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I live in an area that produces a lot of avocadoes, so I know two dyers in the area who does natural dying on wool with avocadoes. From talking to them (I haven't tried myself) I know, that metals can strenghten the colour. One was experimenting with adding screws and different coins to the dye bath and got amazingly bright colours (I believe it was the copper coins). She also showed me how the difference of the metal pots used can change the colours... The cotton is very interesting to see... I didn't think it would absorb that much colour. 😊
Using rusted screws etc is a way to make your own mordants for dyeing. You can also buy metal salts to use to help the dyes bind to the yarn. :) (I haven't tried any of this but I hope to play a lot more this summer!)
ChemKnits Tutorials I don't know if rust adds to it, it sounds plausible. But what they were using was just different metals. It sounds like a fun experiment. My problem is, I don't actually like the colour they get. So I can't be bothered to try myself 😂
I love your mix of scientific method and unbridled creativity. Such a shame when science is taught as just repeating things other people have done. Good luck with all your enterprising projects and opportunities.
For me science is all about creativity. You have to be able to think outside the box and beyond what other people have done, but still know the techniques to have appropriate controls. :)
From what I have read, you need to use 'fermented' avocado pits... then you get a better colour. When dyeing plant fibres (cotton), you need an alkaline solution. Acid only works for animal fibres.
That was really interesting. I have found that with alum mordant the colours all come a bit brighter. If you are looking for really nice purple try mahonia berries with alum and cream of tartar mordant. Peach from avocado with same mordant.
I have pits and skins on the stove right now! I simmered them for around three hours and am going to let the pot steep/cool on the stove overnight. Right now, it’s an absolutely beautiful shade, kind of a deep peachy pink. I had forgotten you had done cotton yarn with this one. Now I have to decide what I want to dye. I have some of the KnitPicks organic cotton fingering I might dye. Super excited!
OOOO! That sounds amazing. I haven't seen a really good pink, although it was the closest on cotton. (Which is fun to remember as I reply to some of your other comments on videos asking about cotton!) I need tosave skins etc again.
The pot in the lower left looks like an aluminum pot, which could definitely play a part in what color you're getting. Dyeing with aluminum or copper pots will yield a result which is similar to adding a mordant.
Hmmm... I have no idea what that pot is made of! My grandma gave me to that from her kitchen when I got my first apartment. I Plan to redo this sometime this year (hopefully) so I can take another look and play with some mordants.
I was wondering about this too. Each of these pots is made of a different material. Skins only, aluminum; pits only stainless steel & the other is non-stick. I would think the aluminum would affect the dye vs the others. Any thoughts? I enjoyed the video!
Thank you! I always thought that I could never afford to dye my own yarn. It never occurred to me that I could use inexpensive cotton and free "leftovers".
I like the shades as knitted doll flesh tones. I got a tip to soak my pits and skins in ammonia so I put a gallon pickle jar on the shelf with one bottle of ammonia and added pets and scans over the year I have had to add a second bottle of ammonia but I have not tried this day yet but being it’s going to be an ammonia mordant dye. I’m going to use a stainless steel pot with a lid on it and simmer for three hours and then remove all the pits and skins Before dying and definitely doing this outdoors some people in natural dying use curtain sheers they buy at the thrift shop. To create bags for all the natural materials in the die part you can either quickly remove all of your natural materials this way or you can leave them in while simmering them with raw wool.
Very cool! I have seen other samples of wool dyed with avocado that came out more like the cotton did here. I think probably the base color is having a heavy influence (the wool I saw was white fleece). I'm very tempted to try this. We have high iron content in our (well) water. Comparing the softened water that we have in the house with the unaltered water from an outside faucet could be fun.
If you use some kind of mordant you'll get much brighter colors, but i was curious about what would happen without any additives. this summer when I start playing with natural dyes in full force I will try avocado again. :)
I am cooking up the skin and pits together five times. Each time I am letting the mixture cool in the pit and then straining. I read that it will give more color when simmered in an aluminum pot. I just finished my fifth simmer and will dye some linen cloth. I will let you know how it goes! Thank you!
THIS JOURNEY WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT! Thank you for this experiment! I'm going to try this on a bright white Jersey top . With polyester in the mix, I'm curious how it will turn out. I will be using 5 avocados, skins and peels. Looking for a vivid peachy hue. 🥰
Good luck!! I've heard from other commenters that the types of avocados might make a difference in some of the hue, but I haven't looked into this further myself.
Good experiment! I've been saving my pits and skins for a few weeks now and getting ready to boil them. I read recently about some dyers grinding up the pits to extract more color. Then I'm going to change the pH of the various solutions and see if the colors change.
That sounds awesome! I wanted to try with minimal processing/additives this first time. This summer when I break out my mordant I plan to play with them again to see if I can intensify the colors at all.
Hi Rebecca, I love your video on dyeing with Avocado pits, skins & combo of both. Your video is perfect for what I was wanting to know. I will be dyeing a mixture of raw fleece wools that I spun myself. I am looking for a Peach color for my final result but, after watching your video, using only pits will give me a color I am looking for but, I want a deeper, richer color than you ended up with. Thank you so much for making your video and sharing it with us. I am not sure what a "mordant" is so I will research that. Thanks again.
