In my one experiment with black beans I threw in a skein that I had already dyed yellow with Queen Anne's Lace and it came out a really nice green color.
I strain out the beans and sludge by pouring the dye bath through a 250-micron mesh brewer's bag. You can also just put the black beans in the mesh bag and suspend the mesh bag in your water to extract the dye. I do this with all my dye materials.
I agree with MissGroves, said "Oh My!" when you opened the second container with the mordanted yarn. I think you said you used alum? This turned out gorgeous. Even love the gray of the yarn without the mordant. I agree, I think more beans would give you a more saturated color. Worth a try. And red beans too, very cool idea. Thank you for being willing to give this a try for us so we can learn from your successes as well as your mistakes.
Yes, I used an Alum mordant (from the Dandelion's video) I'm so glad that you are all enjoying these projects. It is something that is out of my comfort zone a bit since I'm new to the procedures, but I'm having a lot of fun giving this a shot.
I've read (but am trying later today, myself) that if you add a mordant it is metallic by nature and makes a stickier, crunchier, yarn. If you also use almost equal parts mordant-of-choice PLUS cream of tartar powder, it will counteract this textural change. I am trying it on some tussah silk this afternoon
While the vibrant blue is definitely the star here, the grey of the un-mordanted superwash is really pretty too! I think I'm going to have to do some experimenting with my black bean dying adventures. I have wool in a few different light colors (and white) and I'm curious what they'll look like with a blue or gray wash over them. I'm really glad you had another try with the black beans, the results this time were amazing!
Beautiful results, Rebecca! It was worth all your experimentation and prep beforehand. Have to say, your reaction to the non-mordant slimy yarn made me chuckle, I was right there with you. ChemKnits Tutorials are the best!
...just a thought remembering my mother preserving jams and jellies the jelly liquid was alway strained through a tea towel to remove sediment so the jelly would be clear ...lining a large colander with a tea towel and emptying the brew pot through the tea towel should remove or lessen the sediment and be a fast simple solution to the muck ???
Have you experimented with cotton? In my days of decades past we used salt with cellulose fibres and alum with protein fibres. I am going to experiment with dying paper and have been inspired by your vid. Thanks !🇨🇦✌️❤️🙏
NICE! Would love to see a mini done like above and a mini in Ball Jar sun dyed! ~Marie Great purple... wish it could have stayed. At least you got to keep a little!
I'd worry a bit about the smell if this is left in the sun for a few days, but maybe it would only need a day or so. I could set up a few jars and have them outside, inside at room temp, and hten steam one. Hmmmmm..........
I JUST bought black beans to try this!! I would love to see you try the cold/slow mordant method. When you're on a budget, possibly ruining the texture of your yarn with too much heat is a scary prospect
I completely understand this. This is one big reason why I try to describe any texture changes as I experiment. ;) I hope to try that soon, too. I'm not sure if I'll have a chance before hte weather gets cold, but it is high up on my list.
Wow amazing difference of color between mordanted and non mordanted. I'm looking forward to blue dye some yarn so I'll definitely will use alum and also try vinegar / baking soda effects. As for the slime, I read that acidity protects protein fibers, so I imagine that's why we may see a correspondence between slime/lower ph here. Also alum has sulfate, a soft base. I heard that wool can produce sulphuric acid under the action of uv light from the sun. Maybe adding the conjugated base of sulphuric acid helped to turn the solution more acidic? Maybe I'm just babbling but it's fun for me to try to think of an explanation to what happened. I love your channel and I'll be trying some of this dyeing myself.
Totally gasped when you lifted the lid and the blues popped out! Now I'm curious if a splash of vinegar would shift the colour again, though I also strangely like the grey colours A recollection just popped in my head, alum can make the yarn slightly sticky, this would sort of explain the light felting maybe?
I did absolutely feel a textural difference or slime on one of the yarns, but now I don't remember which one. I'm sure there is some pH sensitivity here. I'll test it out next time.
That could work nicely... but that could also end up being rather stinky. I've heard that things can start to ferment over time, but at about 70 degrees F things didn't start smelling so I feel lucky.
I have a bunch of mesh produce bags that I use to put natural dye items in now so that helps. With the black beans, I saw a recommendation to NOT pour because the sludge can go through a filter and it would shift the colors more brown - but I could do a side by side test on thsi!
