This is an awesome series of videos! I want to dye my own yarn but knew very little about dyeing and am afraid of using acid dyes. Here I found a treasure trove of information on natural dyes. Thank you! I can’t wait to get started.
Hi Carmen - welcome to my channel! I'm so happy you found me 😊Every video here can be adapted for yarn, so depending on what type of fiber you are using (protein or cellulose), be sure to watch my tutorial on alum mordant. This is a great place to start to make sure your yarn has the best chance of producing gorgeous results with natural dyes. Enjoy 💚
How awesome to hear! I just love pH shifting with natural color. Hope you have a chance to experiment with some other traditional organic dyes that are more long-lasting 💜💙💚
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Can I ask you a question, do you ever press your flowers, if so, is it best to press them between paper and no wax paper in between? Thanks 🌸🌺🌻
@@nancycolby687 Great question, Nancy, but to be honest, I've never pressed flowers 🌼 I remember my grandmother used to do this between wax paper, but truly not sure what is the best method. If you find out the secret, let us know!
Hello. Quick question..I did it the natural way only cabbage in water...and as it cooled off it changed colors to a sharp blue. Since this is my first time doing such..would u pls explain how I can keep color to bright purple... And I'm looking to color a dough to eat naturally.. Thanks for your time... Good luck..
Hi! The most likely reason your color shifted to blue is because of the pH of the water or something you put in it. Purple cabbage is pH sensitive so will change to blue/green if the pH rises into the alkaline side (8-12). If you are going to use dough, there may be something in the ingredients like baking soda that make it more alkaline which will shift the color. The only thing I suggest is trying to keep everything at a neutral pH (7) and try to find out what is changing the pH of your dye. Best of luck!
I have been looking to make a blue dye and several sources have stated that red cabbage with baking soda would make it a nice dark blue but here it is green. How would I make it blue then?
By shifting red cabbage to the alkaline side, you can get a range of colors from green to blue. There are many factors that can influence pH, so just try it out within your own environment and you can find blue. Please note, however, that red cabbage is fugitive, so the color can fade quickly. If you want a more stable color, indigo is always the best blue out there 💙
Yes, you can use all natural dyes on paper. You may get different results because the pH of the paper you use, but you can still shift it further on the acid/alkaline scale. If you then use the paper with an adhesive, that can also shift colors again. Best is to experiment...and have fun doing it 😊
pH shifting is one of my favorite magical ways to expand my natural color palette 😊 You are correct - red cabbage is a fugitive dye and will fade with time more quickly than other traditional dyes. Proper fiber prep is key to any natural dye process including scouring/washing and using a mordant. While red cabbage will still fade away, using it for fibers that are not subjected to frequent washing may be an option to enjoy it longer. I have used it in my fiber collage artwork and shifted it with iron and it has lasted quite some time. If you want another purple option with longer life, try logwood 💜
Thank you for your question, Abeya. I have never silk painted, but you can certainly shift your natural dyes that are pH sensitive to expand your palette to use with any fibers. There are ways to make pH modifier pastes that could be used in printing, so would be fun to learn more about it and experiment.
@@bonbboni I can try 😊 This video is about shifting color of dye matter that is sensitive to pH so you can have more colors to use in your dye practice. You can do this with many different types of natural dyes that are pH sensitive. To shift color, you can add acidic modifiers like vinegar or lemon juice to lower the pH (1-6) or you can add alkaline modifiers like baking soda or soda ash to raise the pH (8-14). You can see many videos here on Color Quest that show dyes that are pH sensitive and what the different colors look like when they are shifted either acidic or alkaline. For example, the videos on Sappanwood or Madder that I posted this past summer demonstrate pH shifting.
Red cabbage is a fugitive color so it will fade over time no matter how carefully you treat it. Keeping pH shifted colors is also delicate as you need to protect it from encountering alkaline or acidic environments. You may want to look at other natural dye sources that create similar colors and are more color/light/wash fast.
Hey to fix the dye I usually mix vinegar and salt to water and dip the dyed fabric, now if I dye the fabric using this ph shifter method can I fix the colour using the same technique or it might change the colour? Is there an alternative for fixing the dyed fabric dyed using ph shifting method ?