I'm glad it was helpful! Try looking into alum mordants. I've also learned (from others) that to get the pink colors it helps to NOT boil the avocado matter as hard as I did.
I just love that when I think of something that I want to try... I check your channel... and, you've already done it!! Thx for your chemistry-innovative experiments. 🤩 Now, I want to do this with various mordants. Or... search your channel to see if you've already done this. 🤭
LOL - i do have a video where I tried this with and without mordants. I think I boiled things too long and had it too hot because I got browns versus pinks some other people see. SO not PERFECT, but there is a video somewhere. ;)
I think that the big error in my ways was heating things too much. I would try keeping the temperature a lot lower (I'm not quite sure, but maybe less than 180?) and this may help preserve the pink other people see.
I've been saving my pits dried out...not in the frig and didn't know to save skins. When I try dying...I'll do dried and kept on the frig and see what that does and show you.😜
You're very welcome. I can't wait to try to pump up the volume of these colors. I'm excited to use my natural dyeing kit, too, but there is something fun about extracting the colors yourself. :)
ChemKnits Tutorials It is fun to come up with your own colors!!! I love experimenting and have had great results. Mostly with natural items. Pokeberry was one of my best and red cabbage was interesting and turned out gorgeous. I did half the dyebath with vinegar and got a reddish purple and then baking soda on the other half and that came out in a periwinkle purple! It is so much fun to experiment!
Cool video! When I tried this, I got much darker, pinker hues. The fact I used smaller samples of yarn may have played a factor. I also probably simmered them at a higher heat than you did; my stove doesn't really do low heat. My pits and skins were also much 'dirtier' than yours. My avocado butchery tends to be sloppy, and I definitely didn't bother to wash them before dying. I wonder which factor made the biggest difference.
Oh interesting! The actual types of wool could potentially make a difference, too. (How much oil was in them etc.) Maybe fresher avocado parts would make a difference, too. :)
Oh thanks! I've been saving pits and skins and drying them to use at some point in the future. I was hoping to do this before the rest of my rhubarb leaves died for the end of fall, but I might have missed that mark.
I know I'm new but wondering if you've used beets to dye or cranberries I'd love to look back at those if you have it would be so beautiful. Very interesting with avocado & pits not what I expected 😘love watching you
I'm glad you're enjoying my videos! I have not tried beets or cranberries yet. I do have a recent video with some beet powder. It seemed to be washfast but I've heard that it can fade over time. I'm not sure how long of time, though. Here is te video: th-cam.com/video/qoUEODYWou0/w-d-xo.html
Beets, while very intense and will stain everything near it, does not work as a dye very well. The best you will get is a slight beige colour, but no red. Many plants are like that -- stain horribly, but make very poor dye.
Your tutorials are incredibly thorough and you are a true communicator. Thanks for this experiment. I’ve tried dyeing with just the pits and with just skins. While I loved the pink from the pits, I wasn’t excited about the skins. When you mention adding mordants, what do you have in mind?
Here is my first try with Alum Mordants - th-cam.com/video/1qzbPURxbXo/w-d-xo.html I use some of this mordanted fiber in a new avocado video: th-cam.com/video/N2G-8OBVVf4/w-d-xo.html
I don't still have the yarn, but they did last months without noticeable fading (stored in a bin in a closet.) I imagine fading might happen quickly if exposed to sunlight a lot.
A lot of red or pink natural dyes tend to turn brown or peach when the heat gets too high. Simmering is hot enough to turn it brown. Ask me how I know.
variation of depth of color can be from part of the yarn right ON the HOT pot metal vs just floating. Motley color is beautiful. You actually DID get some of the advertised pink. I've tried iron mordant and chrome... and got just the bareliest off white. Not worth the effort.
I had feedback from other dyers that I heated it too much. i think I tried again with a mordant and also over boiled, so I should try revisiting this someday!
Love the pits and skins combo...I would love spin cotton batting and then dye it! I am a big “ashes of rose” fan! I will definitely mordant, but which one should I use? So fun, thank you!
I don't have a good suggestion for mordants because I've never used them before! I have some Alum mordant that I plan to use later on this spring so you'll all find out some more along with me then. :)
I have some cotton that i want to dye with avacado. I read an article where a crochet designer used it and added baking soda to it to bring out the pink color. The only thing is she did not say when in the process she added it. I would like to add it when i do it, but am not sure exactly how much or when to add it. If you have any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.
Nice Video I liked the pinkish tones the best. The results may have been affected by the fact that you used three different types of Pans ( aluminium ~teflon ~stainless-steel ~
Have you tried different types of avocados? - you didn't show the avocado that you used as a whole. Some have smooth skins and others are knobbly. It may also make a difference which country they came from therefore which soils the avocado trees were grown in. Some soild may have more iron etc in.
The different types of avocado could definitely make a difference in the hues. The same could be true from country, year, etc. I've started saving some more and I'll try to see about country of origin for the next time.
Speckling with natural colors will be a little difficult with some dyes because they absorb so much slower than commercial dyes. I'm not saying it is impossible, just harder and I haven't seen results like that myself yet.