When I dyed with black beans and an iron mordent, the solution and fabric smelled like dead fish. After setting it outside for a few days, most of the smell left
Just did this today! Used ~500g of beans, six cups of water and left them for three days. Dyed some spun+plyed South American wool with the first dye bath, then used up the rest with some Merino. First one went a lovely cold grey colour, second one went a very pale grey, as the greyness will have counteracted the warmer cream colour the wool was initially. Not too mad I didn't get purple, as the Grey's are lovely. I mordented both - the first one overnight, second one for 40mins, both with 20% alum to yarn weight, and added approx 1 tbsp vinegar per cup of yarn (very scientific :')) My only complaint is it smells ATROCIOUS, stunk out the kitchen and my yarn smells too! Both have been washed twice, with dish soap, yet they still smell of the beans! Any ideas on getting the stink out? :(
The smell wasn't as bad as I thought, but yes It can ferment and get a bit gross. Maybe soak the yarn in some vinegar for a while to get the smell out? Or some scented wool wash?
I just bought some mesh bags to use for natural dyeing this summer. That wouldn't really help in this case still since I was trying to remove liquid from the top without disturbing the non-bean sediment from the bottom.But I could do side by side - strained vs gently removed...
@@ChemKnitsTutorials I re read my first comment, I should of said about it being when pouring onto the yarn lol, I was tired lol I love watching your videos though, I sometimes end up going down a wormhole and watch 3 or 4 in a row!! ❤❤❤
Hi Rebecca, This turned out beautifully. Have you tried dying with yellow or green split peas? When we soak them for a soup there is a ton of colour that comes out of it. I would love to see more of natural dying. Oh could you please explain the different types of mordant? Thanks
I'm not the best person to describe the mordants exactly since I'm still new learning about them. Basically, different metal ions can help shift both the color and the intensity of various colored molecules. In natural dyeing text books they frequently have different colors from different mordants laid out next to each other.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials Thank you for replying. I think I asked the question wrong, I'm so sorry. I meant to ask what the different types are mordants are and which yarn would I use with a certain mordant? Why I'm asking is because I want to dye some cotton and I'm not sure what to use to get the colour to strike and I can't find the video where you dyed cotton yarn. I know that I can use alum or vinegar for wool. But, what would I use for cotton? Thank you.
The yarn went to a customer so I don't have a real update on the color fastness. But since my inventory is stored in a closet there isn't a lot of light exposure. (Of course, some molecules just degrade over time without expoure to light, so I'm not sure.)
Hi Rebecca, this looks really good! Thanks for the video😊 I am very curious about the longevity of these. How long do the colours last, do they fade with washing over time?
I haven't tested the wash fastness of most of my natural dyes. I think that it can vary a lot, but using a mordant can help with the longevity. (I obviously wash yarn the first time, but after that I don't have any data.)
I'm not sure if that would make a difference, I was loosely following some other tutorials. Acid will make a difference for some types of colorful molecules, but may not for others. In this case I think the mordant helps complext the dyes to the yarn.
If I had one that was dedicated for dyeing this is exactly what I would do. (Of course, the directions did say not to pour because you don't want the sludge at the bottom, but some kind of strainer would have helped me a lot!)
I should have. I didn't have a dedicated dye strainer on hand so that made things harder. I now have some bags that I use for natural dyeing (think like a big tea bag) that I would use. This wouldn't help with the sludge but would help with the beans I think.
With black beans, we really want to avoid the sludge at the bottom of the soaked beans. At least this is what I've read. This is why I'm pulling the liquid from the top while trying to not disturb the beans versus pouring off the liquid.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials if you were to strain the liquid , and let it settle overnight, all of the sediment may stay in the bottom? This way you won't have to worry about the beans getting in the way, and you may have access to more of the liquid. Something I might try.
Hi Rebecca. I love your videos and especially was excited about this one to achieve a blue color. I repeated your experiment by hot-mordanting KnitPicks Swish superwash yarn with 15 w/w % alum and adding the black bean supernatant carefully avoiding the sludge. I never saw any blue throughout the process and after two days at room temperature the yarn was gray (albeit beautiful) not blue. It looked like your example Any suggestions? I soaked the beans for ~7 days while waiting for my alum to arrive. Was this too long? Also, we have well water, not city water. Could that have had an impact. Many thanks.
