HOW TO MAKE NATURAL DYE WITH RED CABBAGE | ORGANIC COLOR | PURPLE
Вставка
- Опубліковано 26 чер 2024
- Red cabbage is a natural way to create purple dye for your textile and craft projects by simply chopping it up and throwing it in a pot of simmering water. The leftover 'soup' will be a vibrant dye that colors your fiber shades of lilac and lavender to deeper violet tones depending on your textile. This tutorial will show you how to brew dye from red cabbage, as well as the resulting color swatch samples (cotton & silk) with various mordants.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction - Red cabbage dye
2:36 Supplies
2:55 How to make dye
5:42 Color samples on cotton and silk
6:15 Sneak peek of next tutorial
SUPPLY LIST
Red cabbage
Salt
Pot with lid
Cutting board
Knife
Spoon
Bowl
Strainer
Mason jar
DOWNLOAD FREE COOKIN' COLOR BREW BOOKLET - 4 natural dyes to make from food in your kitchen: margaretbyrd.ck.page/765d82e81b
ABOUT MY CHANNEL
Color Quest is a creative channel where we explore the wide world of natural color! If you love using organic materials in all of your arts & crafts projects, join me as I share tutorials and vlogs on how to find and create a rainbow of color from plants and the earth they live in.
I'm passionate about natural dyes and pigments which I use extensively in my art practice, so I'm thrilled to share my curiosity, excitement and knowledge of nature's palette with you.
xoxo - Margaret, aka Byrdie
FOLLOW ME:
UA-cam: ua-cam.com/channels/8DZ.html...
Instagram: / moonbyrdie
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/moonbyrdie
Pinterest: / margaretbyr. .
Facebook: / margaretbyrd. .
Website: www.margaretbyrd.com
Blog: www.margaretbyrd.com/trailtales
MUSIC:
Playground Fun
by Ahjay Stelino
mixkit.co/free-stock-music/
Ukelele Song
canva.com
Brazil Samba
www.bensound.com
#naturalcolor #organic #artsandcrafts #naturaldye #tutorial #diy - Навчання та стиль
Learning about the dyes I can make at home is great fun but your instructional video is great and so nicely edited. The music is fun and the visuals are perfect.
Thank you, Georgia!! I'm so happy that you enjoyed the video. Hope you create some beautiful dye 💜
Discovering your channel made me sooo happy! I've been wanting to try natural dyes for a while and now I have a project to use it! Already downloaded your ebook! Thank you so much for the wonderful explanations. Also, your voice is very pleasant ♥️
Welcome to Color Quest! So happy you found us here is the wide world of natural color 😊 You are going to get hooked on it - promise. Enjoy the content and best of luck in your dye practice 💜
Gorgeous 😊
Thank you...such a pretty color 💜
besutiful colur
Yes, it is a stunner in the dye pot, but it will fade with time. One of the magical elements of living color 💜
Love these for junk journaling!
Ooh....I don't know about junk journaling - will have to check it out. Great name, so must be fun!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Really? You dont know about junk journaling?? Its like art journals... So many people do it. Tons of channels on UA-cam. Lots of new viewers for you if you do videos on paper dying!
@@frenchartantiquesparis424 I've just never heard of the term 😊 Paper will be in the mix - promise! You've already got my mind swirling with ideas.
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Great! The Universe works in mysterious ways....lol
This is to cool man..
I gotta show this to my wife and maybe try it out.
We’ve been doing a porch garden and maybe we’ll add this to the idea and to the belly:)
Nature is the coolest 💚 Your porch garden sounds dreamy - would be amazing to add some dye plants to the mix!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest hoping so
I just discovered your channel and I'm loving it. I have a red cabbage sitting in my fridge that I want to dye with so your tutorial is really helpful. I'm going to have to watch the ph shifting videos next because I want to learn more. Thanks for posting!
Awesome to hear, Jessica - welcome to Color Quest! Red cabbage was my first natural dye, so it holds a special place for me 💜 A few things to keep in mind is that it is fugitive, so the color will fade fairly quickly depending on what you plan to dye. I recommend you watch the Mordant playlist to learn a bit more about this important step that can help. And, if you get hooked and want other options for making purple dye that last longer, check out any of my videos on logwood 😊
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Thanks for the advice! I actually watched one of them recently so I went to pick up alum and cream of tartar yesterday. I'll have to watch the video on logwood too. I know red cabbage tends to run away but that's okay, I don't plan on using it on something that will get washed frequently and I don't mind dyeing it again anyway.