Acid isn't always necessary with natural dyes, the mechanisms can be a bit different. I think it could shift the hue but I don't think it would make the colors more pigmented. It is worth an attempt, though!
The water is luke warm / cold. I use cold water unless it is in the winter when cold water in MA is FREEZING so I then add a little bit of warmth to bring it to a tolerable temperature.
It is possible that tap water can make a tiny difference on the results, too. I think crushing the pits would be useful to extract more pigment for sure.
Honestly I don't know. Maybe? I might keep it in the refrigerator. I'm not sure if the colored compounds will degrade with time in water, but you don't know until you try!
That is absolutely an option. I prefer (when possible) to strain out the plant materials first because that way I'm not picking as much out of the finished yarn.
The skins are hard because I let them dry out to store them a bit easier. Normally the skin is a bit more plyable like a fruit roll up or some leather. It rips easily, but has a bit of flexibility, too. Avocados can be pretty hard if they're not yet ripe, but then usually end up super squishy.
Hi James, The easiest way to start dyeing yarn is to have some 100% wool yarn and some KoolAid packets. If you don't have KoolAid, then you can use vinegar and any liquid or gel food coloring to mix up some colors. Here are some sample videos that would be pretty easy to recreate: Handpainting with KoolAid: th-cam.com/video/UY2UI98UwlM/w-d-xo.html Dip dyeing with Red food coloring: th-cam.com/video/BqlsmVHfAl4/w-d-xo.html
The pot with the skins only looks like aluminum which would influence the colour. If all the pots were stainless steel there would not be a metal influencing.
It is technically possible that the aluminum pot altered some of the results, however these are fairly consistent with what I've seen using stainless since so I'm not 100% sure. It is absolutely something to keep in mind, though!
Makes me want some spaghetti. LoL I was wondering if you’ve tried using borax in the dyeing process and why or how. I bet blueberries would make gorgeous color! Thanks a bunch, Rebecca!
I think it depends greatly on the type of dye. I'm not sure of the longevity of Avocado at all. Food coloring can last a LONG time (I've got hats that were dyed almost a decade ago with no fading) but the food coloring can fade if left in direct sunlight for a long period of time. This hasn't been an issue with normal wear of winter accessories, but it did make a difference on a toy I left on the windowsill. Commercial acid dyes are more wash fast/light fast than food coloring. I've had good luck with other commercial dyes I've used so far, too. Some dyes like Indigo (which is coming up next week) can last for centuries.
Maybe, but I honestly have no idea! Certainly some mordants (metal salts) would help the colors intensify. I will try this again someday with some additives to see if i can get more color.
Most natural dying isn't acid dependent. But adding another mordant (mordants are the binding agents) could help and certain mordants can shift the color darker or brighter. Alum, iron oxide, and nickel are popular and easy to get. Other mordants can be dangerous and highly toxic. If you want a more saturated color in general the more base material you need. The components that actually dye the yarn are not in very high concentrations which is why it took 9 avocados to get such a light color. Most of the color you see in the pot isn't dye and won't bind to the fiber no matter what you do.
100% what Fern said. :) It takes a LOT of material to get a little color on fiber. Since these natural colors aren't necessarily "acid dyes", changing the pH might not help the colors stay. A lot of colored compounds have a feature called Aromatic rings. These can complex with metal ions and this additional charge might help bind more of the colors to the yarn. Colored compounds are so much fun. My lab (and others studying natural product biosynthesis) would study a lot of colored compounds because they were easy to isolate and to set up assays as to how they were created.
A mordant is a chemical that is there to help a colored pigment bind to the fibers in the yarn. In terms of dyeing these are usually various metal salts and the metal ion will complex with the colored pigment to help it interact with the yarn better.
I think one thing that may work better (and I haven't tried yet) is to NOT simmer the avocados as much, and certainly not heat it as much when the yarn is in the extract. I might try to control the temp and keep it warm but not quite as hot.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials thank you for the tips, it really helps... May I ask something, I don't understand what mordant means--does it mean the color fixer? And I watched a video that says she said that she doesn't throw the alum I think or iron to the waterways?? I forgot if it is alum or iron, sorry I don't remember--because if she does, it will harm the environment...
Okay. All plants have plastids. Then the plastids go into a kind of family tree. One side has your Chloroplasts or all green pigmented plants who make chlorophyll. (there are a couple of others, but not germane now), further down this "tree", you have "leucoplasts". No color, or white. These leucoplasts have three types. One of which is "amyloplasts". These are where there is starch in the plant. When color is added, they turn various shades of purple and pink. Usually more purple, though. This is where their "energy" is stored. Also, under a microscope, carrots will show orange..and I think apples actually do turn red when dyed. People used plants due to their outside color at first, but then as people do, they discovered that not all plants create colors that match their outsides!
