Solar Dyeing Instructions
Solar dyeing is a method of coloring textiles using natural materials as the dye stuff, and the sun as the dye fixer. The heat of the sun allows the dye materials to grab on to the textile material, and leaves you with a beautiful organic looking design.
Here are the basic steps needed to solar dye successfully!
Here are the basic steps needed to solar dye successfully!
1. Find a natural cellulose or protein fiber (cellulose: cotton, hemp, tencel, linen etc...protein: wool, silk etc...)
2. (Optional) To make sure the fabric is as clean and ready to receive the dye as possible, scour the fabric using a tiny amount of Synthropal with the fabric in the washing machine.
3. (Optional) To help the dye grab onto the fabric as tightly as possible, mordant your fabric using alum, salt, soy milk, or another known mordant (do some research to figure out what would work best for your purposes)
4. Choose your natural dye materials (for example: coffee grounds, flower petals, onion skins, kitchen food scraps, cabbage, berries etc...)
5. Lay out your fabric like a canvas and use your natural dye materials to create something beautiful! Get creative, get messy!
6. After you’re done applying your dye materials, roll or wrap the fabric like a piece of sushi, keeping the dye material tucked inside. Roll it as tightly as you can and then bind it up with string or elastics.
7. Place your rolled up fabric in your jar or other clear container (clear so that it will behave like a greenhouse)
8. Allow your bundle to sit in its jar for 12-24 hours or even more!
9. When you think it has sat long enough, remove the bundle from the jar, unwrap it, compost the dye materials, and rinse your newly dyed piece of fabric.
10. After it has dried, iron each section of the fabric for about 5 minutes to set the color.
And that’s it! Remember, natural dyes will fade over time so keep your piece out of direct sunlight and wash with cold water to preserve for as long as possible.
Once faded, try over-dyeing it again to make it into something new!
Scouring
*not necessary but improves final result*
Scouring removes any extra dirt or finishes from the fabric so that the dye is more likely to go on evenly
Wash your fabric in the washing machine with a very small amount of Synthrapol to scour (less than a teaspoon for a couple meters of fabric)
Mordanting
*not necessary but mordanted fabric dyes significantly better*
For protein fibers (silk, wool) use 1 Tbsp of alum per 1 Gallon of water, bring the water to a boil and allow fabric to simmer in water for about an hour.
(If you’re using wool, put the wool in before the water is hot and slowly heat the fabric with the water to avoid felting, same goes for cooling the fabric.)
For cellulose fibers (cotton, linen, etc…) weigh the fabric and use 15% of the weight of the fabric in alum. Bring to a boil and allow the fabric to simmer in the water for about an hour
Alternatively you could also mordant the same way as solar dyeing is done. Just dissolve your alum in a container with water, and let your fabric sit in the sun with it for at least 24 hours.