NATURAL DYING WITH TURMERIC

Cultures around the world have been using turmeric as dye for thousands and thousands of years! Turmeric is considered a direct dye, so it does not need a mordant. However, you can add a mordant if you’d like to modify the color. Alum will make it a yellow-brown hue, copper sulphate will make it a yellow-green hue, and cream of tartar will make is a dark yellow-brown hue. For this dying session, I used the turmeric without anything added to it. You can use your turmeric powder in your kitchen, if you’d like. For this session, I used turmeric root.

First, I cut the root into small pieces. Most websites will tell you to peel the skin off of the root first. I’m a rebel and didn’t do that. It turned out fine! Next, I placed the root pieces in a blender with some boiling water and let it sit for a few minutes. Once blended, I added the mixture to pot of warm water and mixed it up!

During this step, I immediately regretted leaving the skins on, because I thought all of the pieces looked messy. In the end, they washed off very easily, and it wasn’t an issue. Add your pre-soaked (in water) fabric to the dye bath. Now it is time to wait! I waited about six hours before taking this fabric out! While waiting, I left the eye on low heat.

After six hours, I took the fabric out of the bath and let it cool off. I rinsed with water and hung (out of the sunlight) to dry! The color is beautiful and vibrant! Turmeric dye does not hold well, so with every wash, it will fade. You will eventually need to re-dye the fabric. Leave a comment if you’ve tried this before! Any tips for getting the dye to stay longer?