by Tess Cimino

The dyeing and treatment of textiles are responsible for 17-20% of global freshwater pollution. Synthetic chemical dyes are toxic and harmful to the environment but there is an alternative...natural dye. A natural dye is anything that is derived directly from the natural world that can be used to color a textile. For example, flowers and food scraps. 

Esha Chhabra reported in The Guardian that “last year, the Delhi-based advocacy group, The Centre for Science and Environment did a study in Tirupur, a textile city in south India. The results indicated that the river Noyyal, which runs near the dye houses and manufacturing plants in Tirupur, had significantly more chemicals than other rivers in the area.”

The first synthetic dye was discovered by accident in 1856 using a coal tar byproduct. For all of human history before that, humans had been finding ways to harness color from the natural world using plants, roots, flowers, berries, and even insects. Each plant has its own chemistry, and thus its own specific way of behaving as a textile dye. 

“The textile dyeing and finishing industry have created a huge pollution problem as it is one of the most chemically intensive industries on earth, and the No. 1 polluter of clean water (after agriculture). More than 3600 individual textile dyes are being manufactured by the Industry today. The industry is using more than 8000 chemicals in various processes of textile manufacture including dyeing and printing,” according to scientific research done by Rita Kant at the University Institute of Fashion Technology in India.

One of the many exciting things about natural dyes, aside from the color, is the human and environmental benefits of each natural substance. As long as the ingredients used for dye are harvested and foraged responsibly, natural dyeing can be an act of healing in environmentalism. Little research has been done about the health effects of wearing chemically-sprayed cotton, chemical dyes, and petroleum-based polyester on our skin (the largest organ of our body, and an absorbent one at that). It’s fair to guess that it isn't a health-enhancing practice. Instead, we look to healing roots, flowers, barks, wood, berries, fruits, food scraps, and leaves to provide us not just with color for our textiles, but also the accompanying compounds and properties which can enhance the health of the wearer. Also, most plants have properties that protect them from the elements and pests, so when we use this to dye fabric, we then have a product that is more resistant to moth invasion and can help our own skin heal with antioxidants and other fortifying properties. 

Natural dyeing is simple and fun. It can easily be done in your own kitchen. All you will need is an old pot you don’t use, a cotton t-shirt (or any other organic clothing material), salt, and a few avocado pits (if you want to make a nice light pink color). First, boil 4 gallons of water per each pound of yarn or cloth being dyed. To have the color stick to your fabric you need to use a mordant. Our favorite and least toxic mordants are salt, vinegar, and alum. Add two tablespoons of Kosher salt to the boiling water and let the fabric soak in the saltwater for an hour. After your time is up, boil another pot ¾ full of water and add in the avocado pits. Five pits, and even the skins too, are usually a good amount. Once it starts to boil, immerse your fabric or yarn in the dye bath. Then simmer for around sixty minutes. After, take your fabric out with tongs and rinse the dyed yarn or fabric in water and keep rinsing until the water runs clear. Do not twist or wring it, for this causes streak and wrinkles that are difficult to remove, instead gently squish out the water and hang to dry. When the fabric is dry enough to iron, cover it with a cloth and heat press it. This process helps with colorfastness. To obtain a darker color put it through another dye bath cycle. Remember, just to be safe, do not use new cooking pots for dyeing, wear rubber gloves when handling mordants and dyes, and dye in a well-ventilated room or outside. The remainder of the dye not used can be disposed of down the drain or outside… and those avocado pits can now be composted too!

Some of the best plants and flowers for natural dyeing that we tested are Coleus (pink and purple dye color), Pansy (purple and red), Marigold (yellow), Hibiscus (teal), Osage Orange (gold), Calendula (yellow), Tithonia (orange), Rosemary (green), Lavender (pink), and Cosmos (orange). Simply, take a few flower heads or handful of petals and boil them through the same process as the avocado pits. Some of the best food scraps for natural dyeing that we tested are coffee (brown color dye), red onion skins (green), yellow onion skins (purple), sumac (red), beets (red), avocado pits (light pink), turmeric (yellow), tea (brown) and carrots (orange).