I never knew you could get Blue from fermenting Black beans. I always thought of using a natural purple dye (red/purple cabbage, purple potatoes) and adding lemon for the blue color, or using another dye combination. Thank you.
It is pretty amazing the colors you can get from nature 💙 I've gotten a beautiful green from black bean too. It is very dependent on the unique environment you are dyeing in, so you may get different results each time. The true blue in the dyer's world in indigo, so you might want to give that a try one day. Adding lemon (citric acid) to a pH sensitive dye matter like red cabbage can shift the color by making it acidic. For blue or green with red cabbage, you can add baking soda to make it alkaline. You can find a video here on Color Quest about this topic 😊
So happy you found Color Quest too, Matilda! You can absolutely apply most any of the natural dyes to paper, so I wish you a colorful dive into the wide world of nature's palette. Enjoy 🤎
Thank you for your video. I have a few questions though. How much mordant do we put in and how long do you soak your fabrics or papers in the black bean dye for to get a rich color?
I just saw your questions, Patricia, so thanks for your patience! I have several videos in the Mordant playlist on my channel that dive into this topic. The type of mordant you use depends on the type of fiber you use and there are many options and processes. For fabric, you can use a heated process where you soak typically for an hour, but for paper, it is always better to work with cold mordant and shorter time. In this video, I left the paper in for many hours or even overnight to deepen the color. Beware that the blue of black bean is a fugitive color, so it will fade and change with time, but a mordant process can help elongate its life. Enjoy!
Thank you for this series! I’m interested in dyeing paper. Do you mordant paper in your process. I would love to see a tutorial for paper, or maybe a little bit of guidance for paper in your dye videos.
You are most welcome, Lisa! Yes, if possible, you should mordant paper. I have used alum, iron and soy milk as a binder for paper. You can see the process in a video from last year on rose petals (Published Feb 26 2021). Paper is a great fiber for natural dyes, so I will put some more videos on my content list for later in the year. Thanks for the request!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest ⚠️⚠️ALUM AND IRON ARE TOXIC TO YOUR POTS⚠️⚠️. So cooking out of them after you use those mordants could make you very sick!!!!!
@@forest487 Thank you for the reminder that all dye utensils including pots, spoons, strainers, etc. should be used only for dye purposes - never use the same kitchen tools used for cooking food. For my dye studio, I use retired cooking utensils and have supplemented with thrifted kitchen tools to repurpose and be more budget friendly.
Good afternoon, I am interested in an eco-friendly brown or dark brown hair dye. Do you think black beans can be used as a hair dye to cover gray hair? Can this be used to at least camouflage gray hair?
Great thought here, but I'm don't believe black bean would be a very effective hair dye. While it can adhere to fibers treated with a mordant to help with binding, black bean is fairly fugitive and fades quickly. I'm asked about hair dyeing often using natural dyes, so perhaps you can find better options out there. Seems to be quite a popular topic 😊
It is a very easy process - just let your textile soak in the cold dye for 1+ day. You can watch other videos on my channel on how to mordant your textile too. Check out the library for alum, tannin and soy milk options 😊
Nice video. It would have been a fantastic video *without* the twirling plastic lid (pathetic effect) each time you put the lid on or took in off. Thanks for the nice music and the details on screen.
Just having some twirling fun when I made this video 3+ years ago as I first launched my channel. Happy it still provides value for free to you and 28K viewers so far 💙
I have a few videos here on how to make ink using other dye matter like acorns and flowers, so you might check one of those for more instruction. The basics include straining the dye through a very tight weave (nut milk bag, cheesecloth, muslin) to remove as much of the dye matter particles as possible. You then add a natural binder like gum Arabic or gum tragacanth to thicken it. You will also want to add a whole clove to the ink bottle so you deter mold growth. The other alternative is to make a lake pigment, but I don't have any videos here explaining that, so you might google for more ideas there. Best of luck!
