I tried (almost) every green fabric dye so you don't have to. Mild chaos ensued.

So many choices... I tried the five most widely available fabric dyeing options: natural dyeing with parsley, kale, and grass, and chemical dyes Procion (a fiber reactive dye), Rit, Dylon (def not Drylon) and iDye, all in an attempt to dye 8 t shirts an acceptable shade of rich, lush green for an upcoming project. Lots of stirring, heating, and more chemical shenanigans than I'm comfortable with ensued.

[@AliciaB.]

Chlorophyll isn't a colorant, it's a pigment and therefore not water-soluble. I'm pretty sure some plants exist that can produce a green dye on their own, but I don't think this propriety has much to do with chlorophyll. Which means that, sadly, one can't simply exract green dye from any green plant. It would be well documented if it was the case.

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

I’m learning much more from these comments than from the research I did going in! So many different blogs said chlorophyll was the party responsible for green dye, but I can attest that as you say it is not the case 😆 Thank you!!

[@gavannapatterns353]

Very interesting! As far as I know the traditional way of dyeing green is first blue, then yellow on top of that. I haven't tried it myself but at least here in Scandinavia woad was used for blue ( before indigo was available) and yellow is very easy to get from plants. Looking forward to see what you make out old t-shirts 😊

[@AliciaB.]

yes exactly. a combination of woad or indigo, and weld for yellow

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

That makes perfect sense! I briefly thought about blue then yellow, but then the experimental side of me took over, haha. Next time!!

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Thank you- I can’t wait to try out some of these methods (even if I’m a bit intimidating by trying to source some of this material!!)

[@matildas3177]

I've seen folks in Sweden using tansy to dye green. I've not used it myself yet, but it can dye both yellow and green. I think you're supposed to add a chemical component to achieve the green, might be iron? I don't remember.

[@1jotun136]

I have searched for a one plant green dye. Evidently it doesn't exist.

[@lyrebird9749]

Great idea but perhaps next time research which plants *actually* produce natural green dye, rather than just randomly picking some plants from your yard. As others have mentioned, chlorophyll is not a dye. There are not many plants which create green but a few do. Examples are buckthorn berries, privet berries and cherry ballart. (Spinach also gives green although it is a fugitive dye ie. won't last many washes.) Some, like nettle can give an olive green. Would love to see a video of you experimenting with any plants which are known to create a green dye if you can access them.

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Yep, I’m so grateful for the wonderful comments I got on this video- I now have a much better understanding of green dye. Believe it or not I actually read the chlorophyll thing in a couple of different places, and I’m still curious how those sources managed a green dye from grass. I 100% will be making a follow up video where I focus on natural green dyeing, so thank you so much for the recommendations! (Now I just have to source them 😅)

[@1strumyczek]

Vegetable dyes will give different colors depending on additives such as alum or iron sulfate. The latter extracts greens from birch leaves, yarrow, St. John's wort. Animal fibres, such as wool and silk, stain more strongly and more easily than vegetable fibres

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Thank you- I did use alum as my mordant for the natural dying, but it’s something I need to experiment with a lot more (maybe it needs to be added right into the dye bath… in addition to procuring more reliable plants!) I was just kind of curious if plants from the yard would yield a green dye (if only it were that easy!!)

[@harfir7169]

I love this ❤ would be great with a video on stuff you've already dyed to get an update on: How did the color turn out, how did it handle washing, sun, friction etc? Just a general report on how different dyes hold up over time with normal wear ^^

[@sukar120]

Barrows & Wights on youtube has a great video of naturally dyeing wool green. You have to first dye the fibre yellow and then overdye it blue and it's a whole process, but I think I've read that that's how they did it back in the day. Personally, I'd just use chemical dye for green because I cannot be bothered lol

[@jordanc5938]

Art historian here... Im glad I came across this video, actually the green dye (scheeles green) they used was incredibly posionous and alot of woman fell ill or died from it because it had arsenic in it.

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Interesting, makes you wonder what historians will think about all the chemicals we use today!

[@TheCraftyAutistic]

I think I remember reading somewhere that green is one of the hardest colours to make in natural dye, so I wasn't too surprised you had to turn to the chemicals, but it's always fun to experiment. 🙂

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

I think you’re right. I’ve done some more research and there are some very specific ingredients that make green- oh well my yard got a good weeding 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@kb3716]

Your book's green velvet example made me think of the Arnolfini gown's historical method recreation shown by A Stitch In Time (kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6aVg4BnpMmmnJY with dye method at the 18:16 mark), though it was wool. I do love the color you decided upon and of course I can hardly wait to see what you have planned for the T-shirts! But oh, how I wish I could do a Jeannie blink and plop a pile of luscious silk velvet onto your table. 😁

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Yes!! I kept envisioning the Arnolfini gown in my head and wondering just how they got that vivid green! I also wish I could have made the silk velvet happen, but I keep reminding myself that this way I get to come up with my own version. 🤷‍♀️

[@kb3716]

@@anotherdreamgonewest And you know we are just dying -- LOL -- to see what you come up with! Can hardly wait!

[@ayemessdee]

I've always had the same problem with Dylon - really weak computer and it doesn't last. On the subject of getting deep green from natural dyes in the past, it was probably done via overdyeing blue and yellow, for which there are good rich natural sources.

[@ayemessdee]

"Weak colour", lol. I should proofread.

[@xianvox22]

Try shocking the plant material first with a quick blanche and then adding to ice water. It'll hold the color better on the plant material. I would be curious to know if it improves the color of dye.

[@esthermcafee5293]

TIL that food colouring is the closest I’m willing to get to a ‘natural’ dye. I just don’t have the patience. Thanks for an interesting video!

[@sunriseeyes0]

This was such a fun process to watch! I also love all the dye info you gave. I can’t wait to see how all your dedication to your dream dress turns out! 🙏🏽💗

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Thank you so much!!

[@laurawilliams7782]

I've been watching Closet Historians trying out ice dying. Maybe those would be an alternative for you to try sometime - she used snow from her yard at points, and there was no boiling involved.

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

That is fascinating!! I’ve never tried ice dying (here boiling water may actually take less energy than freezing most of the year haha!) I’ll have to go check it out! Thank you!

[@ndxr1309]

I enjoyed your solution to the fabric dilemma for this project. Thank you for sharing your thought process.

[@kristinafabianova7139]

Talking about ecology - learn math, use scales, color the swatches in a cup of water. You wil rest with lot of residual die, but...

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Yep there was plenty of math/measuring throughout the process, but I’m always learning and knowing how/when to do these things comes a lot easier with practice! Thank you!!

[@nian60]

As others have said, for natural green dye you'd have to use blue over yellow or vice versa. So woad or indigo over/under weld or dyer's broom. Or weld with iron, but that gives a murky olive green.

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Yes, I think I need to try this one again- I’m super interested in trying out some of these suggestions!

[@cynthias9039]

Would blending the veggies in the blender work for color saturation better?

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Potentially. I’ve had some feedback that most green veggies won’t dye fabric, but I have seen success stories so teller question persists.

[@anacobos.]

I have seen videos of people dyeing green with marijuana leaves

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Interesting! I’d say I’ll have to try it out, but that particular method I’ll probably leave to others haha!

[@paloma_hill]

omg you have the best videos.

[@Star-dj1kw]

✅ good work

[@dunkel429]

Can’t wait to see what you do 👕

[@anotherdreamgonewest]

Thank you!!