A Safe Alternative
Looking for an inexpensive and safe alternative from cheap toxic dyes? This tutorial explores the ways that you can dye your own clothes naturally and ethically solely using avocados.
What you'll Need:
Step 1: Prep Your Fabric
Before you can dye your fabric, It's important that you wash it first. Use a gentle detergent when washing. You can then use the dryer or hang it up to dry.
Step 2: Prep Your Avocados
Next, you must prep the avocados. For the dye, you will be using the pits. It's important that you wash and peel the avocados completely, cleaning all of the flesh off of the pit. You will then put all of the clean pits into the bottom of a large stainless steel pot. Add enough water to cover the fabric you're dyeing. (The more pits, the darker the color).
Step 3: Bring to a Boil
Once your pits are in the pot, bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer, and let the avocado pits simmer for 60 minutes. After the pits are boiled, it creates the coloring of the dye. Let the dye sit overnight to let the color deepen.
Step 4: Strain & Add Fabric
The next morning, use tongs to remove the pits from the dye bath, and then strain it to get any unnecessary bits out of the dye. After that, wet the fabric and soak it in the dye.
Step 5: Boil Dye Bath
After soaking the fabric for a few minutes, put the fabric in the dye bath on heat, and simmer while continually stirring the fabric. After the fabric has developed color, remove it from the heat, and let it soak for another 20-30 minutes. You should start to see a light pink in the coloring of the fabric. If you prefer to have the fabric a darker shade, leave it in for longer.
Step 6: Rinse
When you're satisfied with the color of the fabric, remove it from the dye. Then, rinse and wring it out.
Step 7: Wash & Dry
Depending on whether the fabric is machine was friendly or not, you can either machine wash, or hand-wash the fabric. Make sure you use a very gentle detergent. After this, hang to dry, and your fabric will be ready.
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