Hi Dhikksha - yes, you will want to use a true mordant, not salt/vinegar, to help with the bond between textile and dye. You can try an alum mordant (see video on my channel) as an option that is very popular with many dyers. Alternatively, you can try a soy milk pre-treatment with your textile. I will be releasing a soy milk mordant video soon, but you can start by just soaking your textile overnight in soy milk, letting it dry and then using it in your dye pot. If you have time, it is great to do the soak/dry 2-3 times and let it cure on your textile for a week or more. I pre-treat a larger volume of textile at one time so I always have mordant textile ready to go. Be warned, if you pH shift your color, it will always be sensitive to pH, so be careful with soap or spills on your textile. Good luck!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest hey! Yes I’ve used alum as mordant, the thing I wanna know is after dyeing, is there any step to do which prevents the colour from fading when we wash them later, like a step fixing the naturally dyed fabric..?
@@dhikkshaprabhakar8918 No, there is no permanent fix to keep natural dye from reacting to its environment beyond using a mordant and treating your textile carefully (hand wash in cold water, use a pH neutral soap, air/line dry away from direct sunlight). As you probably know, some dyes create a stronger bond with textile and react well to the mordant process while some dyes are inherently fugitive. One of the strongest mordant processes I have experienced is a 3 step process (tannin-alum-tannin), so if you have the time and energy, you can always invest more into pre-treating your textile for potentially longer life cycle of the natural dye. This is one of the beautiful characteristics of natural color - it is living and breathing and always changing 💚
Two important aspects of red cabbage to consider when natural dyeing is that it is pH sensitive and fugitive. As this video shows, if there is any shift to an acidic or alkaline state, the color of the dye will change. It sounds like the dye has been exposed to something that is alkaline. Soaps and detergents can be more alkaline, so that could influence the environment, for example. If you try to make red cabbage dye again, make sure your water is pH neutral (7) and that you protect it from exposures to acid or alkaline substances. Finally, please note, red cabbage dye is fugitive, so it will fade & change quite easily and quickly.
hello Margaret, minor question. Is rinsing the chopped cabbage an essential step? wouldn't it leach out the colour too a bit? sorry if the q is repititive! lovely channel 💖
Thanks so much for joining us at Color Quest 💜 No need to wash the cabbage as you can strain out any sediment when you remove the cabbage from the dye. If it is super dirty, you might consider it, but it is not required at all.
I am actually soaking different rinds and peels in plain water in fairly airtight glass jars with a few cloves in them. Not refrigerated. I intend to boil the contents with alum mordanted cotton fabric. Some are tied with chickpeas in them! Let's see what emerges😀 Also, something called low carbon/haybox cooking to cook the colour to reduce dependence on Lpg/electricity. Trying to make more earth friendly choices from what i understand now🌿
@@vibhasachdev5022 Just found your comment from last month - sorry for the delay in responding! Sounds like you have some great experiments going in your dye studio. Hope you are getting some great results and having lots of fun 😊 So wonderful that you are also looking to save energy - brava! The earth kisses you for this 🤎
Hello there Margaret. It's Vini from Brazil. Beautifull work you're doing. Me and my mother just started natural dying raw cotton. We want to achieve a deep permanet blue. We're about to try alkaline carbage with cooper sulphate mordant. What do you recomend??
Hi Vini - thank you for watching and your kind words! As you may know, blue is a difficult color to find in nature and 'permanent' is not always possible with natural dyes. The most common are indigo and woad which are strong and hold their color well against light and water. I have created a deep blue with cabbage using an iron shift after-bath (see my video on iron), but the cotton textile was pre-mordanted with both a tannin and an alum mordant (tannin+alum+tannin). It is typically more difficult to make a darker color with plant material and cellulose fibers like cotton, so mordant is very important. I have not used copper sulfate in my practice. Red cabbage is considered fugitive, but with the process I used, the blue has remained after many years. Best of luck to you and your mother with your dye pot - very exciting!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest hello there... thank you for your feedback... today I'm trying with black beans. I've soaked the raw cotton in bleach and soap for 24h... I'm scouring it in soda ash right now and after it I'll make a test with Alum and Cooper Sulfate. The beans are in the water for 24h. Later on I'll share my results with you! Best regards!
@@viniciusbortoletto1082 Sounds like you are doing the prep right - that makes all the difference! Excited to hear how it goes, so will wait your good news. Good luck!
The best way to improve the bond between natural dye and fiber is with a mordant. Pre-treating your textile with alum, tannin or soy milk can help the color last longer. Any dye matter that is pH sensitive will remain sensitive, so you have to treat the textile carefully by washing in cold water with pH neutral soap and air drying. Natural color is living, so it will change over time and interact with its environment, but this is what makes it magic!
