Hi Margaret! I love what you are doing and so fun to learn how to get a natural black dye, curious if you know if this is possible with bamboo? Trying to achieve a black naturally dyed matcha whisk
Hi Lilli! Thanks for reaching out here and on IG 🌼 You can absolutely dye all kinds of fiber including wood like bamboo. The issue, however, is that iron is used to do this as an interaction with the tannin from the fiber. It would not be recommended for anything that is food related. Maybe you can consider browns or reddish hues from some other plants to make your whisk color?
Great tutorial! The finished product looks like it was super in octopus ink or the water from cooked black beans. It was truly a surprise to see where the black came from. Happy Holidays! Namesta ✌️🕉️🐞
Thank you so much, Lala 🖤 Having an option to make such lush blacks with natural colors is well worth the effort! Love to think of it as 🐙ink - how awesome would that be? Have a wonderful holiday season!
If the pomegranate is to bring in tannins, would other plants do that too, such as grape leaves, oak leaves, bay leaves? I use all of those to bring tannins into my homemade fermented pickles.
Yes, you can get tannins from all kinds of natural materials including leaves. They will vary in strength, but give it a try! Love that you are fermenting pickles....yum 🥒
Yes, you can use madder as an over-dye after the tannin+iron steps instead of logwood. The black will have a warmer tone most likely, but is a great option.
Hey there, just came across your channel because I was curious about the processes behind dye making and your video seemed like it stayed pretty close to the materials and processes that a medieval dyer would've used (which is what I was researching for) Do you know if there are any good substitutes for green vitriol (aka ferrous iron)? thanks for making this video! It helped a lot.
Hi there - welcome to Color Quest! I love learning the more traditional methods and finding ways to work from material I can find/make on my own. I will still work with more refined mordants, for example, but I think it's wonderful if you want to pursue historical ways of working with dyes. The alternative that I use for ferrous sulfate is homemade iron water. I have a video here on how to make it and it's very simple - rusty iron, vinegar, water and time. Have fun in your dye pot!
@@layor_G Thanks for the clarification, Layor. It is hard to know if this natural dye process would cover another dyed garment, but you can certainly try. If the textile or dye are synthetic, it may be less likely to work, but if you don't mind testing it out, why not see what happens? If the pomegranate skin dye is able to over-dye the orange, you will get a darkened color with the iron and can deepen it with the logwood. Let us know how it goes if you decide to try!
I doubt pomegranate peels would bring blank to your hair as a dye. The natural color of the skin is yellow in the dye pot and it is the combination of iron and the tannin in the peels that creates black hues. Perhaps you had some type of iron residue on your fingers when you peeled it? Iron is needed in natural dyeing to welcome black colors which I don't believe would be good for hair as it is quite harsh on protein fibers. Finding natural dyes for hair is tough 😔
Thank you for the suggestion, Gurmeet. I've never made dye for hair - only fiber - but it is an interesting idea. You typically have to use iron to make darker natural colors, but I personally wouldn't use that on my hair. Maybe you can watch my video on Black Walnuts from late 2020 to see if that dark brown is worth trying on hair?
Hi Anita - thanks for your question 😊 Personally, I would not use this on my hair since the black is achieved through the reaction of iron and tannin. Although I would not worry about tannin, I don't know what iron water would do to your hair.
Hi Margaret, I like your work very much and your work really beautiful. I have a question for you. I want to know _ Do you need guar gum, Tamarind beech gum or any other gum as a thickener to dye eco print with natural dyes to enhance the color durability of the fabric plz
Hi Bishawnath - Thank you for your kind words 💕 I have only seen recipes using guar gum to create paste for textile which is used for block printing designs on fiber. If you are using plant material like leaves to create eco-prints with heat, you will want to make sure your textile is pretreated with a mordant to help with the natural color bond. Be sure to choose the mordant that works best with the fiber you want to use, ie. silk/wool (protein) vs. cotton (cellulose).
Thank you, Margaret. 🌸 I always learn so much on your channel. (( I bet you need to warn HouseGuest - like I do - to read labels on jars in the fridge & on bags in the freezer. )) 🌸🌸
You are so welcome, Bonnie! So thrilled that you visit Color Quest every week - thank you 💕 I'm smiling over here about your comment - my kids always tease me about all of the dyes in the fridge, and my daughters who are visiting from college during the holidays told me they couldn't tell what was food and what was dye! Oops 😆 Seems you have the same problem?
Great question! Black is tricky with natural color and relies heavily on the tannin+iron combination. I tried to work one time with charcoal from wood used in a campfire with little success. I treated it like an 'earth pigment' so used soy milk as a binder for my fiber, but it didn't adhere. I think the biggest challenge is finding a way for something like soot to actually bind.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful option, Jessica! Since iris' need to be divided each year, guess it would make sense to steal a few roots and test it out. Do you have iris in your garden?