Hi Marianne - welcome to Color Quest 🌼 I've never tried it with canned black beans, but why not give it a try? Not sure if some of the color will have already been leeched out for canning, but it is always great to experiment and see what happens 💙
The color from black bean comes from Anthocyanins which are not the most stable color sources. I actually enjoy the shifting of natural color and welcome the variation is can bring 😊
So happy the video helped you out, Tegan! A typical ratio of dry dye matter to dry textile (WOF - weight of fabric) is 1:1, but I would probably cut this number in half for black beans to start, ie. 2:1. I use 16 oz of black beans here, so maybe maximum I would try to start is 8 oz of textile. After you make the dye, you can always add more water to accommodate for your textile volume to make sure it is completely covered with dye and can move around freely. Let me know how it goes!
After soaking beans for chili, I noticed the water was dark. When I saw that, I thought that someone somewhere must have at one point used it in dyes. Now that I am making chili again, I looked it up, and here I am. Currently, I am thinking about potential applications. How would you recommend making the bean juice solution into something that can be put into or made into a paint? Also, if I decide to use it to dye clothing, how does one prevent dyes from coming off in the wash? I am entirely new to the world of using and making dye.
UPDATE: I tried to boil it in order to concentrate the solution: It turned a reddish brown. It appears the bluish aspect of the color is removed when it gets boiled. It seems to be stored in the foam you see when you boil the beans. When I held a paper towel over it, after I boiled it to see how much is being evaporated, I noticed some stuck to it. After the boiling, I tried adding baking soda and vinegar to different samples to alter pH and potentially color. Nothing changed.
Thanks for your thoughtful questions and wonder about the dye potential of black beans 🤎 The secret to a more successful natural dye experience is to always wash and pre-treat fiber with a mordant which helps with the bond of natural color and fiber. There are several ways you can do this, so go watch the Mordant playlist here at Color Quest to learn more about it. Regarding your question on making paint, you could make a lake pigment from the black bean dye. I have not made a video here yet, but you can find instructions on-line on how to do this.
@@berrydraws0 Many thanks for giving us an update of your experiments. It is always so helpful to share! The reason I use a cold extraction with black beans in this video is that the blue color comes from anthocyanin and is sensitive to heat. Shifting to a brown color is quite common, so if you want to retain the more blue color, keep things cold 💙
Great question, but it would not be a dye that would work on hair. I've had many people ask this same question, so check out some of the comments below for more details.
I have never personally tried it as a hair dye, but would imagine it wouldn't work very well. You have to soak fibers for a very long time in the cold bean dye to impart color and it is fairly fugitive, so probably not a great option for hair. You can always give it a try 😊
Welcome to Color Quest, Shobha, and thank you for your kind words! I use natural color in my art practice, so I tend to focus on dyeing fibers. I plan to create videos on making natural art supplies in the future, but I never thought about hair dye. Will add it to the list of things to research, and who knows, maybe I will find a time to film about that too. Thanks for the request 💚
The plant may not be rare, but blue as an organic color for dyeing is actually quite rare in the flora kingdom. Extracting blue from woad is also quite labor intensive. Takes a unique process and a lot of patience 💙
I love the shade of purple you got on the silk! Do you have more information about using a soy mordant? I have never done it before. Do you think alum would also be an appropriate mordant for silk? Or is it the soy that makes it so purple?
Black bean always surprises me 💚💜💙 I have a video on my channel specifically about soy milk mordant, so you can check that out to learn more about the process I use. Alum (+ cream of tartar optional) is the most common mordant used for silk, so by all means, try it out 😊 To be honest, I'm not sure if the soy milk specifically helped pull out the purple color or was simply the wild way natural color often goes. I got some beautiful greens from black bean one time too, so it is best to just experiment. Let me know how it goes, Cate!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest looks like I'll have to do some experimenting bc purple silk stockings is on my list of projects this winter... might have to make a video about it even if it goes wrong lol
@@jullecours8324 Silk stockings - how fun!! Definitely worth filming 💜 I like to imagine that nothing goes 'wrong' when working with natural color, just all sorts of surprises can happen 😉 Let me know how it goes!
