HOW TO MAKE NATURAL DYE WITH HERBS | ORGANIC COLOR | GREEN YELLOW BEIGE BROWN | IRON WATER | ALUM

[@myhandsaslanguage]

So cool! Can’t wait to try this some time. I’ve been looking for natural DIY green dyes. Thank you!

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

You are so welcome! Once you have iron water, green becomes much easier to create 💚 Enjoy!

[@SmallFossy]

Love it! I started making iron water a few weeks ago and can’t wait to try it out soon!

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Awesome! Having iron water is such a treat and easy to keep refreshing 🙂 Have fun with it!

[@somepinkflowers]

Going to chop & simmer some herbs from my garden today. 🌿🌿🌿🌿 Yasssss ‼️ Take me to Holland, please ‼️

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Most excellent! Finished filming the video in NL yesterday. Will meet you in Ameland on Friday 😉

[@cristinapape]

Tip: Here in Rio de Janeiro/ Brasil we love black beans. We leave the raw beans underwater during 8-10 hs and this water become violet. So beautiful and strong. So ...this is another possibility?

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Thanks for sharing your black bean tip, Cristina 💙 There is a video here on using black beans for natural dyeing. Have you seen that? It's from the fall of 2020. Sounds like you have already explored its beautiful color!

[@randistevens6989]

Yay! We have so much mint. Now I know what I can do with it. I also have and abundance of oregano and catnip. Have you tried oregano? Since catnip is a mint, it would probably be a great dyer too. Thank you for the inspiration!

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Mint is super prolific, so it is a great option - awesome that you have it in your garden, Randi 💚 I have not make a dye with oregano, but I just used it for an eco-printing technique and it worked beautifully. I will be uploading that video this Friday, but you should definitely try it in the dye pot. You cats might not like to share, but thanks for the wonderful idea with catnip!

[@iuliabartfeld]

Great greens! The question is,are thy color fast?

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Thanks, Lulia - I like to use iron as a modifier and mordant to help greens stick around longer. I do not expect these culinary herbs on their own to be long lasting, but they fade beautifully into new shades of natural color.

[@thebohemianartcollector6636]

To bad I finding this out now. Love this video. Much love from Holland

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Never too late to join us at Color Quest 🌼 Hope you can give herbs a try in your dye pot soon. Love your land too!

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Never too late to join us at Color Quest 🌼 Hope you can give herbs a try in your dye pot soon. Love your land too!

[@deborahjohnston267]

Fabulous!

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Thank you, Deborah! Iron water is such an awesome elixir in natural dyeing 💚

[@lyrebird9749]

This was a good summary of what herbs can do. But the big question is have you had any success getting a green color which lasts from any plant ?

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

As you know, green is tough to find in natural dyeing, so great question 💚 I have had good success using iron as a modifier & mordant to welcome longer lasting green from plants. I have pounded herbs on cotton with a post-dip in iron and the greens have remained for years. Otherwise, you have to stick to using an over-dyeing process with yellow from plants and the blue of indigo.

[@lyrebird9749]

@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Thanks, do you know which herbs you used with the iron? So far I have heard of people using buckthorn berries (Nth America) and privet berries (UK) for greens. I have also seen videos of some Asian plants which give green. I'm trying to find any here in Australia which do. I've been told a native plant named cherry ballart produces green although I think I overcooked it as I got a yellowy-brown. I did get a pale green from what I think is a young mango tree so will keep experimenting.

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

@@lyrebird9749 All of the herbs I used in this video were shifted with iron, so you can see the results of those experiments. For the botanical prints, I've used sage, mint, oregano and thyme as well with dark green shifts from iron. I hope to try buckthorn and privet one day, so they are on my list for the future. Definitely watching temperature can make a difference. Better to simmer on low for longer periods of time - always safer. Have fun experimenting!

[@lisettegarcia]

Since all the herbs essentially gave the same array of colors, it would have been more useful to line them in column format in order to compare the difference in shade

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Thank you for the suggestion 🌱 My intent in this video is more to show how many different herbs can bring about color in the dye pot as opposed to the slight differences in shades. Plus, the use of iron water to shift color to some lovely shades of green and provide a mordant option is an important element I hoped to share here.

[@freedomillumina6812]

How do I make an organic natural mordant before dying and one for after?

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Mordants are all natural, but range from metal salts (alum, iron, copper), to organic binders such as tannin and soy milk. If you are looking for a plant-based binder, you can use organic matter that is rich in tannin: Oak galls, pomegranate skins, symplocos, tara, myrobalan are all common plants used for binders. Soy milk is also quite common and can be an easy way to create a bond layer on fiber for natural dyeing. If you pre-treat fiber with a mordant, there is no need for an after-dye mordant. You can use metal modifiers like iron & copper to shift colors and both act as a mordant as well.

[@han-ht3dd]

i’m trying to find the best way to do a natural dye to dye my canvas converse type sneakers forest green! would you say the iron mordant with the rosemary came out a forest green color or did it have a rust twinge at all?

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Sounds like a great project, Hannah! The rosemary, thyme and sage all had a similar result with the alum+iron on cotton, but it has more of an army/khaki green color (warm toned) as opposed to forest green (cool toned). The silk samples were definitely darker, but your canvas sneakers are cotton, so you have to expect a lighter shade of green. Maybe you can test it out with a canvas material first to see if you like the result? Often you just have to dive in and try - good luck!

[@traceyrhoades1219]

❤

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

💚💚💚

[@aliciasinfinity]

This was very helpful, and inspiring! I'm so excited to try natural dying for the first time and modify with iron! I have a question - can you modify with iron after the material has been dyed and dried? If so, would it work if it was even (for example) a week after it was dyed? Or does it need to be modified right after while it is still wet? Thanks so much!!!

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

So happy that you enjoyed this video, Alicia! Trust me - once you start natural dyeing, you just can't stop 😊 Yes, you can certainly wait to modify with iron at some point in the future. You will want to wet your fiber in water before you put it in the iron water if it has dried. You may get a different final color result if you wait depending on how the fresh color dries and changes, but it will darken and strengthen the bond with the fiber. Have fun!

[@aliciasinfinity]

@@MargaretByrdColorQuest that's wonderful to hear! Thank you so much for your quick and helpful response, Margaret! I'm so excited to explore and I'll be watching many more of your videos for ideas :)

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

@@aliciasinfinity You are going to have so much fun!

[@jessicabey275]

i love your bloopers 😄

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

I love that you stick around until the end to see them! There are so many bloopers on each video...it can be tough to choose 😉

[@jessicabey275]

@@MargaretByrdColorQuest 😊

[@joann3542]

Can read the ingredients your using.

[@MargaretByrdColorQuest]

Yes, you can find all of the supplies in the description as well.