@@HFreeman66 thank you so much for this explanation! I was wondering why the avocado skins and pits turned out pink. Thanks to your detailed comment, not only did I learn something, but it'll come in handy when I attempt this technique 🤓
@@HFreeman66 Mrs. Freeman (or is it doctor?) I've got a follow up question. In another video I viewed, the avocado skins and pits were dried. The technique used to dye the yarn was similar to this video, with the exception of: the state the avocado skins & pits were in (dried); and the yarn was not left to soak overnight. The end result was a beautiful pinkish-nude /dusty pink colour. Why do dried avocado skins & pits cause a darker shade of pink? Or does the state of the avocado, i.e. fresh avocado skin &🥑pits vs. dried avocado skins & 🥑pits not affect the outcome? Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and reply to my comment. Happy knitting 🐑
You could try almost any. Some people like to use rusty nails to get some iron. I will probably use an Alum mordant since that is what I have in my stash. Different mordants can shift the hues of natural dyes in different directions.
I know it sounds silly but why did you not put lids in top of them all to stop the evaporation to a minimum. Interesting colours will,ask my local Restruaunt to save their avocado skins and pips for me as I could not eat that much of them 😹😹😹😹😹
ChemKnits Tutorials true but add water would have defeated that purpose lol that’s way I thought adding a lid while the fibres were in the dye would have been better once you had finished with the pips and skins 😹🤗 the colours were not quiet what had had expected that’s for sure but it would be interesting to see how the purple skinned avocados would come out as 🤔🤔
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ChemKnits Tutorials I’m sorry I never think about looking to see the date in the description section.
I live in an area that produces a lot of avocadoes, so I know two dyers in the area who does natural dying on wool with avocadoes. From talking to them (I haven't tried myself) I know, that metals can strenghten the colour. One was experimenting with adding screws and different coins to the dye bath and got amazingly bright colours (I believe it was the copper coins). She also showed me how the difference of the metal pots used can change the colours...
The cotton is very interesting to see... I didn't think it would absorb that much colour. 😊
Using rusted screws etc is a way to make your own mordants for dyeing. You can also buy metal salts to use to help the dyes bind to the yarn. :) (I haven't tried any of this but I hope to play a lot more this summer!)
ChemKnits Tutorials I don't know if rust adds to it, it sounds plausible. But what they were using was just different metals. It sounds like a fun experiment. My problem is, I don't actually like the colour they get. So I can't be bothered to try myself 😂
I love your mix of scientific method and unbridled creativity. Such a shame when science is taught as just repeating things other people have done. Good luck with all your enterprising projects and opportunities.
For me science is all about creativity. You have to be able to think outside the box and beyond what other people have done, but still know the techniques to have appropriate controls. :)
And that's why I'm cheering you on -- Go, go, chemknits!
Awe, thank yoU!
You should try dyeing with red cabbage ;) The blueish purple would be super!!
That is on my list! I want to just play and change the pH and change the colors. :)
I’m so interested in doing this dyeing with a food product. Thank you for sharing and looking forward to your other videos with food dyeing.
From what I have read, you need to use 'fermented' avocado pits... then you get a better colour. When dyeing plant fibres (cotton), you need an alkaline solution. Acid only works for animal fibres.
Thanks, Pat!
Thanks great detail. I am still eating my way through ten avocados!
Me too! I'm trying to collect more to do this again. :D
That was really interesting. I have found that with alum mordant the colours all come a bit brighter. If you are looking for really nice purple try mahonia berries with alum and cream of tartar mordant. Peach from avocado with same mordant.
I tried avocado with mordant but I need to give it another shot because the colors still weren't as pink as I'd hoped.
I have pits and skins on the stove right now! I simmered them for around three hours and am going to let the pot steep/cool on the stove overnight. Right now, it’s an absolutely beautiful shade, kind of a deep peachy pink. I had forgotten you had done cotton yarn with this one. Now I have to decide what I want to dye. I have some of the KnitPicks organic cotton fingering I might dye. Super excited!
OOOO! That sounds amazing. I haven't seen a really good pink, although it was the closest on cotton. (Which is fun to remember as I reply to some of your other comments on videos asking about cotton!) I need tosave skins etc again.
The pot in the lower left looks like an aluminum pot, which could definitely play a part in what color you're getting. Dyeing with aluminum or copper pots will yield a result which is similar to adding a mordant.
Hmmm... I have no idea what that pot is made of! My grandma gave me to that from her kitchen when I got my first apartment. I Plan to redo this sometime this year (hopefully) so I can take another look and play with some mordants.
Can tell by the look & sound, skins only pan is aluminum.
I was wondering about this too. Each of these pots is made of a different material. Skins only, aluminum; pits only stainless steel & the other is non-stick.
I would think the aluminum would affect the dye vs the others.
Any thoughts? I enjoyed the video!
Thank you! I always thought that I could never afford to dye my own yarn. It never occurred to me that I could use inexpensive cotton and free "leftovers".
Yup! it is amazing how simple it can be sometimes. :D Wool + food coloring is another huge favorites of mine.
Love this. I dont know how you kept that yarn from tangling. If I sneeze wrong my yarn ends up hopelessly tangled.
I don't know either! Luck? I'm soooo bad with adding extra ties.
am i the only one who saw the yarn as pasta /noodles ?
Definitely not the only one. ;)
Just needed some cheese on top lol
ChemKnits Tutorials what does aluminum do to the dyeing process? My son works with aluminum and other metals...easy access lol
I like the shades as knitted doll flesh tones.