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest I have a couple of clumps of mini irises. I just collected some dandelions and I was going to experiment with my first first dyeing!
Love your tutorials! Thanks for sharing. Breat black, btw. Curious, do you know if soda ash can be used to "bleach" colors, or take out color from oak gall and iron by sprinkling immediately onto dyed fabric? Have you tried this?
You are most welcome, Linda, and thank you for your sweet words! With natural dyes, soda ash is typically used for scouring fiber before dyeing and as a pH modifier to make an alkaline environment. Citric acid, ie. lemon juice, can act as a natural 'bleach' of sorts on certain dyes and is especially effective on tannin rich matter. I am just now experimenting with this type of process, so I would suggest you give it a try. Oak gall could be a great candidate and I'm developing some work using this with black walnut (also high in tannin). Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest I tried it! I used oak gall powder and iron tablets in a strong solution. Dipped a silk scarf for approx 5 minutes. Removed scarf wrung it out and laid on table. Then sprinkled soda ash in a random pattern. It gave an interesting effect. It wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but it's interesting. It's two shades of medium and lighter gray. I guess I'll have to try citric acid next. I heard that using lemon (citric acid) won't holdthrough washing though. I guess I'll have to try it. Thanks!
@@lindacollins9342 Sounds pretty cool, Linda - thanks for sharing the experiment and results with us! I wonder if it is more related to pH of the soda ash? Definitely try it with citric acid and let me know what happens - super curious. I think it can be stabilized with some dyes if it actually removes the color like a natural bleach. When you use it to pH shift colors, however, it will be sensitive to the pH of other things introduced to it and can shift back. Magical chemistry!
Hi Hannah - W.O.F. means Weight Of Fiber. We often use the dry weight of fiber (WOF) to determine how much dye matter to use. For many dyes, a 1:1 ratio between fiber and dye matter is a great place to start.
It is a small leguminous tree that is native to south Mexico and Central America. You can find it from on-line retailers who specialize in natural dyeing materials like Botanical Colors or Maiwa.
Yes, you can dye leather as a natural protein fiber. I have never personally done this, so I would research it a bit, but the natural tannins in leather should react to the iron on its own. For example, wood will turn black & gray just by introducing it to iron. The logwood is a nice way to add a cooler tone to make the black more rich. Let us know how the leather turns out!
i just tried this and it works! but, big downside: The iron water makes a MESS( specially when you live in a flat) and you can only wash it out with chemicals, so i feel as unsustainable as if i had bought an already died fabric :( Dying swatches of fabric is not like dying whole patterns, that you have to rinse in the bathroom or somewhere else
You are absolutely correct - iron water is tricky and can spread to areas where you don't want it to go. Have you tried making a homemade iron water with rusty nails and vinegar water? That may be easier to control. It's true that dyeing larger pieces of textile are more complicated, so you have to plan accordingly. Stoked that you got black though 😊 Hope the experience was not too much as compared to your beautiful results 🖤
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest i have to try the rusty nails + vinegar tip! yes it was so tricky, and i felt confused when i read that i couldnt dispose the iron water through water because i can contaminate river or something, how is that natural? :( yes i definetily need a better planning 🤣 thank you so much! and yes, the colors turned great :)
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest also, i used 20% WOF and it turned to be sooo much iron. my fabric was 1kg aproximately, so i used the whole bag of 200 g. that was insane
@@churbichurbi As I understand it, iron water can be disposed in a sink safely, or better yet, if you have iron loving plants, you can feed them the waste water. You can also use the iron water for several dips, so save it and resuse it time and time again. Very cool that you love the results 🖤
@@churbichurbi Yikes - you definitely dyed a lot of fiber! Please keep this iron water and use it for future projects. Except for achieving blacks, you can use a much smaller percentage of iron to color modify, typically 1-2% WOF. You can use the 20% iron water bath you made here and dilute it in smaller batches to use again if you want to color shift.
Hi Margaret! I love what you are doing and so fun to learn how to get a natural black dye, curious if you know if this is possible with bamboo? Trying to achieve a black naturally dyed matcha whisk
Hi Lilli! Thanks for reaching out here and on IG 🌼 You can absolutely dye all kinds of fiber including wood like bamboo. The issue, however, is that iron is used to do this as an interaction with the tannin from the fiber. It would not be recommended for anything that is food related. Maybe you can consider browns or reddish hues from some other plants to make your whisk color?
Great tutorial! The finished product looks like it was super in octopus ink or the water from cooked black beans. It was truly a surprise to see where the black came from. Happy Holidays! Namesta ✌️🕉️🐞
Thank you so much, Lala 🖤 Having an option to make such lush blacks with natural colors is well worth the effort! Love to think of it as 🐙ink - how awesome would that be? Have a wonderful holiday season!
