Dying with Tea
Tea dying is good for an aged or “natural” look for clothing or fabric. It is easy to do at home and of course all natural!
I buy a big box of the cheapest tea bags I can find at the grocery store. It is usually a black tea blend, but any kind of black tea is good because it is dark! If I am only dying one or two small things I will cook it in a large soup pot on the stove. If I am dying several things I will use my bathtub or kitchen sink. And of course – this will only work on white or light colored fabric, since it is only a subtle color change.
1. First make sure the garment or fabric is clean! There may be stains you can’t seesubtle on fabric(i.e. around the collar, underarms or other oil stains. . .). Be careful – these stains will become darker when dyed! Stains that were invisible before, will now become darker than the rest of the fabric! This could possibly be a desired effect, but probably not! When I am dying white t-shirts, I prefer to start with a brand new, fresh shirt.
2. Soak your garment in clean water first. This will help your fabric to gain equal coverage of the tea/dye. This is a rule of thumb for any dying, with real dye or tea. Sometimes if you put dry fabric into a dye bath, the color soaks into the fabric unevenly and some areas can become darker or lighter. Again, this could be a desired effect if you are looking for a tie-dyed or uneven look. I usually soak the fabric in water while I am prepared the rest of my dye set up.
3. Add hot-hot water to your tub, or to your soup pot. If you are using a pot on the stove you can turn the heat on super-low! If you are using your tub fill the tub up with the hottest water you can, then you may want to add a few kettles of boiling/hot water if your tap water does not get very hot. If you are using your tub, you only need to fill it up enough to fully cover your fabric.
4. Add your tea bags! When I dyed shirts in my bathtub, I threw in the entire box of 100 tea bags, if you are using a pot you don’t need to use that many. Maybe 25 or so. Of course, more tea bags will give a darker color.
5. Let the tea bags steep, mixing the water often to ensure even coverage – or not if that is the look you are going for. You can let the dye bath sit with the fabric for all day if you want. The more time, the deeper the color. Also – if you are using the stove method, you do not need to cook it the entire time. I just cook the bath for maybe half an hour, just enough to get water super hot. After a little while, an hour or so. . . add some vinegar. This will help the color set into the fiber.
6. You can get an idea of the color by holding the fabric out of the water and letting all the water drip out. . .you may even want to squeeze the liquid out a little. When you have reached the color you want – take out the fabric, throw out all the tea bags, and dump the water. Rinse the fabric and then throw it is the wash to get all the tea and vinegar out. Dry as usual.
The picture here shows the subtley in the tea color - the top tee shirt has been dyed with tea, the bottom shirt is before dying.
That is it! Cotton accepts tea the best. If you have a cotton/synthetic blend, the synthetic fibers will not dye. This may result in an interesting heathered look. I use this method for cotton t-shirts of woven cotton fabrics.
I buy a big box of the cheapest tea bags I can find at the grocery store. It is usually a black tea blend, but any kind of black tea is good because it is dark! If I am only dying one or two small things I will cook it in a large soup pot on the stove. If I am dying several things I will use my bathtub or kitchen sink. And of course – this will only work on white or light colored fabric, since it is only a subtle color change.
1. First make sure the garment or fabric is clean! There may be stains you can’t seesubtle on fabric(i.e. around the collar, underarms or other oil stains. . .). Be careful – these stains will become darker when dyed! Stains that were invisible before, will now become darker than the rest of the fabric! This could possibly be a desired effect, but probably not! When I am dying white t-shirts, I prefer to start with a brand new, fresh shirt.
2. Soak your garment in clean water first. This will help your fabric to gain equal coverage of the tea/dye. This is a rule of thumb for any dying, with real dye or tea. Sometimes if you put dry fabric into a dye bath, the color soaks into the fabric unevenly and some areas can become darker or lighter. Again, this could be a desired effect if you are looking for a tie-dyed or uneven look. I usually soak the fabric in water while I am prepared the rest of my dye set up.
3. Add hot-hot water to your tub, or to your soup pot. If you are using a pot on the stove you can turn the heat on super-low! If you are using your tub fill the tub up with the hottest water you can, then you may want to add a few kettles of boiling/hot water if your tap water does not get very hot. If you are using your tub, you only need to fill it up enough to fully cover your fabric.
4. Add your tea bags! When I dyed shirts in my bathtub, I threw in the entire box of 100 tea bags, if you are using a pot you don’t need to use that many. Maybe 25 or so. Of course, more tea bags will give a darker color.
5. Let the tea bags steep, mixing the water often to ensure even coverage – or not if that is the look you are going for. You can let the dye bath sit with the fabric for all day if you want. The more time, the deeper the color. Also – if you are using the stove method, you do not need to cook it the entire time. I just cook the bath for maybe half an hour, just enough to get water super hot. After a little while, an hour or so. . . add some vinegar. This will help the color set into the fiber.
6. You can get an idea of the color by holding the fabric out of the water and letting all the water drip out. . .you may even want to squeeze the liquid out a little. When you have reached the color you want – take out the fabric, throw out all the tea bags, and dump the water. Rinse the fabric and then throw it is the wash to get all the tea and vinegar out. Dry as usual.
The picture here shows the subtley in the tea color - the top tee shirt has been dyed with tea, the bottom shirt is before dying.
That is it! Cotton accepts tea the best. If you have a cotton/synthetic blend, the synthetic fibers will not dye. This may result in an interesting heathered look. I use this method for cotton t-shirts of woven cotton fabrics.
posted by janelle at 9:49 AM
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