I'm fascinated by the idea of natural dyes so I'm probably about to be working my way through your channel over the next couple of weeks
@@jessicagoodwin3683 Love it, Jessica! I love how natural color changes and how each dye session can be such a unique surprise. I have red cabbage dyed pieces I used in my fiber collage art that is still holding its color after 4 years, albeit faded, but gorgeous in every passing year. Wishing you lots of smiles in your dye studio 🌼
Thanks for this great idea. Have you ever tried this particular dye on a jute or burlap fabric? I plan on planting a large number of lavender in burlap bags this winter and I'll have to test this out. I think it could look amazing.
Love this idea! I have never dyed jute or burlap, but why not experiment? If you can pre-treat your fiber with a soy milk mordant (see video on my channel), it might help with the bond between textile and the natural dye. Red cabbage will fade with time, but I'm fond of a more weathered look and welcome the many wonderful stages of living color. Best of luck!
Amazing!
Question: How long is the dye good for after you make to store? Thank you!
Thank you, Jakie! You can store the dye for quite some time if it is well sealed in the fridge - at least a month or more. Eventually, it will start to grow mold on top, which you can skim off before using the dye, but I typically throw it away at that point because of the smell! Hope you create something amazing 💜
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Thank you very much!😊
Amazing video. I watched the colours change on another video where they made blue adding baking powder and then red with lime juice. I'm looking to see if I can make these colours and make a military jacket with these methods.
Thanks for stopping by Color Quest! I also have a video on pH shifting cabbage with lemon juice, vinegar and baking soda, although I got more green than blue with the alkaline shift (baking soda). One thing to note about red cabbage - it is not very light fast so tends to fade quickly. Be sure to pre-treat your military jacket with a mordant before dyeing to help it bond a bit better, but also welcome the natural changes that will occur as it ages 😊
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest I'm planning on pre treating my fabrics which is what I do now and the baking soda did make the fabrics light green. The purple I made is nice though and the reddish pink is still good. In planning to do beetroot so I'll comment on that video how mine went.
@@Generalphoenix8438 Such great experiments with pH shifts - love it! Beetroot is also notoriously sensitive and will fade quickly and shift with pH changes, so please do let us know what you discover 💜
Have you tried this on wood? I am looking to make a purple cutting board for my daughter
Hello I was wondering if this natural coloring will have a taste if I use it in a desert? Thank you
Hi! Unfortunately, red cabbage dye has a strong odor, so it will probably create a cabbage flavor in a dessert. You may want to consider making dye with berries if you want a color that would have a taste better suited for a colorant for sweet things.
The colour extracted from red cabbage is a fugitive dye that in addition degrades rapidly when exposed to light. This is due to the cyanidin pigments contained mostly in the epidermis of the leaves - great as antioxidants in our diet, terribly unstable as dyes. A shame, because the range of hues from blue in alkaline environments, through purple and finally pink in acidic environments is stunning in the saucepan! If red cabbage were any good at all as a dye, there would be a solid history of using it. The fact that there is not pretty much tells you all you need to know. Fun to play with, but don't be disappointed that the colour isn't fast and doesn't last.
Fantastic explanation of the fugitive nature of red cabbage - thank you! I've had some success in keeping variations of red cabbage around by using iron as a modifier/mordant and having fiber that has been triple treated with an alum/tannin combination. I do see it as more of an experimental natural color to open the mind to the possibilities that may be hidden all around you - even in the kitchen.
Thank you for your great video I have had a fun day today dying paper and watching the way the dye changes color. I only have one question about it..... how do I get rid of the smell all my papers smell awful lol.
How much fun dyeing paper with natural color - yay 💜 Oops about the stinky smell, though! Wish I had a suggestion for you, but I'm afraid it might just take time and a whole lot of fresh air. Hope it clears up soon 😉
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest came up with a solution to the smell I put them in a drawer with lots of joss sticks and they smell lovely now 😊
@@annetteshanahan1088 Smart cookie! Love it - thanks for sharing your clever solution to the stink 💜
Hi, would this work when mixing with a natural liquid hand soap? Would it actually mix you think? Perhaps the cabbage smell would be too much? I am trying to make a grape scented liquid hand soap. Thanks!