@@Nicelifeku You can find 2 videos here on my channel about alum and tannin (made from pomegranate skins) used as mordants. The most popular tannin mordant used here in the US is oak tree gall, but pomegranate skins are a good source of tannin if they are available in your region. There may be other tannin based vegetation where you live in bark, seeds or roots that can be used as mordants as well, so would be fun to research that. I was not familiar with T.R.O., so thank you for mentioning it - I will do some research of my own 😉
Hi Baby Steps - oohh, you've picked a tough one - purple/violet are rare in nature. A few questions need to be answered first: Is the chiffon 100% natural? Was it dyed naturally? What kind of yellow is it? The only option to change the color is to over-dye, and because yellow and purple are opposites on the color wheel, mixing these two colors will lower the saturation and can lead to brown. If the yellow is very light, you may be able to try over-dyeing with red cabbage after treating it with a mordant (alum or soy milk) to help with the bond. Red cabbage is very sensitive and considered fugitive so it can fade quickly if not careful. If possible, it is always best to experiment with a sample first. You may have to try a few different mixtures, but I believe it will be very difficult with natural dyes.
This is an awesome series of videos! I want to dye my own yarn but knew very little about dyeing and am afraid of using acid dyes. Here I found a treasure trove of information on natural dyes. Thank you! I can’t wait to get started.
Hi Carmen - welcome to my channel! I'm so happy you found me 😊Every video here can be adapted for yarn, so depending on what type of fiber you are using (protein or cellulose), be sure to watch my tutorial on alum mordant. This is a great place to start to make sure your yarn has the best chance of producing gorgeous results with natural dyes. Enjoy 💚
My university textiles project is about sustainable way of dying materials using Shibori techniques. This video was so helpful.
Sounds like a great project, Housana! I'm so happy this video helped 💚
Very helpful thank you for adding all the mordants and various textiles!
You are so welcome, Coco - happy that it helped! Can make a big difference 😊
Love the video I just did This and dipped my shirt in the dye and made tie dye shirt by rolling it up and dipping the blue dye into vinnager
How awesome to hear! I just love pH shifting with natural color. Hope you have a chance to experiment with some other traditional organic dyes that are more long-lasting 💜💙💚
This is brilliant!!! Thank you so much for making this!!!
You are very welcome! Thanks for watching 💚
Hi you are doing an excellent job
How very nice of you to say - thank you!
Good video, like always! Very didatic and I love your way to show the things. You are generous. Thanks.
You are very kind to say so, Cristina, thank you 🤎 You are always very generous with your comments as well 😊
Now I want to go buy a red cabbage and try this…..this is so awesome!!!!!
Nothing like a little chemistry magic with natural colors 💜💚💙
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Can I ask you a question, do you ever press your flowers, if so, is it best to press them between paper and no wax paper in between? Thanks 🌸🌺🌻
@@nancycolby687 Great question, Nancy, but to be honest, I've never pressed flowers 🌼 I remember my grandmother used to do this between wax paper, but truly not sure what is the best method. If you find out the secret, let us know!
Like magic! Beautiful. Thank you.
Many thanks, Anja. Nature is quite amazing!
Sooo beautiful !
Thank you very much !
Love from Brazil❣
Obrigado, Antônio! 💚from Seattle💚
I see you use it for material what else can you use it for? Hair?
This was really helpful, thanks!
Awesome - you are so welcome, Estefanía!
What do you do with left over cabbage after extracting the dye
I compost all of my natural dye material after I have exhausted it.
Hello.
Quick question..I did it the natural way only cabbage in water...and as it cooled off it changed colors to a sharp blue.
Since this is my first time doing such..would u pls explain how I can keep color to bright purple...
And I'm looking to color a dough to eat naturally..
Thanks for your time...
Good luck..
Hi! The most likely reason your color shifted to blue is because of the pH of the water or something you put in it. Purple cabbage is pH sensitive so will change to blue/green if the pH rises into the alkaline side (8-12). If you are going to use dough, there may be something in the ingredients like baking soda that make it more alkaline which will shift the color. The only thing I suggest is trying to keep everything at a neutral pH (7) and try to find out what is changing the pH of your dye. Best of luck!
I have been looking to make a blue dye and several sources have stated that red cabbage with baking soda would make it a nice dark blue but here it is green. How would I make it blue then?
By shifting red cabbage to the alkaline side, you can get a range of colors from green to blue. There are many factors that can influence pH, so just try it out within your own environment and you can find blue. Please note, however, that red cabbage is fugitive, so the color can fade quickly. If you want a more stable color, indigo is always the best blue out there 💙
Can you use this on paper?