I got a tip to soak my pits and skins in ammonia so I put a gallon pickle jar on the shelf with one bottle of ammonia and added pets and scans over the year I have had to add a second bottle of ammonia but I have not tried this day yet but being it’s going to be an ammonia mordant dye. I’m going to use a stainless steel pot with a lid on it and simmer for three hours and then remove all the pits and skins Before dying and definitely doing this outdoors some people in natural dying use curtain sheers they buy at the thrift shop. To create bags for all the natural materials in the die part you can either quickly remove all of your natural materials this way or you can leave them in while simmering them with raw wool.
Only dyed wool in crock pot, looking forward to expanding on my dyeing experiences
Good luck!
Very cool! I have seen other samples of wool dyed with avocado that came out more like the cotton did here. I think probably the base color is having a heavy influence (the wool I saw was white fleece). I'm very tempted to try this. We have high iron content in our (well) water. Comparing the softened water that we have in the house with the unaltered water from an outside faucet could be fun.
If you use some kind of mordant you'll get much brighter colors, but i was curious about what would happen without any additives. this summer when I start playing with natural dyes in full force I will try avocado again. :)
I am cooking up the skin and pits together five times. Each time I am letting the mixture cool in the pit and then straining. I read that it will give more color when simmered in an aluminum pot. I just finished my fifth simmer and will dye some linen cloth. I will let you know how it goes! Thank you!
How’d it go. I’d love to get more of a pink color!
Thank you for the measurements! It's always a question of how much should I use.
THIS JOURNEY WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT! Thank you for this experiment! I'm going to try this on a bright white Jersey top . With polyester in the mix, I'm curious how it will turn out. I will be using 5 avocados, skins and peels. Looking for a vivid peachy hue. 🥰
Good luck!! I've heard from other commenters that the types of avocados might make a difference in some of the hue, but I haven't looked into this further myself.
Good experiment! I've been saving my pits and skins for a few weeks now and getting ready to boil them. I read recently about some dyers grinding up the pits to extract more color. Then I'm going to change the pH of the various solutions and see if the colors change.
That sounds awesome! I wanted to try with minimal processing/additives this first time. This summer when I break out my mordant I plan to play with them again to see if I can intensify the colors at all.
ChemKnits Tutorials oh...Rebecca...just changing pH with natural chemicals... Vinegar, lemon, baking soda....etc etc
Oh of course. I'd just read that the pits can be a natural mordant so I decided not to alter the pH. :)
That is great to see cotton and wool, love this
Thank you! 😊
your video format is extremely helpful
Thank you so much!
Hi Rebecca, I love your video on dyeing with Avocado pits, skins & combo of both. Your video is perfect for what I was wanting to know. I will be dyeing a mixture of raw fleece wools that I spun myself. I am looking for a Peach color for my final result but, after watching your video, using only pits will give me a color I am looking for but, I want a deeper, richer color than you ended up with. Thank you so much for making your video and sharing it with us. I am not sure what a "mordant" is so I will research that. Thanks again.
I'm glad it was helpful! Try looking into alum mordants. I've also learned (from others) that to get the pink colors it helps to NOT boil the avocado matter as hard as I did.
Thank you, this was very inspiring. Have been saving up my avocado pits and skins in freeze to try this.🤗
Woohoo! I plan to try this with mordants next.
I just love that when I think of something that I want to try... I check your channel... and, you've already done it!! Thx for your chemistry-innovative experiments. 🤩
Now, I want to do this with various mordants. Or... search your channel to see if you've already done this. 🤭
LOL - i do have a video where I tried this with and without mordants. I think I boiled things too long and had it too hot because I got browns versus pinks some other people see. SO not PERFECT, but there is a video somewhere. ;)
Have you learned anything since you made this video that would help getting more of a pink color? That’s the color I would love!
I think that the big error in my ways was heating things too much. I would try keeping the temperature a lot lower (I'm not quite sure, but maybe less than 180?) and this may help preserve the pink other people see.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials Thank you! I’ll let you know how it goes.
I've been saving my pits dried out...not in the frig and didn't know to save skins. When I try dying...I'll do dried and kept on the frig and see what that does and show you.😜
Oh fun!
Hi Rebecca. Very pretty! Like Victorian roses. Vintage pink! Thanks for the informative video!
You're very welcome. I can't wait to try to pump up the volume of these colors. I'm excited to use my natural dyeing kit, too, but there is something fun about extracting the colors yourself. :)
ChemKnits Tutorials It is fun to come up with your own colors!!! I love experimenting and have had great results. Mostly with natural items. Pokeberry was one of my best and red cabbage was interesting and turned out gorgeous. I did half the dyebath with vinegar and got a reddish purple and then baking soda on the other half and that came out in a periwinkle purple! It is so much fun to experiment!
Cool video!
When I tried this, I got much darker, pinker hues. The fact I used smaller samples of yarn may have played a factor. I also probably simmered them at a higher heat than you did; my stove doesn't really do low heat. My pits and skins were also much 'dirtier' than yours. My avocado butchery tends to be sloppy, and I definitely didn't bother to wash them before dying. I wonder which factor made the biggest difference.