I think you may have answered your own question 😊 Red cabbage dye has a very strong odor, so I personally would not use it in hand soap as a colorant. Logwood is a great natural dye that is purple - maybe you cold use that?
Thanks. What is used to make the color last?
Although red cabbage is considered fugitive and will fade over time, you can help elongate its life by proper fiber preparation: clean/scour fiber well before dyeing and pre-treat it with a mordant. I've had cabbage dyed fiber last for years, but please remember that natural color lives and breathes and is always changing. That's what makes is so magical 💜
So I used this as a hair dye it smells really not great. But works. I'm trying natural alternatives to making hair dye without chemicals that can hurt my sensitive skin.
However because I cooked it in a shorter period of time I think I got a green blue out of it. Do you think it will switch intensity if I put a different cooking time?
Yes, it is stinky, but that's awesome that it worked for hair dye 💜 Red cabbage is sensitive to the pH in water, so if you got a green/blue color, your water is more alkaline. If you are trying for purple, you can use distilled water which is pH neutral (pH 7). I have a video here on my channel that shows how to change the color of red cabbage with vinegar/baking soda. Also, be warned that if shampoo or other hair products are not pH neutral, it could potentially shift the color of the dye when you use them. Best of luck with the experiments!
It’s better than using thousands of murex snails. They smell worse when you smash them
I'm not sure how this went, but I'd love to know if you've had any further success?
Can I use this to dye my hair??? This is an awesome video
Thank you so much for your sweet words! I have never tried this as a hair dye - only on fiber, but why not try? If it works, it will be subtle at best since it is a natural dye, and make sure you use pH neutral hair products: red cabbage is pH sensitive and will shift color!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Ok thank you so much!
@@socedar7348 did it work?
@@babypenguin8754 It did but it was only very temporary for like a week max 🙂
@@socedar7348 that’s good enough for me! I’d rather dye my hair like that than use tons of chemicals. How did you do it though? Like you just added it to your hair and that’s it? Any special way to do it?
how long would the dye in it's liquid form keep in the fridge before it goes off?
I have kept and used red cabbage dye after many months. A thin layer of mold may grow on top, but you can skim it off and still use the dye. I also had a batch that changed color to a more blue tone, but this was not a problem for me as I enjoy the variation.
hi what is the measurement of water we should put and do we need to add salt?
Hi there! The amount of water you use is really dependent on how much fiber you are going to dye. You will want enough liquid in the dye bath so that your fiber can move around freely. The salt is not required, but can be added for its ionizing effect which can help with binding. It is best, however, to pretreat your fibers with a mordant which you can learn more about in the Mordant playlist in my channel's library.
Margaret el repollo lleva mordiente.? Gracias
Hola Cecilia 😊 No, la col no tiene taninos naturales para actuar como mordiente. Además, el repollo rojo tiende a desvanecerse rápidamente, así que use un mordiente como el alumbre o un tanino como pretratamiento para ayudar a mantener el color por más tiempo.
Hi Margaret! In terms of dyeing the fabric cotton using red cabbage, does the mordanting process happen first before adding fixative (like salt)?? I have an experiment to make and I will be using an Alum to mordant my fabrics.
Hi Hanneul! Yes, the mordant process most often happens as a pretreatment of your fiber, and alum is a great mordant option. Although there may be particular recipes out there that identify salt as a 'fixative', it's the mordant process that helps bond the natural color to the fiber. I've used salt in the recipe I followed here (2020), but to be honest, I would not use salt now as I don't think it is truly an important ingredient. I actually wonder if there confusion about mordants being 'salt' since they are often refined as metal 'salts'. Please do note - red cabbage is considered fugitive, so a mordant pre-treatment is important, and hopefully, will prolong the life of the color. It will fade over time, but I think that is a beautiful aspect of natural dyeing. Enjoy!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest OMGG THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR ANSWERING AND RESPONDING TO MY QUESTION!!!🤍 That means so much to me. Thank youuuuuuuu! I can now finally continue with my research. Have a good day ahead Margaret!
@@hanneul5767 You are most welcome! Best of luck with your project. Let me know how it goes 😊
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest I am now currently trying to find out where can I buy an alum so that I can now start with my experiment!🤍
@@hanneul5767 Hi Hanneul 😊 I just responded to your question on another video - we are in sync! Aluminum Potassium Sulfate is available at any dye speciality store, but it is also often available in grocery stores as 'alum' because it is used for pickling. For that reason, it is also more readily available on Amazon. For other types of mordants (aluminum acetate, tannin, symplocos), I use Botanical Colors.