It is possible that the pH of the tap water made a difference. mine runs slightly acidic. A lot of these natural dyes are pH sensitive. Otherwise, I'm not completely sure.
I know I'm late here but in case you give this another try. I was thinking maybe if you strained out the beans then let the solution settle until the sludge went back to the bottom. You'd still have to dip carefully but no beans in the way. Then again maybe having to avoid the beans also ensures you avoid the sludge. Looking beautiful though! Love the videos and your yarns. Trying to work up the courage to dye yarn myself now. I think it would be so fun to crochet something from yarn I dyed myself!
I'm not sure. I've only tried black beans the two times so far, but mostly looking at wool based conditions versus cotton. Cotton tends to need harsher conditions to dye, but I need to explore this more. :D
@@ChemKnitsTutorials I’ve got 400g of fingering weight cotton I’m about to throw into the pot with dye from the avocados I simmered last night. I added in about a teaspoon of baking soda to the dye. I’ve heard that should keep the color more in the pink range. I think I’ll keep it at a low simmer for an hour or so and then leave in the pot overnight before washing. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
most mordants are metal salts. Alum is a common one. Iron is also frequently used. Copper and Chromium need different disposal (I think, I"M not 100% sure) so are used with more caution.
Sort of. I read to avoid the sludge at the bottom of the beans soaking to get the most blue yarn - so I didn't want to stir up or distrub the liquid at the very bottom.
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In my one experiment with black beans I threw in a skein that I had already dyed yellow with Queen Anne's Lace and it came out a really nice green color.
This sounds lovely!
I strain out the beans and sludge by pouring the dye bath through a 250-micron mesh brewer's bag. You can also just put the black beans in the mesh bag and suspend the mesh bag in your water to extract the dye. I do this with all my dye materials.
I agree with Theresa Satterfield. I would like to see a dark red bean dye process. Fun. Thanks Rebecca.
I just added that to my list of video ideas! :D
I agree with MissGroves, said "Oh My!" when you opened the second container with the mordanted yarn. I think you said you used alum? This turned out gorgeous. Even love the gray of the yarn without the mordant. I agree, I think more beans would give you a more saturated color. Worth a try. And red beans too, very cool idea. Thank you for being willing to give this a try for us so we can learn from your successes as well as your mistakes.
Yes, I used an Alum mordant (from the Dandelion's video)
I'm so glad that you are all enjoying these projects. It is something that is out of my comfort zone a bit since I'm new to the procedures, but I'm having a lot of fun giving this a shot.
I've read (but am trying later today, myself) that if you add a mordant it is metallic by nature and makes a stickier, crunchier, yarn. If you also use almost equal parts mordant-of-choice PLUS cream of tartar powder, it will counteract this textural change.
I am trying it on some tussah silk this afternoon
I honestly am not sure! I am very much a novice when it comes to natural dyeing.
Oh Wow, what a difference, I'm gobsmacked. Thankyou Rabecca, you never fail to amaze me 😊💕
Awe, thank you so much!
While the vibrant blue is definitely the star here, the grey of the un-mordanted superwash is really pretty too! I think I'm going to have to do some experimenting with my black bean dying adventures. I have wool in a few different light colors (and white) and I'm curious what they'll look like with a blue or gray wash over them. I'm really glad you had another try with the black beans, the results this time were amazing!
This project was SUPER SUPER Fun!
interesting that this technique leaves you with beans you can cook and eat, or plant to produce more
Great job Rebecca! This has to be my favorite video in awhile. It makes me say "Isnt science amazing!?" 😍👏👏👏👏👏
Hmmmmm i love the gray a lot. Im going to try it. I want the denim too though. Awesome job R.
Beautiful results, Rebecca! It was worth all your experimentation and prep beforehand. Have to say, your reaction to the non-mordant slimy yarn made me chuckle, I was right there with you. ChemKnits Tutorials are the best!
Awe, thank you so much! I try to be as descriptive as I can.
The blue is gorgeous! My favorite of the four.
Thank you! I love how that turned out, too. The neutral non mordant colors are also really pretty, some of my favorites of natural dyed browns.