Oh interesting! The actual types of wool could potentially make a difference, too. (How much oil was in them etc.) Maybe fresher avocado parts would make a difference, too. :)
If you chop up the pits you'll get an even deeper colour it's awesome and such a fun experiment. :-)
Oh thanks! I've been saving pits and skins and drying them to use at some point in the future. I was hoping to do this before the rest of my rhubarb leaves died for the end of fall, but I might have missed that mark.
I know I'm new but wondering if you've used beets to dye or cranberries I'd love to look back at those if you have it would be so beautiful.
Very interesting with avocado & pits not what I expected 😘love watching you
I'm glad you're enjoying my videos! I have not tried beets or cranberries yet. I do have a recent video with some beet powder. It seemed to be washfast but I've heard that it can fade over time. I'm not sure how long of time, though. Here is te video: th-cam.com/video/qoUEODYWou0/w-d-xo.html
Beets, while very intense and will stain everything near it, does not work as a dye very well. The best you will get is a slight beige colour, but no red. Many plants are like that -- stain horribly, but make very poor dye.
Thank you for your videos, can I ask why you don’t cut the Pitt’s to allow more color to be extracted? Thank you
Your tutorials are incredibly thorough and you are a true communicator. Thanks for this experiment. I’ve tried dyeing with just the pits and with just skins. While I loved the pink from the pits, I wasn’t excited about the skins.
When you mention adding mordants, what do you have in mind?
Here is my first try with Alum Mordants - th-cam.com/video/1qzbPURxbXo/w-d-xo.html I use some of this mordanted fiber in a new avocado video: th-cam.com/video/N2G-8OBVVf4/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for this great video! I'm curious if (4 years later) the colors of these yarns have faded? Do you still have them and could let me know?
I don't still have the yarn, but they did last months without noticeable fading (stored in a bin in a closet.) I imagine fading might happen quickly if exposed to sunlight a lot.
A lot of red or pink natural dyes tend to turn brown or peach when the heat gets too high. Simmering is hot enough to turn it brown. Ask me how I know.
Thisis super good to know...Thank you!
this was very interesting and enjoyable!! thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
variation of depth of color can be from part of the yarn right ON the HOT pot metal vs just floating. Motley color is beautiful. You actually DID get some of the advertised pink. I've tried iron mordant and chrome... and got just the bareliest off white. Not worth the effort.
I had feedback from other dyers that I heated it too much. i think I tried again with a mordant and also over boiled, so I should try revisiting this someday!
Love the pits and skins combo...I would love spin cotton batting and then dye it! I am a big “ashes of rose” fan! I will definitely mordant, but which one should I use? So fun, thank you!
I don't have a good suggestion for mordants because I've never used them before! I have some Alum mordant that I plan to use later on this spring so you'll all find out some more along with me then. :)
I’ve been trying to find the elusive pink dye from avocado pits on wool! If you figure it out please make another video!
I think I simmered the pits too much and then the yarn too hot maybe? I need to learn more myself!
I am going to try it after I get some more avocados, so far I only have two pits but 7-8 skins because my husband threw the pits in the garbage.
Awe! I had a container in the fridge and marked it "YES I AM SAVING THIS!" ;)
ChemKnits Tutorials 😆😜😜
We had to go to the store to some things for supper, I bought two more avocados. This time I will tell him not to throw them away.
I have some cotton that i want to dye with avacado. I read an article where a crochet designer used it and added baking soda to it to bring out the pink color. The only thing is she did not say when in the process she added it. I would like to add it when i do it, but am not sure exactly how much or when to add it. If you have any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.
I wish I had some suggestions abotu the timing, but I haven't had too much success getting a very pink pink yet.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials thanks :)
Nice Video I liked the pinkish tones the best.
The results may have been affected by the fact that you used three
different types of Pans ( aluminium ~teflon ~stainless-steel ~
Have you tried different types of avocados? - you didn't show the avocado that you used as a whole. Some have smooth skins and others are knobbly. It may also make a difference which country they came from therefore which soils the avocado trees were grown in. Some soild may have more iron etc in.
The different types of avocado could definitely make a difference in the hues. The same could be true from country, year, etc. I've started saving some more and I'll try to see about country of origin for the next time.
I wonder what the colors would be like if you had crushed the pits.
Me too! ;)
I wanna try this and but I have a few balls of unnamed yarns that are the perfect white / cream but I don't know if they're exactly cotton or acrylic
Apparently there are some burn/melt tests that you can do to identify fiber type but I haven't tried this myself.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials thank you!
I really want to try this out!!!! I would love to create speckled yarn with natural colors.... one day! This is so cool!!!,
Speckling with natural colors will be a little difficult with some dyes because they absorb so much slower than commercial dyes. I'm not saying it is impossible, just harder and I haven't seen results like that myself yet.
Looks like you have the skins only in an aluminum pot, which will totally alter the color of the skins, as alum is a mordant :)
This is very possible, and not something I really considered as I was setting this up.
Did you add any fixative like vinegar or citric acid? I didn't notice. If you had, the color might be more intense.
Acid isn't always necessary with natural dyes, the mechanisms can be a bit different. I think it could shift the hue but I don't think it would make the colors more pigmented. It is worth an attempt, though!
The yarn would make good flesh tones.
Holy cow, yes! I'll keep this in mind :D Thanks for the idea :)
have you ever tried doing it with and without mordanted yarn to see the difference?