Hi Margaret, I extracted the dye from the cabbage, how long will it last in the fridge? Love your videos 💖
So happy you are enjoying the videos, Nancy 🌼 The red cabbage dye will definitely grow mold in a shorter time due to the sugar content. You can always scrape the mold off if it forms and still use it as dye. I think it will be more stinky than other dyes, so you might decide to use it more quickly. I've had red cabbage dye in my fridge for 1+ month, but the rest of my family wasn't too happy with that 😉
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Thanks…I’ve got some material soaking in alum, I will use that today. Tomorrow I’m going to see how well it dyes paper. I love your videos and really want to get some sappanwood and other mordants to try….Thanks again for sharing and educating everyone with your expertise….
@@nancycolby687 Sounds like a colorful plan for today 💜 I got some beautiful results that lasted longer with tannin+alum as the pre-treatment, so keep that idea for the future. If you are in the US, Botanical Colors is a great resource for natural dye materials. I love sharing this passion of natural color - you are most welcome 😊
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Margaret, I’m so bummed. There’s hardly any color in the shirt or the cotton pieces I dyed. I don’t have a scale, I used 2 tsps of alum and 8 cups of water. I soaked everything in the mordant overnight. Soaked in the cabbage overnight. Washed and dried it today….lost most of the color. The T-shirt next to another white shirt looks like it has some color, by itself you can hardly tell it’s purple…. I guess I can’t send a pic on here….oh what a day….
@@nancycolby687 So sorry to hear that you lost color so quickly. As I mention in the video, red cabbage is fugitive, so it will fade. Treating the fibers as delicate may help a bit, but this is part of the living & breathing nature of red cabbage, and is often the case with the color purple in general. You can try logwood as another option for purple as it is a more traditional dye source with a long history of being used for dyeing fiber for clothing. Logwood is sensitive to light, so you need to be aware of that as well 💜
is it okay to dye a shirt with print? arent they stain on the print?
So many different factors contribute to how a natural dye bonds, so you will just have to try it. Depending on what material the print is made from, it may stain or it could also act as a resist. Best of luck!
Can you use this purple cabbage on your hair, if so do you know how to apply it?
Purple cabbage is a fugitive color which means it fades quickly on fiber. I have never tried it on hair, but I doubt it would make a good hair dye 💜
I have a linen garnment I would like to dye. Do you think it would work and come out purple?
Hi Myriam! Red cabbage is a fugitive dye, so although it would provide a purple hue on linen, it would be short lived. If you are looking for a natural purple dye, I would suggest logwood. I have a few videos in the library here that will show you more about it. No matter which dye you choose to use, be sure to wash and pretreat your linen with a mordant - very important! Aluminum acetate is great for cellulose fibers like linen or a tannin + alum is another option. You can learn more about mordants in the playlist in my library as well. Enjoy!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest thank you so much ! I will watch your videos!
Best of luck and have fun!@@myriambressani7019
May I know what is the function of the salt?
Hi Eunice - the salt here may help reduce the electronegativity of the dye and textile. In theory, this could keep the textile from repelling the dye, so I've used it simply as a potential aid. The recipe I've always used for red cabbage includes salt, but feel free to omit it. Please note - salt is NOT a mordant, so it will not help in prolonging your dye color's life on textile. Red cabbage is notorious for fading relatively quickly, so always use a pre-mordant like alum, or even a soy milk treatment, to help keep your color around a bit longer 💜
Hmm... I'm starting to wonder if all these different natural organic dyes can also be used to tint the hair color (if not too dark ofc).... 🤔
I saw a girl experiment with beetroot to dye her hair and it turned out gorgeous..💡😀
You are not alone in your wondering, Serene 😊 There have been questions and discussions here about using this and other natural colors for hair dye. Although I don't suspect red cabbage is strong enough for hair dye, I did successfully dye a piece of a friend's hair with indigo (a bit more complicated). Henna is plant based, so keep poking around and you might find something cool to try 💜
Can someone pls tell me whether this is very concentrated or less concentrated and if some knows kindly tell me how to concentrate It more
Hi Ryma 😊 The concentration of natural dye is typically measured by using a 1:1 ratio of dry dye matter (cabbage) to the weight of your fabric (WOF). This is one way to be sure you have enough dye concentration to adequately color your textile. You only need enough water to make sure your textile can move freely in the dye pot.
