lovesouthernsocial.com

Making a natural dye to dye clothes is easy and avoids disposing of food scraps

The fruit and vegetable peels that are left over from preparing meals can have many uses, one of them, unusual, is to transform them into natural dyes to dye clothes or fabrics. This is great, as artificial colors can be harmful to health and the environment. If you like crafts, crafts and fabric work, knowing how to dye clothes at home, using only natural ingredients, allows you to create personalized colors and even reuse pieces of clothing and organic food scraps.

How to dye clothes

The step-by-step process of dyeing clothes at home is very simple. See what it takes to make natural dyes and dye your clothes at home.

Ingredients and materials needed

• 1 cup of beet husks;
• 1 cup of onion skins;
• 1 cup with red cabbage leaves;
• 1 cup of spinach;
• 1 cup of orange peel;
• Salt;
• Vinegar;
• Small pots;
• Water;
• Strainer;
• Wooden spoon;
• Glass containers.

How to prepare natural dyes

Each of the mentioned vegetables creates different colors: red (beetroot), yellow (orange), green (spinach), blue (red cabbage) and orange (onion). It is possible to use other foods, according to the desired colors. Turmeric, also called turmeric, for example, creates a golden sun yellow and its color easily adheres to the fibers of natural fabrics. The cloves produce colors ranging from orange and yellow to a greenish tinge - and these are just a few!

To make dyeing clothes, the first step is to bring each ingredient to a boil with water. Use different pans for each color you want to create. Place the chopped vegetables or skins over the fire with twice as much water in relation to the amount of food (in the case of the suggested recipe it would be two cups of water for each pot of natural food coloring). Bring to a boil for an hour.

After this time, turn off the heat and let it cool until the water reaches room temperature. After that, use the strainer and put your natural dyes in the glass containers.

Ready! Now just start dyeing your garments. In order for the natural dye to stick well, use a fixative mixture on the fabrics.

For fruit-based dyes, boil the fabric in 4 cups of water with 1/4 cup of salt for an hour. For tinctures made with vegetables, use a cup of vinegar diluted in 4 cups of water. In both cases, boil the clothes in the fixing mixture for an hour.

After boiling, allow the garment to cool, drain and place the garment or fabric in cold water before starting dyeing. Twist the fabric well and then soak the garment in the natural dye of your choice. Let the clothes soak in the natural dye for at least an hour or until the fabric reaches the desired color. Afterwards, it is interesting to wash the dyed pieces naturally in cold water, to preserve the color for a longer time, and separate them from the other pieces, to avoid stains.

---