I have! th-cam.com/video/N2G-8OBVVf4/w-d-xo.html
They really did turn out beautiful ❤
Thank you so much! I am really excited to try this again someday with mordants to try to intensify the color.
Super educational! Love this one!
Thank you!
When you are rinsing with the soap in the final stage, what temperature is the water?
The water is luke warm / cold. I use cold water unless it is in the winter when cold water in MA is FREEZING so I then add a little bit of warmth to bring it to a tolerable temperature.
Hi, I love it. I'm going to try it. Do you think It would be okay to put vinegar in the water for a mordant too?
donna volponi I do t think vinegar would hurt anything. I haven't tried it again since this first try.
Did you save your pits in a sealed ziplock bag or just open in a bowl in tour fridge?
No, I dried them out and saved them in a plastic jar. Next time I may freeze them.
Beautiful natural hues!
Thank you!
I love your experiments!
Thank you so much, Holly!
Great tutorial! I love the colors
Thank you!
Would the color be different if the pits were crushed or shredded? I’ve look in the internet but found lots of different options but no real facts
It is possible that tap water can make a tiny difference on the results, too. I think crushing the pits would be useful to extract more pigment for sure.
What an incredibly interesting video!!
Thank you for sharing!
You're so welcome! It was a really fun project to do.
Can one pre -boil a big batch of avocado dye and keep it for any length of time in a glass container?
Honestly I don't know. Maybe? I might keep it in the refrigerator. I'm not sure if the colored compounds will degrade with time in water, but you don't know until you try!
Freeze to prevent funk from growing!
Lovely colors!!!
Thank you, Laurie!
You should try putting your yarn in the pots with the boiling foods.
That is absolutely an option. I prefer (when possible) to strain out the plant materials first because that way I'm not picking as much out of the finished yarn.
I've never even bought an avocado, so do they come that hard or do I need to do something to them first?
The skins are hard because I let them dry out to store them a bit easier. Normally the skin is a bit more plyable like a fruit roll up or some leather. It rips easily, but has a bit of flexibility, too.
Avocados can be pretty hard if they're not yet ripe, but then usually end up super squishy.
I'd love to be able to do some of dyin like you've done in a lot of your videos. How do I start out w it?
Hi James,
The easiest way to start dyeing yarn is to have some 100% wool yarn and some KoolAid packets. If you don't have KoolAid, then you can use vinegar and any liquid or gel food coloring to mix up some colors. Here are some sample videos that would be pretty easy to recreate:
Handpainting with KoolAid: th-cam.com/video/UY2UI98UwlM/w-d-xo.html
Dip dyeing with Red food coloring: th-cam.com/video/BqlsmVHfAl4/w-d-xo.html
The pot with the skins only looks like aluminum which would influence the colour. If all the pots were stainless steel there would not be a metal influencing.
It is technically possible that the aluminum pot altered some of the results, however these are fairly consistent with what I've seen using stainless since so I'm not 100% sure. It is absolutely something to keep in mind, though!
HAVE READ RINSING IN WATER WITH SALT, HOLDS THE COLOUR IN. NICE EXPERIMENT.
It is possible that some salt in the dyebath will help, too. I have plans to retry this with a bit of a twist sometime soon. :D
Makes me want some spaghetti. LoL I was wondering if you’ve tried using borax in the dyeing process and why or how. I bet blueberries would make gorgeous color! Thanks a bunch, Rebecca!
Are your dyes permanent or do they fade?
I think it depends greatly on the type of dye. I'm not sure of the longevity of Avocado at all. Food coloring can last a LONG time (I've got hats that were dyed almost a decade ago with no fading) but the food coloring can fade if left in direct sunlight for a long period of time. This hasn't been an issue with normal wear of winter accessories, but it did make a difference on a toy I left on the windowsill.
Commercial acid dyes are more wash fast/light fast than food coloring. I've had good luck with other commercial dyes I've used so far, too.
Some dyes like Indigo (which is coming up next week) can last for centuries.
Love this! Thanks for doing this and sharing :D I’m very inspired!
YAY! I'm planning to do this again with some mordants sometime.
ChemKnits Tutorials I look forward to seeing it! :D
Would vinager help get more color?
Maybe, but I honestly have no idea! Certainly some mordants (metal salts) would help the colors intensify. I will try this again someday with some additives to see if i can get more color.
Most natural dying isn't acid dependent. But adding another mordant (mordants are the binding agents) could help and certain mordants can shift the color darker or brighter. Alum, iron oxide, and nickel are popular and easy to get. Other mordants can be dangerous and highly toxic. If you want a more saturated color in general the more base material you need. The components that actually dye the yarn are not in very high concentrations which is why it took 9 avocados to get such a light color. Most of the color you see in the pot isn't dye and won't bind to the fiber no matter what you do.
100% what Fern said. :) It takes a LOT of material to get a little color on fiber. Since these natural colors aren't necessarily "acid dyes", changing the pH might not help the colors stay.
A lot of colored compounds have a feature called Aromatic rings. These can complex with metal ions and this additional charge might help bind more of the colors to the yarn.