Beautiful!
I love the colours that you've captured
Thank you! This was so much fun and super easy to do.
I'm having so much fun watching! Wow!🤗
YAY! Thank you so much.
That blue shade is really pretty!
Thank you!
...just a thought remembering my mother preserving jams and jellies the jelly liquid was alway strained through a tea towel to remove sediment so the jelly would be clear ...lining a large colander with a tea towel and emptying the brew pot through the tea towel should remove or lessen the sediment and be a fast simple solution to the muck ???
Maybe.... I'm honestly not sure. The tips after my first flop included making sure to avoid all the sediment.
Or maybe pour through a coffee filter and then let it sit so the sediment sets to the bottom. But this is a couple of years late...
Have you experimented with cotton? In my days of decades past we used salt with cellulose fibres and alum with protein fibres. I am going to experiment with dying paper and have been inspired by your vid. Thanks !🇨🇦✌️❤️🙏
NICE! Would love to see a mini done like above and a mini in Ball Jar sun dyed!
~Marie Great purple... wish it could have stayed. At least you got to keep a little!
I'd worry a bit about the smell if this is left in the sun for a few days, but maybe it would only need a day or so. I could set up a few jars and have them outside, inside at room temp, and hten steam one. Hmmmmm..........
@@ChemKnitsTutorials Ahhh... the downside to beans!
I JUST bought black beans to try this!! I would love to see you try the cold/slow mordant method. When you're on a budget, possibly ruining the texture of your yarn with too much heat is a scary prospect
I completely understand this. This is one big reason why I try to describe any texture changes as I experiment. ;) I hope to try that soon, too. I'm not sure if I'll have a chance before hte weather gets cold, but it is high up on my list.
Have these faded much since you dyed them? The blue one is so beautiful and a great alternative to woad and Indigo!
They didn't fade while they were still in my stash. I sold them so I'm honestly not sure what they look like today.
Wow amazing difference of color between mordanted and non mordanted. I'm looking forward to blue dye some yarn so I'll definitely will use alum and also try vinegar / baking soda effects.
As for the slime, I read that acidity protects protein fibers, so I imagine that's why we may see a correspondence between slime/lower ph here.
Also alum has sulfate, a soft base. I heard that wool can produce sulphuric acid under the action of uv light from the sun. Maybe adding the conjugated base of sulphuric acid helped to turn the solution more acidic? Maybe I'm just babbling but it's fun for me to try to think of an explanation to what happened.
I love your channel and I'll be trying some of this dyeing myself.
Oo im curious about the vinegar result! Do share what happen when you complete it!
Totally gasped when you lifted the lid and the blues popped out! Now I'm curious if a splash of vinegar would shift the colour again, though I also strangely like the grey colours
A recollection just popped in my head, alum can make the yarn slightly sticky, this would sort of explain the light felting maybe?
I did too!
I did absolutely feel a textural difference or slime on one of the yarns, but now I don't remember which one. I'm sure there is some pH sensitivity here. I'll test it out next time.
wow!I love this blue!
Thank you so much!
Very pretty colors
Thank you!
Would love to see you use sun dyeing next time you work with the black beans.
That could work nicely... but that could also end up being rather stinky. I've heard that things can start to ferment over time, but at about 70 degrees F things didn't start smelling so I feel lucky.
Next time you are in the dollar store you can find a small strainer where the cooking tools are.
I have a bunch of mesh produce bags that I use to put natural dye items in now so that helps.
With the black beans, I saw a recommendation to NOT pour because the sludge can go through a filter and it would shift the colors more brown - but I could do a side by side test on thsi!
Loved this Rebecca. The color combo that came from the black bean liquid is magical. I wonder what would happen if you used a dark red bean? 🧶❤
I'll add this to my list!
@@ChemKnitsTutorials 🥰
When I dyed with black beans and an iron mordent, the solution and fabric smelled like dead fish. After setting it outside for a few days, most of the smell left
Did that cause any fading?
I am wondering what your water source is. I have tried this in the past with dug well water in Ontario and got a very pale green.
Not well, city treated water. My tap runs slightly acidic.
Just did this today!
Used ~500g of beans, six cups of water and left them for three days.