My understanding from previous experience is that red cabbage is a fugitive colour. I adore the blues and pinks that this produces but washes out almost immediately. Have you found a way to hold the colour?
Yes, you are correct - red cabbage is considered fugitive. It would not be a dye I would choose for textile that was to be washed heavily. I have used red cabbage dyed fiber in my artwork for years and it still holds up its color. The fiber is very well treated with a tannin/aluminum acetate combo so that will help dyes to last longer. Also, if you choose to shift the color to blue with an iron mordant, that will set the color stronger as well. It is such a pretty dye, but you do have to accept its fleeting nature 💜
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest yes I too have used for artwork. Red rose petals gave me also a very vibrant purple. Not sure on their longevity. Did you see the result I had using nearly your methods...I posted it and tagged you on Instagram. Not that I know how that works. 😂😂😂
@@bixnash1 How cool! I find red rose petals dye typically fades to a more neutral color, but maybe purple will do something different. Yes, I just checked it out - congrats 🌼 Hope you were happy with the results 🌼
I wonder I could dye my gray hair with a purple tint?
Great thoughts, but cabbage is a fairly weak dye that is very fugitive and fades quickly. I don't think it would work well as a hair dye, although I've never tried 💜
I'm new to botanical dying and find it confusing so many people say cabbage, beets and blueberries are the best to use for natural dyes and other people say no its the worst because it's not color fast. Then I learned the term fugitive....So my question why would you want to use fugitive dyes if they are not color fast? How much of a fugitive are these dyes? Won't the color bleed out, possibly into other clothes when washed? Or if you made tote bags, and they got rained on, will you get purple stains everywhere you don't want them?
There are so many different reasons to use natural color, so enjoying the vivid but fugitive colors of food sources like red cabbage, beets and blueberries can be a wonderful way to dip your toe into botanical dyeing. Beets & blueberries are even more fugitive than red cabbage, so I would only use those to dye things like eggs or play dough that have a shorter life span. With proper fiber prep, fugitive dyes can last longer and you can enjoy the different shades of color as it fades. In general, you don't have to worry about fugitive dyes 'staining' other things since it is more difficult for these colors to adhere to fiber that is not properly prepped with a mordant. If you want dyes that have a longer life, look to the more traditional natural dyes like cochineal or logwood for other purple options 💜
I am working on a school project and this is coloring with natural products. I tried this method. The purple color I want was beautiful but then I wash it with detergent it turns blue. why? 😢or shouldn't you wash it with detergent? Please help me.
Red cabbage is sensitive to the pH in its environment, so if that shifts to more acidic or alkaline, the color will change. Washing detergent is typically more alkaline, so the purple color will change to a blue or sometimes green. If you add an acid to it, the color will shift to pink. You can watch a video about pH shifting of red cabbage on my channel from the same time period.
If you want your color to stay purple, do not wash with anything but tap water. Also, please note, red cabbage is fugitive, so the color will fade away more quickly than other natural colors.
this cabbage diy cause bad smell or taste. how to use it ?? can u plz tell me
The smell is the natural odor of cooking cabbage. I suppose some people like the smell/taste 😊 You can use this dye to naturally color any fibers like fabric, yarn or ribbon, paper or for a non-toxic color in children's play dough. For fiber, you can simmer it in the dye for 1+ hour to use it as a natural lavender dye.
Can I dye my hair with it. I'm gonna try
Although I've never tried to color hair with natural dyes (except indigo - that worked!), I would not expect red cabbage dye to adhere to hair fibers. If you have success, please let us know 💜
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest you are correct. Ive tried it. It didn't work. But I did enjoy the beautiful color I got from the cabbage
@@canbeanything98 Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Thanks for letting us know. Hopefully, you will find another natural dye source to try in your hair one day 😊
Would this work on sanded bamboo?
I've never tried to dye bamboo wood, but you can certainly give it a try. Red cabbage is not a very strong dye and it fades quickly, so you might want to look at logwood as another option 💜
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest I'm not sure what logwood is. Google search shows a real variety of trees. And I'm in Costa Rica. Si I'm not sure if it's even here. Wondering what will happen if I mix the cabbage dye with a vinegar & steel wool dye 🤔
@@laurataylor7103 Logwood is from the Haematoxylum campechianum tree which is found throughout Central America, so you might be lucky enough to find it in Costa Rica. Sounds like you are making a kind of iron water by mixing steel wool and vinegar, so you will probably have a tannin interaction with the bamboo wood which can bring about grays and blacks. Why not give it a try and see what happens!