Yes, you can use all natural dyes on paper. You may get different results because the pH of the paper you use, but you can still shift it further on the acid/alkaline scale. If you then use the paper with an adhesive, that can also shift colors again. Best is to experiment...and have fun doing it 😊
What does baking soda do?
So magical to se 🙏✨But isnt it so, that the dye of cabbage easily is being washed away from the clothes again? or do you know any tricks? ☺
pH shifting is one of my favorite magical ways to expand my natural color palette 😊 You are correct - red cabbage is a fugitive dye and will fade with time more quickly than other traditional dyes. Proper fiber prep is key to any natural dye process including scouring/washing and using a mordant. While red cabbage will still fade away, using it for fibers that are not subjected to frequent washing may be an option to enjoy it longer. I have used it in my fiber collage artwork and shifted it with iron and it has lasted quite some time. If you want another purple option with longer life, try logwood 💜
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Thank you so much for your detailed answer 🙏 I enjoy your videos so much.
@@ThereseElene You are most welcome - thank you for joining the Color Quest family 🌼
Can this be used for silk painting?
Thank you for your question, Abeya. I have never silk painted, but you can certainly shift your natural dyes that are pH sensitive to expand your palette to use with any fibers. There are ways to make pH modifier pastes that could be used in printing, so would be fun to learn more about it and experiment.
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Hi Margaret, thank you for your reply but can you please simplify your answer. I don't understand it.
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest .I have not started silk painting yet but I'm keen to start with natural dyes for silk painting.
@@bonbboni I can try 😊 This video is about shifting color of dye matter that is sensitive to pH so you can have more colors to use in your dye practice. You can do this with many different types of natural dyes that are pH sensitive. To shift color, you can add acidic modifiers like vinegar or lemon juice to lower the pH (1-6) or you can add alkaline modifiers like baking soda or soda ash to raise the pH (8-14). You can see many videos here on Color Quest that show dyes that are pH sensitive and what the different colors look like when they are shifted either acidic or alkaline. For example, the videos on Sappanwood or Madder that I posted this past summer demonstrate pH shifting.
@@bonbboni Silk is a wonderful fiber to use with natural dyes 🤎
How to preserve the colour after wash
Red cabbage is a fugitive color so it will fade over time no matter how carefully you treat it. Keeping pH shifted colors is also delicate as you need to protect it from encountering alkaline or acidic environments. You may want to look at other natural dye sources that create similar colors and are more color/light/wash fast.
Hey to fix the dye I usually mix vinegar and salt to water and dip the dyed fabric, now if I dye the fabric using this ph shifter method can I fix the colour using the same technique or it might change the colour? Is there an alternative for fixing the dyed fabric dyed using ph shifting method ?
Hi Dhikksha - yes, you will want to use a true mordant, not salt/vinegar, to help with the bond between textile and dye. You can try an alum mordant (see video on my channel) as an option that is very popular with many dyers. Alternatively, you can try a soy milk pre-treatment with your textile. I will be releasing a soy milk mordant video soon, but you can start by just soaking your textile overnight in soy milk, letting it dry and then using it in your dye pot. If you have time, it is great to do the soak/dry 2-3 times and let it cure on your textile for a week or more. I pre-treat a larger volume of textile at one time so I always have mordant textile ready to go. Be warned, if you pH shift your color, it will always be sensitive to pH, so be careful with soap or spills on your textile. Good luck!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest hey! Yes I’ve used alum as mordant, the thing I wanna know is after dyeing, is there any step to do which prevents the colour from fading when we wash them later, like a step fixing the naturally dyed fabric..?
@@dhikkshaprabhakar8918 No, there is no permanent fix to keep natural dye from reacting to its environment beyond using a mordant and treating your textile carefully (hand wash in cold water, use a pH neutral soap, air/line dry away from direct sunlight). As you probably know, some dyes create a stronger bond with textile and react well to the mordant process while some dyes are inherently fugitive. One of the strongest mordant processes I have experienced is a 3 step process (tannin-alum-tannin), so if you have the time and energy, you can always invest more into pre-treating your textile for potentially longer life cycle of the natural dye. This is one of the beautiful characteristics of natural color - it is living and breathing and always changing 💚
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest thank you so much for responding so patiently, I love your videos ♥️🙏
@@dhikkshaprabhakar8918 My pleasure, Dhikksha - thank you for being here!
Why does my neutral red cabbage has blue on it? ㅠㅠ how can i get beautiful purple?