Dyed some spun+plyed South American wool with the first dye bath, then used up the rest with some Merino. First one went a lovely cold grey colour, second one went a very pale grey, as the greyness will have counteracted the warmer cream colour the wool was initially. Not too mad I didn't get purple, as the Grey's are lovely. I mordented both - the first one overnight, second one for 40mins, both with 20% alum to yarn weight, and added approx 1 tbsp vinegar per cup of yarn (very scientific :'))
My only complaint is it smells ATROCIOUS, stunk out the kitchen and my yarn smells too! Both have been washed twice, with dish soap, yet they still smell of the beans! Any ideas on getting the stink out? :(
The smell wasn't as bad as I thought, but yes It can ferment and get a bit gross. Maybe soak the yarn in some vinegar for a while to get the smell out? Or some scented wool wash?
Adding baking soda will give you a blue green color
OOoo I'll have to play with this!
You need a tea strainer!! It's like a sieve, but smaller, fits over the top of a tea mug
I just bought some mesh bags to use for natural dyeing this summer. That wouldn't really help in this case still since I was trying to remove liquid from the top without disturbing the non-bean sediment from the bottom.But I could do side by side - strained vs gently removed...
@@ChemKnitsTutorials
I meant for when you were pouring the liquid onto the yarn, you were using your hand to catch the beans xx
@@trudy__taylorandjorjamummy oooooooo! Lol
@@ChemKnitsTutorials
I re read my first comment, I should of said about it being when pouring onto the yarn lol, I was tired lol
I love watching your videos though, I sometimes end up going down a wormhole and watch 3 or 4 in a row!!
❤❤❤
If you strain out the beans and let that pot sit, you won’t get beans and the sludge might be easier to avoid.
I should have done that - it would have been easier than trying to remove the liquid from the top.
Hi Rebecca, This turned out beautifully. Have you tried dying with yellow or green split peas? When we soak them for a soup there is a ton of colour that comes out of it. I would love to see more of natural dying. Oh could you please explain the different types of mordant? Thanks
I'm not the best person to describe the mordants exactly since I'm still new learning about them. Basically, different metal ions can help shift both the color and the intensity of various colored molecules. In natural dyeing text books they frequently have different colors from different mordants laid out next to each other.
I hope to explore more in the future!
@@ChemKnitsTutorials Thank you for replying. I think I asked the question wrong, I'm so sorry. I meant to ask what the different types are mordants are and which yarn would I use with a certain mordant? Why I'm asking is because I want to dye some cotton and I'm not sure what to use to get the colour to strike and I can't find the video where you dyed cotton yarn. I know that I can use alum or vinegar for wool. But, what would I use for cotton? Thank you.
Awesome!
Thank you!
Never put your yarn under running water! Nor agitate it when wet. That felts it!
So fun! How long did you soak the yarn in the mordant bath and what was the ratio to water? Thank you!
coming in from 2023 now and wonder how long the hues stuck around in terms of fastness? would you tell?
The yarn went to a customer so I don't have a real update on the color fastness. But since my inventory is stored in a closet there isn't a lot of light exposure. (Of course, some molecules just degrade over time without expoure to light, so I'm not sure.)
Beautiful ❤️🍫
Thank you 😋
Hi Rebecca, this looks really good! Thanks for the video😊 I am very curious about the longevity of these. How long do the colours last, do they fade with washing over time?
I haven't tested the wash fastness of most of my natural dyes. I think that it can vary a lot, but using a mordant can help with the longevity. (I obviously wash yarn the first time, but after that I don't have any data.)
What would have happened if you had added vinegar, to make the dye bath more acidic?
I'm not sure if that would make a difference, I was loosely following some other tutorials. Acid will make a difference for some types of colorful molecules, but may not for others. In this case I think the mordant helps complext the dyes to the yarn.
With a lemon modifier I got a reddish purple color
Black beans are definitely pH sensitive. I hope to play with this at some point!
Next time use a sieve when pouring in the "dye", and it will catch the beans.
If I had one that was dedicated for dyeing this is exactly what I would do. (Of course, the directions did say not to pour because you don't want the sludge at the bottom, but some kind of strainer would have helped me a lot!)
Not sure if anyone has already suggested it but couldn’t you pour the liquid through a small strainer in order to catch any beans that get scooped up?