If the pomegranate is to bring in tannins, would other plants do that too, such as grape leaves, oak leaves, bay leaves? I use all of those to bring tannins into my homemade fermented pickles.
Commenting to see reply
Yes, you can get tannins from all kinds of natural materials including leaves. They will vary in strength, but give it a try! Love that you are fermenting pickles....yum 🥒
Hi dear can I apply this on my grey hairs
No, I'm afraid not. This black is achieved by using ferrous sulfate which you should not use on your skin.
Really great, love it. Thank you
Thank you so much! So happy to have you here, Inge 💕
hi mam, can we use madder root instead of logwood? or is there any alternative for log wood?
Yes, you can use madder as an over-dye after the tannin+iron steps instead of logwood. The black will have a warmer tone most likely, but is a great option.
Hey there, just came across your channel because I was curious about the processes behind dye making and your video seemed like it stayed pretty close to the materials and processes that a medieval dyer would've used (which is what I was researching for)
Do you know if there are any good substitutes for green vitriol (aka ferrous iron)?
thanks for making this video! It helped a lot.
Hi there - welcome to Color Quest! I love learning the more traditional methods and finding ways to work from material I can find/make on my own. I will still work with more refined mordants, for example, but I think it's wonderful if you want to pursue historical ways of working with dyes.
The alternative that I use for ferrous sulfate is homemade iron water. I have a video here on how to make it and it's very simple - rusty iron, vinegar, water and time. Have fun in your dye pot!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest oh, that's sick! Thanks for replying to my comment on a month's old video :)
@@theenjoyer1445 You are most welcome! I try to connect with the community here no matter how old the video is, so feel free to ask away 🌼
Would thjs process work for vibrant color materials
Hi Layor - I'm not sure what mean exactly. Can you give me an example?
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest like say if im attempting to dye an orange garment black
@@layor_G Thanks for the clarification, Layor. It is hard to know if this natural dye process would cover another dyed garment, but you can certainly try. If the textile or dye are synthetic, it may be less likely to work, but if you don't mind testing it out, why not see what happens? If the pomegranate skin dye is able to over-dye the orange, you will get a darkened color with the iron and can deepen it with the logwood. Let us know how it goes if you decide to try!
Can the pomegranate peel alone dye my hair black? Coz i notice my fingers going black when i peel it. Pls reply
I doubt pomegranate peels would bring blank to your hair as a dye. The natural color of the skin is yellow in the dye pot and it is the combination of iron and the tannin in the peels that creates black hues. Perhaps you had some type of iron residue on your fingers when you peeled it? Iron is needed in natural dyeing to welcome black colors which I don't believe would be good for hair as it is quite harsh on protein fibers. Finding natural dyes for hair is tough 😔
Kindly make dark brown dye for dying hair
Thank you for the suggestion, Gurmeet. I've never made dye for hair - only fiber - but it is an interesting idea. You typically have to use iron to make darker natural colors, but I personally wouldn't use that on my hair. Maybe you can watch my video on Black Walnuts from late 2020 to see if that dark brown is worth trying on hair?
can I apply this colour to hair?
Hi Anita - thanks for your question 😊 Personally, I would not use this on my hair since the black is achieved through the reaction of iron and tannin. Although I would not worry about tannin, I don't know what iron water would do to your hair.
Hi Margaret, I like your work very much and your work really beautiful. I have a question for you. I want to know _ Do you need guar gum, Tamarind beech gum or any other gum as a thickener to dye eco print with natural dyes to enhance the color durability of the fabric plz
Hi Bishawnath - Thank you for your kind words 💕 I have only seen recipes using guar gum to create paste for textile which is used for block printing designs on fiber. If you are using plant material like leaves to create eco-prints with heat, you will want to make sure your textile is pretreated with a mordant to help with the natural color bond. Be sure to choose the mordant that works best with the fiber you want to use, ie. silk/wool (protein) vs. cotton (cellulose).
Thank you, Margaret. 🌸 I always learn so much on your channel.
(( I bet you need to warn HouseGuest - like I do -
to read labels on jars in the fridge
& on bags in the freezer. )) 🌸🌸
You are so welcome, Bonnie! So thrilled that you visit Color Quest every week - thank you 💕 I'm smiling over here about your comment - my kids always tease me about all of the dyes in the fridge, and my daughters who are visiting from college during the holidays told me they couldn't tell what was food and what was dye! Oops 😆 Seems you have the same problem?
Has anybody used soot for black ??
Great question! Black is tricky with natural color and relies heavily on the tannin+iron combination. I tried to work one time with charcoal from wood used in a campfire with little success. I treated it like an 'earth pigment' so used soy milk as a binder for my fiber, but it didn't adhere. I think the biggest challenge is finding a way for something like soot to actually bind.
