Er, questions concerning dyeing things?

[The Star is Vain]

People were talking about tea-dyeing in another thread, and in relation to that, is there a way to get the colour set or what have you, so that if you had to wash it the colour wouldn't...like..melt on you or something like that?
Also, is there a somewhat cheap/natural/whatever way to dye something black/dark gray, or maybe like a dark muted blue or purple? xd  

[knitting_needle_ninja]

Well, there's always Rit dye, for starters. Not sure how much it is going for, though.

Cool-aide is a common dye, but you'd have to research how it's done and how to keep the color in; I've never tried it myself.

For art projects, I dye things like paper and fabric with watered down acrylic paint. I know from experience that it's nearly impossible to get our of fabric, but you have to let it dry completely before you wash it, and if you don't mix it properly it'll be blotchy.  

[DecemberFlower]

I've asked about Kool-Aid dying here before, and my understanding is that the color stays just as well as other dyes. I've been doing a bunch of Kool-Aid dying, and it's working out well. I just mix up 1 packet (more if I want more intense color) and 6 ounces of water per ounce of fiber (or in your case, yarn). I've seen conflicting information as to whether you need to add white vinegar or not, although I believe Kool-Aid is acidic enough by itself where you don't really need it. I haven't been using it, and I don't think it's a problem.



Then I put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes to set the dye. When it's done, I set the pan out for a while to cool, then soak it in cool water to cool it further and rinse any excess dye.

Here are the results.  

[knitting_needle_ninja]

Ooh, lovely. I want to try dying at some point. But I need to learn to spin first. XD  

[kochi~mochi]

I've used the Rit dyes, they aren't bad at all. On those you just follow the directions, they say to use salt. The rinsing process takes forever though. >< But thats just gonna be how it works. 3nodding

If theres a particular dye you want to use, i would run some searches online and see what mordant it says to use. I have a book somewhere that gives some formulas for natural dyes... *runs to find it*

Theres alot of good information in here, if you want i can make a tutorial with the information it gives. It goes from collecting dyestuffs to preparing your fiber to making and using a dyebath, then information on mordants and then it also has general tips.

I have a chart with different flowers, berries, and whatnot, along with what morant to use, and specifics on times. It also has color samples for what they come out looking like. it also has pictures of some of the flowers. I can scan these couple pages in for you if you want.

Just to let you know, tea and coffee don't need any mordants.  

[mobrose]

an old old trick is to dip it into black tea (trust me it works) biggrin  

[The Knitty Gritty]

Food coloring, cool aid, tea and coffee. Thats all I can think of that are safe and natural.  

[Moshingyogi]

Rit dye is good stuff. To test the color get a bunch of swatches of the same material you're using and test dye them. Change the amount of dye to water ratio, how long you keep it in the solution, etc. Then dye your garment once you figured out how you want to do it. Rit is a heat set dye, so either hang it up to dry and then iron it, or throw it in the dryer...well, if you don't care to much for dying the inside of your dryer wink  

[mindy_does_stuff]

RIT dye is also super cheap ($2 a box at joanns, and sometimes they sell it at grocery stores), but you may have to leave your material in for longer than 30 min (30 min is what's printed in the directions), because it will partially come out in the wash. I was dying indigo denim to black using the bucket method, and most of it came out when it came time to wash the fabric. Also, use more salt than it says you need.  

[Kingyo~goldfish]

Seeing as no one here can seem to give you the information about natural dyes that you were asking for, allow me to point you to a few useful sites.
Pioner Thinking has an entire section about dyes that can be found in you own backyard, but Aurora Silk will let you buy straight from the store. There are numerous other sites that promote the use of natural dyes, as well as tutorials.
and by the way, if you are conserned about where your dyes are coming from, use ANYTHING but kool-Aid. t dyes to suffice, but it isvery bad for the environment.