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With all the fuss and muss about the high amounts of toxins found in clothing that is worn by children and adults alike people are turning to organic clothing that is dyed with natural dyes. Natural dyes that are used on organic clothing are dyes that are made by nature’s own materials, usually plants such as nuts or berries. While many people know that these dyes come from nature they do not know exactly what plants or berries are used to make these types of dyes.
Here is a look at some of the plants that are used to make the various types of natural dyes. To make it easier each group is separated by the color that it makes.
Orange. Oranges along with reds and browns are the easiest colors to make with natural materials. Some of the natural materials that go into making an orange dye include bloodroot, carrots, sassafras, onion skins and butternut.
Browns. Brown is the traditional earth tone so it is no wonder that there are dozens of plants that can be used to make browns. Tea bags, dandelions, fennel, coffee beans, yellow dock, wild plum root, walnuts and sumac leaves are just a handful of nature’s items that can be used to make a brownish dye.
Red. Nature’s reds can range from a brownish red to a pretty bright vibrant red color. Sumac leaves for a light red, crab apple, chokecherries, beets, St. John’s Wort and hibiscus flowers can all make a red dye that can be absorbed by the clothing materials.
Blue/Purple. Making a blue dye is very similar to a purple dye. Materials that can be used to make organic dyes of a bluish or purple shade include blueberries, grapes, saffron, mulberries and elderberries, raspberries and dogwood. As you can tell there are a lot of berries that make a bluish or purplish colored dye.