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest thanks for your quick response. Pat nz
I just read last night that Iris roots (rhizomes/tubers) and iron can make black.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful option, Jessica! Since iris' need to be divided each year, guess it would make sense to steal a few roots and test it out. Do you have iris in your garden?
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest I have a couple of clumps of mini irises. I just collected some dandelions and I was going to experiment with my first first dyeing!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest rhe article/blog post said that those tuber have a lot of tannin in them
@@jessicabey275 Ooh....so exciting! Please let me know how it goes 😊
@@jessicabey275 That makes perfect sense - iron + tannin can lead you to black very easily 🖤
Love your tutorials! Thanks for sharing. Breat black, btw. Curious, do you know if soda ash can be used to "bleach" colors, or take out color from oak gall and iron by sprinkling immediately onto dyed fabric? Have you tried this?
You are most welcome, Linda, and thank you for your sweet words! With natural dyes, soda ash is typically used for scouring fiber before dyeing and as a pH modifier to make an alkaline environment. Citric acid, ie. lemon juice, can act as a natural 'bleach' of sorts on certain dyes and is especially effective on tannin rich matter. I am just now experimenting with this type of process, so I would suggest you give it a try. Oak gall could be a great candidate and I'm developing some work using this with black walnut (also high in tannin). Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest I tried it! I used oak gall powder and iron tablets in a strong solution. Dipped a silk scarf for approx 5 minutes. Removed scarf wrung it out and laid on table. Then sprinkled soda ash in a random pattern. It gave an interesting effect. It wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but it's interesting. It's two shades of medium and lighter gray. I guess I'll have to try citric acid next. I heard that using lemon (citric acid) won't holdthrough washing though. I guess I'll have to try it. Thanks!
@@lindacollins9342 Sounds pretty cool, Linda - thanks for sharing the experiment and results with us! I wonder if it is more related to pH of the soda ash? Definitely try it with citric acid and let me know what happens - super curious. I think it can be stabilized with some dyes if it actually removes the color like a natural bleach. When you use it to pH shift colors, however, it will be sensitive to the pH of other things introduced to it and can shift back. Magical chemistry!
Maybe I missed it in the video, but what does W.O.F mean?
Hi Hannah - W.O.F. means Weight Of Fiber. We often use the dry weight of fiber (WOF) to determine how much dye matter to use. For many dyes, a 1:1 ratio between fiber and dye matter is a great place to start.
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest got it. Thank you so much!
what is log wood
It is a small leguminous tree that is native to south Mexico and Central America. You can find it from on-line retailers who specialize in natural dyeing materials like Botanical Colors or Maiwa.
Thanks for this video 👍👍
You bet - happy you liked it! Welcome to Color Quest 🌼
Does this work with leather?
Yes, you can dye leather as a natural protein fiber. I have never personally done this, so I would research it a bit, but the natural tannins in leather should react to the iron on its own. For example, wood will turn black & gray just by introducing it to iron. The logwood is a nice way to add a cooler tone to make the black more rich. Let us know how the leather turns out!
😍😍😍😍
Thanks for the lovin' 🖤
❤️❤️
🖤🖤🖤
i just tried this and it works! but, big downside: The iron water makes a MESS( specially when you live in a flat) and you can only wash it out with chemicals, so i feel as unsustainable as if i had bought an already died fabric :(
Dying swatches of fabric is not like dying whole patterns, that you have to rinse in the bathroom or somewhere else
You are absolutely correct - iron water is tricky and can spread to areas where you don't want it to go. Have you tried making a homemade iron water with rusty nails and vinegar water? That may be easier to control. It's true that dyeing larger pieces of textile are more complicated, so you have to plan accordingly. Stoked that you got black though 😊 Hope the experience was not too much as compared to your beautiful results 🖤
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest i have to try the rusty nails + vinegar tip! yes it was so tricky, and i felt confused when i read that i couldnt dispose the iron water through water because i can contaminate river or something, how is that natural? :(
yes i definetily need a better planning 🤣 thank you so much! and yes, the colors turned great :)
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest also, i used 20% WOF and it turned to be sooo much iron. my fabric was 1kg aproximately, so i used the whole bag of 200 g. that was insane
@@churbichurbi As I understand it, iron water can be disposed in a sink safely, or better yet, if you have iron loving plants, you can feed them the waste water. You can also use the iron water for several dips, so save it and resuse it time and time again. Very cool that you love the results 🖤
@@churbichurbi Yikes - you definitely dyed a lot of fiber! Please keep this iron water and use it for future projects. Except for achieving blacks, you can use a much smaller percentage of iron to color modify, typically 1-2% WOF. You can use the 20% iron water bath you made here and dilute it in smaller batches to use again if you want to color shift.
♥️😍😘🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
❤🧡💛💚💙💜