HOW TO DYE FABRIC WITH TURMERIC

Turmeric is highly valued in natural medicine as well as textiles. Its

gorgeous color and healing properties have earned it the nickname
“Indian solid gold”- indeed it has quite the reputation.
In the context of Ayurveda healing, turmeric is believed to help “purify
the blood” and help with a number of ailments in the skin, heart, liver
and lungs. This makes it the perfect raw material for Ayurveda dyeing,
combining both beauty and function.
If you’ve used turmeric before you may have noticed it can give your
hands a bit of a stain with its bright yellow colour. What you may not
know is turmeric has been used as a fabric dye for hundreds of years.
Dyeing with turmeric has been around for centuries and dyeing with
natural ingredients is not only fun and creative, its messy, so our first
tip, is…… YES, wear the appropriate protective clothing.
Dyeing clothes with Turmeric is great way for beginners to start as it
produces vibrant warm yellow colour on natural fabrics. You can
turmeric dye cotton, silk and wool. The colour does fade quickly when
washed a lot, so be mindful of this and we suggest washing the turmeric
dyed fabric n its own just in case.
Ingredients:

 Natural Fabric such as cotton, linen, silk

 Turmeric Powder
 Water
Method:

1. Bring a medium/ large pot of water to simmering heat

2. Add 1/4 to 3/4 cup of turmeric (depending of the density of
yellow desired) to the pot and simmer for 20-30 mins
3. Submerge your fabric in solution.
4. Bring to boil and let simmer for approximately 1 hour. This will
allow the dye to take to the fabric.
5. Remove pot from heat and remove fabric from pot placing it into a
colander style pot. If you don’t have one then the kitchen sink is fine.
(Remember, porcelain and ceramic may stain so best to use a stainless
steel sink!)
6. Rinse thoroughly to remove any excess powder
7. Hang to dry
Time to do some patterns! You can do this by folding, tying rubber
bands around twisted pieces of the fabric or even using string to tie up
parts.
Take your piece of fabric or clothing item and submerge in the turmeric
solution using a wooden spoon to ensure all the fabric has even cover*
(*not the case if dip dying!)
The longer the material soaks, the more vibrant it will be. We
recommend checking at 3 minutes, and again every few
minutes after, until the desired colour is achieved. Be conscious to
ensure the fabric is fully submerged after every time it is checked to
ensure even colour.
Once your fabric is at the desired colour, rinse the fabric in the sink
(remember, porcelain and ceramic may stain so best to use a stainless
steel sink!) until the water runs clear.
Voila! You have turmeric dyed fabric!

Many plant based dyes are very quick to bleach in the sun, especially
here in our hot Australian sun! Turmeric is one of the natural dyes that
fades the quickest. Most natural yellow dyes do. When I’m teaching my
students, I always tell them to dry their botanical dyed items in shade
and use a cold hand wash where possible and avoid soaking. Is it worth
the trouble if you have to re-dye after a time? I think so! So does Indian
culture and Japanese culture who for hundreds of years loved botanical
dyes for what they are and lovingly re-dye their items every year as a
community. Also, vinegar isn’t the best way to help your turmeric stick
to your fabric. For plant fibres such as linen and cotton you should be
boiling your fabric in washing soda fist to remove of chemical residue
from the manufacturing process, then rinse well and mordant with
Alum acetate or a plant based mordant such as rhubarb leaves or soy
milk. THEN dye your items. If dying animal fibres such as wool or silk,
wash first with a pH neutral dish detergent, rinse and then mordant
with alum potassium sulphate then dye with turmeric. You should also
strain the dye bath before adding your fibre too because otherwise you
get little turmeric particles all over your fabric. Not such a problem with
plant based materials but can be a bugger to wash out of wool.