Help Red Cabbage Natural Dye

[Seeker22]

I have a large amount of Red Cabbage leaves that I didn't put in the Dehydrator. These aren't food grade. I decided to make natural dye out of them. My question is, can I dry and powder [without cooking] and use that powder later to rehydrate, add amonia, etc. and make my dye?

If there is a go to book for Natural Dyes, what do you recommend? I will be working primarily with Mohair and Cotton with a rare Linen in there as I learn.

Thanks.

 

[spinner]

I tried using red cabbage for dye using several different mordants and it is not a fast dye. It fades very quickly and not in a nice way. It fades to gray and tan and is very muddy looking.
You might have better luck, but do not dye a lot of fiber at first. Use very small amounts and once it is done put it in a place where it will be exposed to sunlight for several days. I hung samples on my clothes line for a few days and it showed how very unstable the dye is. Only dye what you won't mind losing if it fails.
Many of the so called natural dyes are not fast so go carefully when experimenting so that you don't ruin a lot of fiber. It is very important to keep detailed and accurate notes so you know what to avoid or repeat.
I haven't kept up with what the "go-to" books are on natural dyes so I can't help you with that.

 

[Seeker22]

Thanks a bunch. If I wind up with a light lavenderish gray, I will be pleased.

 

[pauldingbabe]

I don't know about red cabbage but poke berries makes a pretty dye for paper.

Sorry, but I don't know much about fiber arts. The most I know is Rid and alcohol dye.

Looking for more info though. Great thread.

 

[packyderms_wife]

red cabbage is a fugitive dye, the color molecules will not bind to paper, fabric, etc., no matter which mordants you use. You can, however, use it as a temp dye for easter eggs. I've been dyeing with natural dyes for over 30 years, once had an online company that sold natural dyes and naturally dyed fabrics, yarns, threads, and fibers. If you have questions just ask away.

 

[packyderms_wife]

It is very important to keep detailed and accurate notes so you know what to avoid or repeat.

here's a chart:

Natural Dye Colors — Kimberly Baxter Packwood

Natural Dye Color Chart for various leaves, barks, roots, berries, bugs, lichens, mushrooms, and the like. A chart defining which part of the plants to use to acquire natural dye colors onto fabric, fibers, yarns, threads, and more.

kbaxterpackwood.com

 

[Seeker22]

red cabbage is a fugitive dye, the color molecules will not bind to paper, fabric, etc., no matter which mordants you use. You can, however, use it as a temp dye for easter eggs. I've been dyeing with natural dyes for over 30 years, once had an online company that sold natural dyes and naturally dyed fabrics, yarns, threads, and fibers. If you have questions just ask away.

Still looking for good books, videos, sites. Is there a book good enough to be the go to for historically accurate instructions? Melodi would probably call that Period Correct. Civil War, Victorian, Celtic, Viking...

 

[packyderms_wife]

Still looking for good books, videos, sites. Is there a book good enough to be the go to for historically accurate instructions? Melodi would probably call that Period Correct. Civil War, Victorian, Celtic, Viking...

yes, there are. How much money would you like to spend? Seriously.

Natural Dyes by Dominique Cardon and there's another one from a guy from Turkey, I'll have to look through my stash for that book. All period correct on the history and usages, all scientifically correct, etc. These books run in the hundreds of dollars.

If you want just natural dyeing information anything on my website that I posted above or anything by Jenny Dean. My area of specialty is indigo, Turkish Red, cochineal, and dyes, pigments, and paints, used by the indigenous peoples of north and south america.

ETA Kokeboya by Harald Bohmer, he's from Turkey, very well written book.

ETA ETA most of the "period correct" recipes are highly toxic and involve using mordants such as lead, mercury, etc., just for a heads up.

 

[Broken Arrow]

Colonial Williamsburg put out a natrual dye book which I found quite good. I cant recall the name of it at the moment.

 

[Kathy in FL]

I have a large amount of Red Cabbage leaves that I didn't put in the Dehydrator. These aren't food grade. I decided to make natural dye out of them. My question is, can I dry and powder [without cooking] and use that powder later to rehydrate, add amonia, etc. and make my dye?

If there is a go to book for Natural Dyes, what do you recommend? I will be working primarily with Mohair and Cotton with a rare Linen in there as I learn.

Thanks.

I have a book on foraging for natural dyes and inks someplace. I'll see if it has the answer.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Here is the book on ink:

Make Ink: A Forager’s Guide to Natural Inkmaking

Amazon.com: Make Ink: A Forager's Guide to Natural Inkmaking eBook : Logan, Jason: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: Make Ink: A Forager's Guide to Natural Inkmaking eBook : Logan, Jason: Kindle Store

www.amazon.com

 

[Melodi]

Fades badly doesn't last, not really worth it for a wool dye - that's my experience. Some Black Berries and Blue Berries do a better purple and are much more colorfast - and not going to come off on you skin when you wear them. They also fade over time but to a kind of nice reddish color.

 

[Melodi]

Now onion skins, they make great golden, godish red/brown dyes with the right mordants (even salt).

 

[AlaskaSue]

Thank you Packy and Kathy. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I can grow purple cabbage, but we don’t have poke here…actually not much else of anything purple I can think of. Have tried just a few natural dyes but want to do more this season. Fun stuff amidst the other ugly things happening.

 

[Melodi]

The best natural purples come either from shellfish (murex) dyes (very rare and expensive) or certain types of lichens that grow on rocks around Northern Europe - I am not sure about North America but there probably are some.

These days, in most parts of Northern Europe using them, is discouraged or even illegal because they are so endangered but people do it in small amounts anyway. Different ones get different brilliant colors, cloth analyses has shown that both Norse and Celtic clothing was probably much more colorful than previously believed because even women living in tiny crofts could gather these and use them to dye the family wool and clothing.

There are also variations of "Kermes" which is a dye made from bugs that these days is unavailable in Europe, again because it is so rare; however in one of those weird situations there is a South American bug that produces exactly the same dye. While not exactly purple, you can get vivid pinks and sometimes bluish pinks from it - again it was common in the ancient World (the European version).

A close friend in England made a display for Norse reenactment showing the many-many colors the Norse and the local Saxons (and Scots) had outside their doors and/or available through trading networks.