Colored compounds are so much fun. My lab (and others studying natural product biosynthesis) would study a lot of colored compounds because they were easy to isolate and to set up assays as to how they were created.
What would happen if you added vinegar?
Good question! I'm not sure if it would help or not at all.
What is a mordant?
A mordant is a chemical that is there to help a colored pigment bind to the fibers in the yarn. In terms of dyeing these are usually various metal salts and the metal ion will complex with the colored pigment to help it interact with the yarn better.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials thank you.
Thanks! this is very informative :) going to try soon!
You're very welcome!
Wow I'm gonna try this..
I think one thing that may work better (and I haven't tried yet) is to NOT simmer the avocados as much, and certainly not heat it as much when the yarn is in the extract. I might try to control the temp and keep it warm but not quite as hot.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials thank you for the tips, it really helps... May I ask something, I don't understand what mordant means--does it mean the color fixer? And I watched a video that says she said that she doesn't throw the alum I think or iron to the waterways?? I forgot if it is alum or iron, sorry I don't remember--because if she does, it will harm the environment...
@@ChemKnitsTutorials now I know what mordant means. Won't it fade without mordant? Because I'm thinking of selling natural dyes yarns using this.
use coffee filter, works like charm for liquid
That would have worked great! I wish I had one back then.
The aluminum pot will shift the color.
It could potentially, yes. I didn't think much about that at the time.
Thanks for testing this out 💜
My pleasure! I plan to look at this again sometime with some mordants to see if I get more intense colors.
I am sure that as a chemist you know why the avocados come out in bluish/purple /pink colors, but if not, I am a Botanist.
I'd love to hear more about it! I haven't researched the color molecules present in avocados before.
Okay. All plants have plastids. Then the plastids go into a kind of family tree. One side has your Chloroplasts or all green pigmented plants who make chlorophyll. (there are a couple of others, but not germane now), further down this "tree", you have "leucoplasts". No color, or white. These leucoplasts have three types. One of which is "amyloplasts". These are where there is starch in the plant. When color is added, they turn various shades of purple and pink. Usually more purple, though. This is where their "energy" is stored. Also, under a microscope, carrots will show orange..and I think apples actually do turn red when dyed. People used plants due to their outside color at first, but then as people do, they discovered that not all plants create colors that match their outsides!
BTW the carrot and apple and others have "chromoplasts". I adore botany.
@@HFreeman66 thank you so much for this explanation! I was wondering why the avocado skins and pits turned out pink. Thanks to your detailed comment, not only did I learn something, but it'll come in handy when I attempt this technique 🤓
@@HFreeman66 Mrs. Freeman (or is it doctor?) I've got a follow up question. In another video I viewed, the avocado skins and pits were dried. The technique used to dye the yarn was similar to this video, with the exception of: the state the avocado skins & pits were in (dried); and the yarn was not left to soak overnight. The end result was a beautiful pinkish-nude /dusty pink colour. Why do dried avocado skins & pits cause a darker shade of pink? Or does the state of the avocado, i.e. fresh avocado skin &🥑pits vs. dried avocado skins & 🥑pits not affect the outcome? Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and reply to my comment. Happy knitting 🐑
Thank you for sharing this with me
You're welcome!
LOVE YOUR VIDEO..REALLY INTRESTING....👌👌👌👌👌👌👌
Thank you!
what mordant would you try with avocado?
You could try almost any. Some people like to use rusty nails to get some iron. I will probably use an Alum mordant since that is what I have in my stash. Different mordants can shift the hues of natural dyes in different directions.
Iron mordants darken, or "sadden" the colours, taking you away from the soft pink/peach colours.
If you pause it at 11:23, it looks like a cooking video.
Mmmm... pasta. ;)
you would have got a darker color if you boiled them less and added baking soda
The avocado needs ti be the purple color to achieve the pink
Interesting. I should keep an eye out for those!
raspberries and orange?
Interesting! I think that berry color tends not to last too long, but I like the thought of trying it out.
Thanks for sharing! GOD BLESS
You are so welcome!
I put a coffee filter in my strainer
That is a great idea! I now have some mesh bags that I plan to use for things like this.
Very interesting 🤗
Thank you!
I know it sounds silly but why did you not put lids in top of them all to stop the evaporation to a minimum.
Interesting colours will,ask my local Restruaunt to save their avocado skins and pips for me as I could not eat that much of them 😹😹😹😹😹
I sort of wanted things to become more concentrated so we might get more intense colors, so I didn't mind some evaporation. :)
And there is NEVER a silly question. Unless it is something like, "why are you so silly?" then by definition that is a silly question. ;)
ChemKnits Tutorials 😹😹that’s very true never really thought of it like that 😹😹😹
ChemKnits Tutorials true but add water would have defeated that purpose lol that’s way I thought adding a lid while the fibres were in the dye would have been better once you had finished with the pips and skins 😹🤗 the colours were not quiet what had had expected that’s for sure but it would be interesting to see how the purple skinned avocados would come out as 🤔🤔
Ha I forgot I added some water towards the end. I should have double checked that. ;). This one I was making up a bit as I went along.
Great video, Rebecca!! I don't like avocados 🥑 but these are gorgeous colors!!
Thanks!
💖
So many ads!! 😐