Growing Blue
Intro: Growing Blue
STEP 1: Planting and Growing
STEP 2: Harvesting the Plants
STEP 3: Direct Dye Processing
Now comes the tricky part. How to get that blue chemical out of the plants and useable as a dye that is light and wash fast. I chose the easiest method I could find. I just couldn't wait the months of fermentation and knowing it is a very smelly process I didn't want to run my husband off from the stench. What I did: I plucked the leaves and put them in a large pot. I added water to cover, and set it on an electric hot plate in the garage. I turned it to medium heat, as you want it to heat slowly for about 2 hours, keeping the temperature below a simmer...about 190 degrees. After about 2 hours, I turned off the heat and let it sit in the pot to cool down. It took on a metallic sheen, which I knew was correct. Then I strained it into a couple gallon jars through an old tea towel. If you dipped the fabric or yarn right in this liquid, or even simmered it, as you generally do with other natural dyes, you would get a color, but it would not be blue. Most likely green or yellow. Strange but true! You have to "reduce" the dye bath, or take the oxygen out of it. I accomplished that by using Rit Color remover. It's cheap and easily available. One and one-half tablespoons for the gallon of dye, stirred in and left to settle.
38 Comments
cookery 9 years ago
In step 3. After you strain the leaves out of the pot. Add the color remover and stir gently until it is dissolved. I let it sit for about 30 minutes to an hour for the reduction to take place.You can dip the yarn/cloth at this point, or I have let it sit for a day, and then warmed it up to to about 100 degrees before dipping. (I just did it again last week with this years' crop. Did you grow it?)
1chelseA 9 years ago
At what step do you add the color remover?
nah89 9 years ago
When you say to cover do you mean just covering leaves or to the top of the pot?
cookery 9 years ago
lauraabcd 10 years ago
cookery 10 years ago
crazyg 10 years ago
cookery 10 years ago
LaffyDuck187 10 years ago
cookery 10 years ago
LaffyDuck187 10 years ago
cookery 10 years ago
lazybird19 10 years ago
cookery 10 years ago
GemFOX 10 years ago
cookery 10 years ago
GemFOX 10 years ago
cookery 10 years ago
jjdebenedictis 10 years ago
You might try cooking the leaves in a crock pot so you could keep it going all night (assuming longer simmering time = stronger dye, which might not be true.)
cookery 10 years ago