Plant dyeing - New fashion?

Have you thought about how to dye yarn or fabrics, for example? Of course, the store sells dyes that can be used to dye fabric in the washing machine, but now vegetable dyeing has come into fashion.

Plant dyeing is a way of changing the color of clothing and interior fabrics since ancient times. According to archaeological research, Indians in particular have practiced dyeing for at least 5,000 years. So it's not about any new craze, rather warming up an ancient way.

Dyeing with plants can easily be done at home, but remember to set aside time and space for the task. An image of an iron cauldron bubbling outside on an open fire, which is confused from time to time with a large wooden fence, comes to my eyes. The end result is a beautiful ocher yellow wool yarn. An outdoor fire and an iron cauldron are not needed for today's vegetable dyeing, but you can start the job even on a smaller scale.

Tips and instructions can be found, for example, on yle's pages, extracted from Strömsö.

So what color comes from which plant? There are probably as many shades and colors as there are plants, and the final shade always depends on the amount of plant used and the raw material to be dyed. How much color the material absorbs. Different parts of the plant affect the color, as well as the place where the plant grows. A plant grown in a sunny location may color more strongly than one in the shade, or vice versa.

Kanerva, which can be found well in the nature of Finland, does not get a beautiful aniline red, even though it might be expected, but Kanerva gives yellow and brown tones; gold and rust color and different shades of green, such as moss green, dark grass green, blue green and gray and black green. You can get bright yellow from young heather before flowering. Green, orange and gold from heather branches. The flowers are golden or rust colored.

Yellow and green are born from Kielo. Shades of blue can be obtained from kale (fox bread). Mäkikuisma flowers are yellow, red, purple and purple, as well as beige. The plant is used a lot, e.g. for dyeing wool.

Shades of red and orange can be found among mushrooms. You can get red and orange from blood sedum and blood sedum sedum.

When collecting plants and mushrooms, you should remember everyone's rights, because woody plants or roots may only be collected with the landowner's permission. Also keep in mind the quantities of how many plants you need to dye. If you want a very strong color, the quantity is significantly larger than for a lighter shade. Dark shades require about ten times the amount in relation to the yarn to be dyed. If you dye a kilo of yarn, the number of plants is then 10 kg.

Plant dyeing in a nutshell: The plant colors are removed from the plants by first soaking and then boiling or stewing, after which they are attached to the fiber with the help of so-called release agents. Only a few natural dyes are permanently attached to the fiber without a mordant. The most important and oldest chewing agent is alum, which you can get at the pharmacy.

There is a lot of literature on vegetable dyeing and it is worth getting to know the subject by reading and above all by experimenting. It would be nice to hear if you have found a beautiful color from a completely surprising source!