I should have. I didn't have a dedicated dye strainer on hand so that made things harder. I now have some bags that I use for natural dyeing (think like a big tea bag) that I would use. This wouldn't help with the sludge but would help with the beans I think.
Why not strain it thru a couple of layers of cheesecloth
With black beans, we really want to avoid the sludge at the bottom of the soaked beans. At least this is what I've read. This is why I'm pulling the liquid from the top while trying to not disturb the beans versus pouring off the liquid.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials if you were to strain the liquid , and let it settle overnight, all of the sediment may stay in the bottom? This way you won't have to worry about the beans getting in the way, and you may have access to more of the liquid.
Something I might try.
Hi Rebecca. I love your videos and especially was excited about this one to achieve a blue color. I repeated your experiment by hot-mordanting KnitPicks Swish superwash yarn with 15 w/w % alum and adding the black bean supernatant carefully avoiding the sludge. I never saw any blue throughout the process and after two days at room temperature the yarn was gray (albeit beautiful) not blue. It looked like your example Any suggestions? I soaked the beans for ~7 days while waiting for my alum to arrive. Was this too long? Also, we have well water, not city water. Could that have had an impact. Many thanks.
It is possible that the pH of the tap water made a difference. mine runs slightly acidic. A lot of these natural dyes are pH sensitive. Otherwise, I'm not completely sure.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials Thanks much. I'll check it out.
Rebecca, did I miss it? Did you use acid in any of the stages? And why or why not acid?
No acid! not all natural dyes need it, although the mordant may have shifted the pH so I'll need to check on that at some point.
In the same bucket, how did one yarn turn purple and the other one blue? Like a definite split down the middle?
I dyed the yarn in two separate containers. One yarn was treated with an alum mordant and the other wasn't. This led to the color change.
Ever tried Copper Sulphate mordant with Black Bean dye?
No, I haven't. I don't have plans to explore more mordants beyond Alum at this point.
Is there a particular reason you did not strain the beans to get dye without beans or sludge?🇨🇦✌️❤️🙏
Mainly because I didn't have a good strainer fine enough to not let the sludge through.
I know I'm late here but in case you give this another try. I was thinking maybe if you strained out the beans then let the solution settle until the sludge went back to the bottom. You'd still have to dip carefully but no beans in the way. Then again maybe having to avoid the beans also ensures you avoid the sludge. Looking beautiful though! Love the videos and your yarns. Trying to work up the courage to dye yarn myself now. I think it would be so fun to crochet something from yarn I dyed myself!
Have you ever tried to dyeing yarn with henna
I have not seen any using henna and I so no reason it should not work on wool fabrics.
I have not tried henna before. I'm not sure if it would be permanent on fiber or if it would wash out eventually.
Have you done blackberries?
I haven't tried any berries yet. Someday I'd love to try though.
Do you think this would work with cotton yarn?
I'm not sure. I've only tried black beans the two times so far, but mostly looking at wool based conditions versus cotton. Cotton tends to need harsher conditions to dye, but I need to explore this more. :D
@@ChemKnitsTutorials I’ve got 400g of fingering weight cotton I’m about to throw into the pot with dye from the avocados I simmered last night. I added in about a teaspoon of baking soda to the dye. I’ve heard that should keep the color more in the pink range. I think I’ll keep it at a low simmer for an hour or so and then leave in the pot overnight before washing. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Can you dye yarn with grape juice
I'm not sure. You would likely get a nice warm brown from it. I've tried wine before: ua-cam.com/video/Y4TDHvLXoqg/v-deo.html
Concord grape skins mordanted with alum make gorgeous purples
Alum is somewhat antibacterial.
Zasto ne dozvoljavate prevod na srpski jezik? Jako sam zaintetesovan!
what can be used for mordants
most mordants are metal salts. Alum is a common one. Iron is also frequently used. Copper and Chromium need different disposal (I think, I"M not 100% sure) so are used with more caution.
Maybe suck the liquid with a turkey baster to make it easier with no beans.
That would have been helpful!
Wouldn't it be best to strain it? 🙄🤔
Sort of. I read to avoid the sludge at the bottom of the beans soaking to get the most blue yarn - so I didn't want to stir up or distrub the liquid at the very bottom.