Natural dyes are not considered permanent. I like to think of them as living color that breathes and changes with time. However, there are ways to extend the life of your natural dye. One of the most important steps is to always mordant your fiber. I have several videos here about this process, so you can check those out to learn more (alum mordant, tannin mordant, soy milk binder). Treating your textile like delicates can also help keep the color longer (hand wash in cold water, air dry, avoid exposure to direct sunlight, etc.). Some dye matters are more light/color/wash fast than others. Black bean dye tends to fade more quickly, so if you are looking for a blue option, indigo is always the best way to go there 💙
Hi Alice! If you've stored the fermented beans in a cool place, and gently remove the dye water from the beans to soak your textile, they should still be edible, especially if used in soup or other hot dishes. Soaking beans is a normal process in cooking, as you know. I often soak my textile in the fermenting beans for variation, so with that process, compost is best. I would use the 1:1 ratio for weight of dye matter (beans) to weight of wool (WOF), so you can start with 16 oz of beans. The color will change with time, but with proper pre-mordant of your wool (alum+cream of tartar) a long dye soak, and delicate after-care, your color can last quite some time. Best of luck!
So thrilled you found what you were looking for - yay! You can certainly add baking soda to your bean water which will alter the pH and can impact the color. It is not a mordant, though, so you will want to treat your textile with one of the suggested mordants I reference in my video (soy milk or alum). Also, if you are using a protein fiber (silk or wool), you may achieve some deeper blues (like the silk in my video). I will be publishing some tutorials on the mordant process soon, plus a video on shifting color with pH and iron water so please keep your eyes out for those in the future 😊
Yes, you can dye any type of 100% natural fiber when using natural color. Please be sure to properly clean/scour the shirt before dyeing it and pre-treat it with a mordant for the best results. Aluminum acetate mordant is best for cotton, and if you can do a tannin+alum pre-treatment, even better. Black bean dye is considered fugitive, so it will fade over time, so please treat it carefully as you would with any delicate fiber.
Goog afternoon mam. My name is Nimisha and I am textile student.. from india .my project work is dyeing the textile material. I choose black bean dyeing . My fabric is weight of 167.87 how much i need to take black beans and could u tell the liquor ratio mam
Welcome to Color Quest, Manikkam 😊 It is often recommended to start with a 1:1 ratio (dry dye matter:dry weight of fiber), but with black beans, I would increase this ratio to 2:1. Therefore, if you have approximately 170 grams of fiber, I would recommend using 340 grams of black beans (340:170). For the water, you want to have enough liquid to fully cover your fiber so it can move freely around in the dye. The beans will absorb some of the water during fermentation, so make sure to add extra water. There is no specific ratio for the liquid - just use your best judgement. Good luck 💙
Sorry to hear that, Kat. Give it another watch, but all you need to do is soak beans for 24-48 hours, strain out the beans and put your clean/mordanted fiber into the cold dye to soak for a few days. Easypeasy!
This is a great tutorial, thank you
So happy to hear you liked the video - welcome to Color Quest 🤎
I never knew you could get Blue from fermenting Black beans. I always thought of using a natural purple dye (red/purple cabbage, purple potatoes) and adding lemon for the blue color, or using another dye combination. Thank you.
It is pretty amazing the colors you can get from nature 💙 I've gotten a beautiful green from black bean too. It is very dependent on the unique environment you are dyeing in, so you may get different results each time. The true blue in the dyer's world in indigo, so you might want to give that a try one day.
Adding lemon (citric acid) to a pH sensitive dye matter like red cabbage can shift the color by making it acidic. For blue or green with red cabbage, you can add baking soda to make it alkaline. You can find a video here on Color Quest about this topic 😊
So happy I found you. I dye paper with coffee and tea, but would like to get color now.
So happy you found Color Quest too, Matilda! You can absolutely apply most any of the natural dyes to paper, so I wish you a colorful dive into the wide world of nature's palette. Enjoy 🤎
You are an amazing blessing 💖
You are very sweet - thank you 🌼
Your videos are improving in quality a lot.
Thanks for your encouraging words, Tara!
Thank you for your video. I have a few questions though. How much mordant do we put in and how long do you soak your fabrics or papers in the black bean dye for to get a rich color?
