Anyone know anything about making home made dyes for cloth and yarn?

Question

I've tried coffee and food coloring, but neither worked very well! I was trying to dye 100% cotton yarn. Anyone have any suggestions?

Whoops. Didn't mean to post twice, my computer froze up. Sorry!

Answer 1

its all according to how dark you want it and what color, you can get whole books on the subject. where do you live, various leaves and such produce colors, the hulls of black walnuts, some flowers, onion skins are a good one. put ten or 20 tea bags in a gallon of boiling water and then stick your yarn in when its boiled for ten or 15 min. Now one thing that keeps color in is a mordant, there are lots that are nasty chemicals and metals, the simplest ones are salt, vinegar, and alum which is used to make pickles crisp. you can use koolaid for dyes too. i also take acrylic paints and water them down and use that to dip dye and or paint on fabrics of all sorts, im sure if you looked up natural dyes on line you would get more ideas. I took some rit dye once and i had several balls of crochet thread that grandma had kept, they were somewhat rust stained here and there, so i put them in the dye, cardboard tube and all, and yes where the lines crossed the color was lighter, and in the center of the ball the color was lighter, but when worked up it gave me colors from burgandy to light mauve in a heathered effect and i really loved it. dont be afraid to branch out. also wash your cotton yarn first, it may have a finish on it that keeps the dye from sinking in, then put it in the dye bath, the water should be just under boiling and deep enough to cover all of the yarn well, then you need a long spoon to swish it all around if you want it even or let it sit if you want a little varriation in the color, you could also over dye it with another shade. like dye the whole thing pink, then over dye it by folding it in half and dipping it in blue, you would get a pink and lavendar shading. always dye the lighter color first then add the darker color. dying can be a real adventure, now when you have the color you want, toss a cup of salt in the water or dye bath, and let it sit half an hour. then take out and put in a bucket of water with a cup of vinegar. let it sit, then pull it out and either string all over the place to dry or put in a zippered bag and throw in the hot dryer. one of those net laundry bags, you know. , best of all have fun with it.

Answer 2

Well, I came across this the other day...I don't know if it'll be usable for cotton because it suggests animal fiber, but it is a cute & inexpensive means of dying yarn - Kool Aid :)

Answer 3

http://www.ineedcoffee.com/03/dye/

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_fabrics_tips_hints/article/0,,HGTV_3393_1395178,00.html

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/naturaldyes.html

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/lb_other/article/0,2025,DIY_13995_2274388,00.html