Two important aspects of red cabbage to consider when natural dyeing is that it is pH sensitive and fugitive. As this video shows, if there is any shift to an acidic or alkaline state, the color of the dye will change. It sounds like the dye has been exposed to something that is alkaline. Soaps and detergents can be more alkaline, so that could influence the environment, for example. If you try to make red cabbage dye again, make sure your water is pH neutral (7) and that you protect it from exposures to acid or alkaline substances. Finally, please note, red cabbage dye is fugitive, so it will fade & change quite easily and quickly.
@Margaret Byrd: Color Quest thank youu for replying😁
@@hnaaisy You bet - best of luck to you!
hello Margaret, minor question. Is rinsing the chopped cabbage an essential step? wouldn't it leach out the colour too a bit? sorry if the q is repititive! lovely channel 💖
Thanks so much for joining us at Color Quest 💜 No need to wash the cabbage as you can strain out any sediment when you remove the cabbage from the dye. If it is super dirty, you might consider it, but it is not required at all.
I am actually soaking different rinds and peels in plain water in fairly airtight glass jars with a few cloves in them. Not refrigerated. I intend to boil the contents with alum mordanted cotton fabric. Some are tied with chickpeas in them! Let's see what emerges😀
Also, something called low carbon/haybox cooking to cook the colour to reduce dependence on Lpg/electricity. Trying to make more earth friendly choices from what i understand now🌿
@@vibhasachdev5022 Just found your comment from last month - sorry for the delay in responding! Sounds like you have some great experiments going in your dye studio. Hope you are getting some great results and having lots of fun 😊 So wonderful that you are also looking to save energy - brava! The earth kisses you for this 🤎
Hello there Margaret. It's Vini from Brazil. Beautifull work you're doing. Me and my mother just started natural dying raw cotton. We want to achieve a deep permanet blue. We're about to try alkaline carbage with cooper sulphate mordant. What do you recomend??
Hi Vini - thank you for watching and your kind words! As you may know, blue is a difficult color to find in nature and 'permanent' is not always possible with natural dyes. The most common are indigo and woad which are strong and hold their color well against light and water. I have created a deep blue with cabbage using an iron shift after-bath (see my video on iron), but the cotton textile was pre-mordanted with both a tannin and an alum mordant (tannin+alum+tannin). It is typically more difficult to make a darker color with plant material and cellulose fibers like cotton, so mordant is very important. I have not used copper sulfate in my practice. Red cabbage is considered fugitive, but with the process I used, the blue has remained after many years. Best of luck to you and your mother with your dye pot - very exciting!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest hello there... thank you for your feedback... today I'm trying with black beans. I've soaked the raw cotton in bleach and soap for 24h... I'm scouring it in soda ash right now and after it I'll make a test with Alum and Cooper Sulfate. The beans are in the water for 24h.
Later on I'll share my results with you! Best regards!
@@viniciusbortoletto1082 Sounds like you are doing the prep right - that makes all the difference! Excited to hear how it goes, so will wait your good news. Good luck!
Sist, how to fixation the fabric after we dyeing ?
The best way to improve the bond between natural dye and fiber is with a mordant. Pre-treating your textile with alum, tannin or soy milk can help the color last longer. Any dye matter that is pH sensitive will remain sensitive, so you have to treat the textile carefully by washing in cold water with pH neutral soap and air drying. Natural color is living, so it will change over time and interact with its environment, but this is what makes it magic!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest thank you sist
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Only know TRO for mordant, maybe I just know that. Can you tell me about allum, tannin for mordant?
@@Nicelifeku You are most welcome!
@@Nicelifeku You can find 2 videos here on my channel about alum and tannin (made from pomegranate skins) used as mordants. The most popular tannin mordant used here in the US is oak tree gall, but pomegranate skins are a good source of tannin if they are available in your region. There may be other tannin based vegetation where you live in bark, seeds or roots that can be used as mordants as well, so would be fun to research that. I was not familiar with T.R.O., so thank you for mentioning it - I will do some research of my own 😉
I want to change yellow chiffon sareeto purple or violet light color how margret
Hi Baby Steps - oohh, you've picked a tough one - purple/violet are rare in nature. A few questions need to be answered first: Is the chiffon 100% natural? Was it dyed naturally? What kind of yellow is it? The only option to change the color is to over-dye, and because yellow and purple are opposites on the color wheel, mixing these two colors will lower the saturation and can lead to brown. If the yellow is very light, you may be able to try over-dyeing with red cabbage after treating it with a mordant (alum or soy milk) to help with the bond. Red cabbage is very sensitive and considered fugitive so it can fade quickly if not careful. If possible, it is always best to experiment with a sample first. You may have to try a few different mixtures, but I believe it will be very difficult with natural dyes.