I just saw your questions, Patricia, so thanks for your patience! I have several videos in the Mordant playlist on my channel that dive into this topic. The type of mordant you use depends on the type of fiber you use and there are many options and processes. For fabric, you can use a heated process where you soak typically for an hour, but for paper, it is always better to work with cold mordant and shorter time. In this video, I left the paper in for many hours or even overnight to deepen the color. Beware that the blue of black bean is a fugitive color, so it will fade and change with time, but a mordant process can help elongate its life. Enjoy!
Thank you for this series! I’m interested in dyeing paper. Do you mordant paper in your process. I would love to see a tutorial for paper, or maybe a little bit of guidance for paper in your dye videos.
You are most welcome, Lisa! Yes, if possible, you should mordant paper. I have used alum, iron and soy milk as a binder for paper. You can see the process in a video from last year on rose petals (Published Feb 26 2021). Paper is a great fiber for natural dyes, so I will put some more videos on my content list for later in the year. Thanks for the request!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest ⚠️⚠️ALUM AND IRON ARE TOXIC TO YOUR POTS⚠️⚠️. So cooking out of them after you use those mordants could make you very sick!!!!!
@@forest487 Thank you for the reminder that all dye utensils including pots, spoons, strainers, etc. should be used only for dye purposes - never use the same kitchen tools used for cooking food. For my dye studio, I use retired cooking utensils and have supplemented with thrifted kitchen tools to repurpose and be more budget friendly.
Good afternoon, I am interested in an eco-friendly brown or dark brown hair dye. Do you think black beans can be used as a hair dye to cover gray hair? Can this be used to at least camouflage gray hair?
Great thought here, but I'm don't believe black bean would be a very effective hair dye. While it can adhere to fibers treated with a mordant to help with binding, black bean is fairly fugitive and fades quickly. I'm asked about hair dyeing often using natural dyes, so perhaps you can find better options out there. Seems to be quite a popular topic 😊
Great videos! Thank you!
How sweet - thank you, Antonieta!
Wish you show how you dyed the fabric as well
It is a very easy process - just let your textile soak in the cold dye for 1+ day. You can watch other videos on my channel on how to mordant your textile too. Check out the library for alum, tannin and soy milk options 😊
Excellent! Thank you.
You are most welcome!
Nice video. It would have been a fantastic video *without* the twirling plastic lid (pathetic effect) each time you put the lid on or took in off. Thanks for the nice music and the details on screen.
Just having some twirling fun when I made this video 3+ years ago as I first launched my channel. Happy it still provides value for free to you and 28K viewers so far 💙
How can I make it more dense to paint Inky paintings with instead of fabric dye
I have a few videos here on how to make ink using other dye matter like acorns and flowers, so you might check one of those for more instruction. The basics include straining the dye through a very tight weave (nut milk bag, cheesecloth, muslin) to remove as much of the dye matter particles as possible. You then add a natural binder like gum Arabic or gum tragacanth to thicken it. You will also want to add a whole clove to the ink bottle so you deter mold growth. The other alternative is to make a lake pigment, but I don't have any videos here explaining that, so you might google for more ideas there. Best of luck!
Hi! Can you also do this with black beans out of a can?
Hi Marianne - welcome to Color Quest 🌼 I've never tried it with canned black beans, but why not give it a try? Not sure if some of the color will have already been leeched out for canning, but it is always great to experiment and see what happens 💙
Okay, thanks!
Any comments on colorfastness?
The color from black bean comes from Anthocyanins which are not the most stable color sources. I actually enjoy the shifting of natural color and welcome the variation is can bring 😊
Quick question how much fabric can you dye with the amount of dye you produced? This tutorial was super helpful 😁😁
So happy the video helped you out, Tegan! A typical ratio of dry dye matter to dry textile (WOF - weight of fabric) is 1:1, but I would probably cut this number in half for black beans to start, ie. 2:1. I use 16 oz of black beans here, so maybe maximum I would try to start is 8 oz of textile. After you make the dye, you can always add more water to accommodate for your textile volume to make sure it is completely covered with dye and can move around freely. Let me know how it goes!
thank you!