Can be saved off the fridge? Thank u
Yes, you can save your red cabbage dye in the fridge to use at a later date. It will mold quite easily, so you can add a whole clove to help deter it, but also just skim off the mold before dyeing with it. It is pretty stinky too 😊
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest 😜 i cN imagine the smell thank you so much for the reply, great videos cheers from 🇨🇾🌺🌺🎩🎩🌻🌻💚
Thank you so much for being here at Color Quest 🌼@@nikoliniolnc
I just wondered. Since Muslim culture uses henna and personally it's color doesn't appeal me. Can i purple nail paint naturally in any way?
Great question! The only natural dye that has 'painted' my nails and lasted is indigo - not purple, but a lovely dark blue. Logwood is a strong purple dye, but I'm not sure it will dye nails. Perhaps you could suspend logwood extract in a natural binder like gum arabic for a kind of paste for your nail? It wouldn't last, but could be fun to try!
Why not using electric juice extractor
Nothing fancy like that in my dye studio, but give it a try. You could probably use it like an extract when you dye your fiber on the stovetop.
If i boil pure cotton would it shrink
I would not recommend 'boiling' any textile in general. Cotton can handle higher heats than protein fibers (silk/wool), but I would still keep your dye pot temperature on a simmer to protect your fiber. Since cotton is known to shrink, I think you will need to be prepared for some change. Good luck!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest so what is the best technique to dye cotton
A low steady simmer will work well. You can let the fiber cool in the dye pot over night to potentially deepen the color. You could also solar dye, but this can take many days or even weeks depending on the type of dye you choose.
How to fix color on fabric 😊
You always want to pre-treat your fiber with a mordant. You can learn about different options in my Mordant playlist. Red cabbage is a fugitive dye, so it tends to fade more quickly than other dye sources, so please keep that in mind.
Is it safe?
Hi Rishabh! Working with most organic matter as dye material is considered a safe alternative to working with toxic synthetic dyes. Since cabbage is a vegetable that we eat, yes, it is safe to handle and use for dye purposes. Hopefully, that is what you are asking about. If you are more curious about the dye being color/wash/light 'fast', please let me know. Enjoy!
Traduccir por favor !!!!!
¡Hola Mónica! Este video tiene subtítulos (CC) para que pueda cambiar el idioma de los subtítulos a español. Haga clic en el ícono CC debajo del video para activar los subtítulos primero. En el icono de engranaje de Configuración a la derecha, haga clic en la flecha junto a Subtítulos / CC, haga clic en Traducir automáticamente, haga clic en Español. ¡Tus subtítulos ahora estarán en español! Disfruta 🌼
I have tried red cabbage a couple of times but it rinses straight out. Do you have any tips on keeping the colour for a little while?
Yes, red cabbage is considered a fugitive dye, but if you pre-treat your textile with a mordant, the color can linger much longer. What type of textile are you using? Is it 100% natural? For wool & silk, you can try alum+cream of tartar at 1.5 tsp each to 4oz fiber for a pre-mordant. For cotton or other plant based fibers, an easy option is a soy milk pre-treatment for a mordant effect, or I've had great success with a tannin-alum-tannin slow mordant. If all of this sounds like gibberish to you, please feel free to email me and we can chat more 😊
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest hi, I've tried iron and soy milk mordants on 100% cotton. It looks beautiful out of the pot but rinses out almost instantly.
@@hawthorngrove3629 As you probably know, cotton is more fickle with natural dyes than protein fibers. I've found iron to be one of the most resilient mordants, so I'm surprised to hear it disappears immediately. For the soy, are you doing a triple time soak/dry and then letting it set for at least a week before dyeing? Also, have you tried not rinsing right out of the pot, but letting it set for a week or more with a quick iron/steam heat before rinsing? I've had success in keeping red cabbage color for quite some time, but my fiber practice is for artwork, not clothing, so I do not wash/rinse more than one time and I always let it set first. Stubborn cabbage!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest I will give it another go with some of your tips. I mostly do Botanical prints on fabric but I like to dabble dyes as well. With my prints I always let them dry, iron then rinse a few days later and get great results.
@@hawthorngrove3629 Wonderful to hear that you are botanical printing - how lovely! Best of luck and let me know how things go 😊