo uses a different process than other dyes. Use these percentages to create a vat. See vat dyeing instructions here.
Kamala	Yellow	1% WOF	5% WOF	10% WOF	Works best with protein fibers such as wool and silk.
Lac	Red	1-3% WOF	4-6% WOF	7-10% WOF	Use 3% WOF citric acid and dissolve this in water with the lac extract. Strain this mixture well to remove sediment from your dyebath.
Logwood	Purple	0.25-0.5% WOF	0.75-1% WOF	1.75-2.5% WOF
Madder	Red	0.5-2% WOF	3% WOF	4-8% WOF	Calcium carbonate at 1% WOF brings out the deep red color of madder.
Marigold Mix	Yellow	1-2% WOF	5-6% WOF	8-10% WOF
Myrobalan	Yellow/ tan	3% WOF	4-6% WOF	10-12% WOF
Pomegranate	Yellow	1-3% WOF	4-6% WOF	7-10% WOF
Premium Lac	Red	1-1.5% WOF	2-3% WOF	4-5% WOF
Quebracho Moreno	Yellow/ tan	1-2% WOF	3-6% WOF	7-15% WOF
Quebracho Rojo	Pink	1-2% WOF	3-6% WOF	7-15% WOF
Rich Purple Logwood	Purple	1% WOF	2% WOF	4% WOF
Sappanwood	Purple	1-2% WOF	5% WOF	10% WOF	This dye is very sensitive to pH shifts. A pH of 7 gives a very clear purple. Lower pHs can bring out more pink tones and higher pHs can bring out more blues.
Tannin	Beige	1-3% WOF	4-6% WOF	7-10% WOF	Very light color used to create dark browns, blacks, and grays when combined with iron or other colored tannin-based dyes, such as cutch.
Tara Powder	Beige	5% WOF	8% WOF	10% WOF	Very light “clear” powder that can be used in a similar manner as tannin.
Walnut Hull Powder	Brown	5-10% WOF	11-50% WOF	50-100% WOF	This is a powdered raw dye, not an extract, so a larger percentage of dye material is used. At the higher percentages, it is possible to reuse the sediment and create additional lighter colored dye baths with it.
Wattle	Tan	1-3% WOF	4-6% WOF	7-10% WOF
Weld	Yellow	0.25-0.75% WOF	1-2% WOF	3% WOF	Calcium carbonate at 1% WOF brings out the bright yellow color of weld.

Letting Dyes Cool in the Dye Pot

This is largely a preference for dyers and is based on the observation that some colors will continue to deepen during cool down. However, fibers dyed with Saxon Blue should always be removed promptly once they are cool enough so you can handle them without burning yourself.

Rinsing

Using the same temperature water as your fiber, rinse the dyed goods once or twice to remove excess dye, then wash gently in a neutral liquid soap. Dry away from direct sunlight.

Reusing and Disposing of Dye Baths

Any exhaust baths with dye color left in them may be used to dye additional materials. I keep extra small skeins of mordanted wool yarn and throw those into the exhaust baths. There will usually be some residual color in the dyebath, even after using the exhaust bath. Dispose of the used dye baths in accordance with your local municipal guidelines.