You are most welcome - thanks for joining us at Color Quest 💙
After soaking beans for chili, I noticed the water was dark. When I saw that, I thought that someone somewhere must have at one point used it in dyes. Now that I am making chili again, I looked it up, and here I am. Currently, I am thinking about potential applications. How would you recommend making the bean juice solution into something that can be put into or made into a paint? Also, if I decide to use it to dye clothing, how does one prevent dyes from coming off in the wash? I am entirely new to the world of using and making dye.
UPDATE: I tried to boil it in order to concentrate the solution: It turned a reddish brown.
It appears the bluish aspect of the color is removed when it gets boiled. It seems to be stored in the foam you see when you boil the beans. When I held a paper towel over it, after I boiled it to see how much is being evaporated, I noticed some stuck to it. After the boiling, I tried adding baking soda and vinegar to different samples to alter pH and potentially color. Nothing changed.
Thanks for your thoughtful questions and wonder about the dye potential of black beans 🤎 The secret to a more successful natural dye experience is to always wash and pre-treat fiber with a mordant which helps with the bond of natural color and fiber. There are several ways you can do this, so go watch the Mordant playlist here at Color Quest to learn more about it.
Regarding your question on making paint, you could make a lake pigment from the black bean dye. I have not made a video here yet, but you can find instructions on-line on how to do this.
@@berrydraws0 Many thanks for giving us an update of your experiments. It is always so helpful to share! The reason I use a cold extraction with black beans in this video is that the blue color comes from anthocyanin and is sensitive to heat. Shifting to a brown color is quite common, so if you want to retain the more blue color, keep things cold 💙
Cool! ❤
Nature sharing her colorful gifts 💙
Can the beans be eaten after this process?
Personally, I wouldn't eat them because they have had fiber soaking in them for a few days, but no judgement here if you choose to consume 😉
Can we use it for hair
Great question, but it would not be a dye that would work on hair. I've had many people ask this same question, so check out some of the comments below for more details.
Very good... And you are so pretty mam
Many thanks, Muhammad. Enjoy the black bean dye!
does it work on hair?
I have never personally tried it as a hair dye, but would imagine it wouldn't work very well. You have to soak fibers for a very long time in the cold bean dye to impart color and it is fairly fugitive, so probably not a great option for hair. You can always give it a try 😊
Thank you for your lovely videos love to watch them pls can you try making hair dye too. Thanks
Welcome to Color Quest, Shobha, and thank you for your kind words! I use natural color in my art practice, so I tend to focus on dyeing fibers. I plan to create videos on making natural art supplies in the future, but I never thought about hair dye. Will add it to the list of things to research, and who knows, maybe I will find a time to film about that too. Thanks for the request 💚
There's 11 US states where woad is a noxious weed. It's not common near me, but it's not exactly a rare plant.
The plant may not be rare, but blue as an organic color for dyeing is actually quite rare in the flora kingdom. Extracting blue from woad is also quite labor intensive. Takes a unique process and a lot of patience 💙
I love the shade of purple you got on the silk! Do you have more information about using a soy mordant? I have never done it before. Do you think alum would also be an appropriate mordant for silk? Or is it the soy that makes it so purple?
Black bean always surprises me 💚💜💙 I have a video on my channel specifically about soy milk mordant, so you can check that out to learn more about the process I use. Alum (+ cream of tartar optional) is the most common mordant used for silk, so by all means, try it out 😊 To be honest, I'm not sure if the soy milk specifically helped pull out the purple color or was simply the wild way natural color often goes. I got some beautiful greens from black bean one time too, so it is best to just experiment. Let me know how it goes, Cate!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest looks like I'll have to do some experimenting bc purple silk stockings is on my list of projects this winter... might have to make a video about it even if it goes wrong lol
@@jullecours8324 Silk stockings - how fun!! Definitely worth filming 💜 I like to imagine that nothing goes 'wrong' when working with natural color, just all sorts of surprises can happen 😉 Let me know how it goes!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest thank you for that shift in perspective!
Sadly Black bean and Purple cabbage are not substantive dyes. These are not stable.
Is this dye permenant or how can we make permanent. Thank you
Natural dyes are not considered permanent. I like to think of them as living color that breathes and changes with time. However, there are ways to extend the life of your natural dye. One of the most important steps is to always mordant your fiber. I have several videos here about this process, so you can check those out to learn more (alum mordant, tannin mordant, soy milk binder). Treating your textile like delicates can also help keep the color longer (hand wash in cold water, air dry, avoid exposure to direct sunlight, etc.). Some dye matters are more light/color/wash fast than others. Black bean dye tends to fade more quickly, so if you are looking for a blue option, indigo is always the best way to go there 💙
What do you do with the leftover fermented beans-edible or compost? What are the proportions for a pound of wool yarn? Is the color fugitive?
Hi Alice! If you've stored the fermented beans in a cool place, and gently remove the dye water from the beans to soak your textile, they should still be edible, especially if used in soup or other hot dishes. Soaking beans is a normal process in cooking, as you know. I often soak my textile in the fermenting beans for variation, so with that process, compost is best. I would use the 1:1 ratio for weight of dye matter (beans) to weight of wool (WOF), so you can start with 16 oz of beans. The color will change with time, but with proper pre-mordant of your wool (alum+cream of tartar) a long dye soak, and delicate after-care, your color can last quite some time. Best of luck!
How to dye my hair then
If I don't have a lid, can I cover it tightly with cling wrap?
Yes, cling wrap is fine. Covering it is more to keep out dust or other potential contaminates rather than keeping out air.
Just what I was looking for! Thank you.
What if I use baking soda as mordant for this black bean dye?. I'm looking for some deep blue.
So thrilled you found what you were looking for - yay! You can certainly add baking soda to your bean water which will alter the pH and can impact the color. It is not a mordant, though, so you will want to treat your textile with one of the suggested mordants I reference in my video (soy milk or alum). Also, if you are using a protein fiber (silk or wool), you may achieve some deeper blues (like the silk in my video). I will be publishing some tutorials on the mordant process soon, plus a video on shifting color with pH and iron water so please keep your eyes out for those in the future 😊
You are BEAUTIFUL ❤🥰🌺✨
How very sweet of you to say 🌻
Can you dye a cotton shirt?
Yes, you can dye any type of 100% natural fiber when using natural color. Please be sure to properly clean/scour the shirt before dyeing it and pre-treat it with a mordant for the best results. Aluminum acetate mordant is best for cotton, and if you can do a tannin+alum pre-treatment, even better. Black bean dye is considered fugitive, so it will fade over time, so please treat it carefully as you would with any delicate fiber.
Goog afternoon mam. My name is Nimisha and I am textile student.. from india .my project work is dyeing the textile material. I choose black bean dyeing . My fabric is weight of 167.87 how much i need to take black beans and could u tell the liquor ratio mam
Welcome to Color Quest, Manikkam 😊 It is often recommended to start with a 1:1 ratio (dry dye matter:dry weight of fiber), but with black beans, I would increase this ratio to 2:1. Therefore, if you have approximately 170 grams of fiber, I would recommend using 340 grams of black beans (340:170). For the water, you want to have enough liquid to fully cover your fiber so it can move freely around in the dye. The beans will absorb some of the water during fermentation, so make sure to add extra water. There is no specific ratio for the liquid - just use your best judgement. Good luck 💙
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest thanks mam.. for your response ❤️
Mam my name is Nimisha . Thats my father's I'd . Thanks for your response mam.. today I try and share my result to u
@@rajavel30 You are most welcome!
@@rajavel30 Ahhh, I missed that, Nimisha - forgive me. Yes, please let me know how it goes!
thats purple
Isn't it interesting how we all experience color in our own unique way? 💙💜💙
This confused me.
Sorry to hear that, Kat. Give it another watch, but all you need to do is soak beans for 24-48 hours, strain out the beans and put your clean/mordanted fiber into the cold dye to soak for a few days. Easypeasy!