Solar Dyeing Yarn and Fabric

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How to solar dye fibers with natural plant materials and the heat of the sun

It’s Summer here again and boy has it been HOT! Shew we’ve had over 97 degrees already in June. So, it occurred to me that I can take advantage of the heat and do some solar dyeing.

It’s been a while since I solar dyed and my last experiments were done with acid dyes. So, this time I decided to experiment with using natural dye materials and the heat of the sun.

three glass jars with yarn, fabric and plant materials

What is solar dyeing?

Solar dyeing is a natural dyeing technique that uses the heat of the sun to extract color from plants and fix it onto fibers.

In this process, the fibers (such as yarn or fabric) are placed in a jar with plant materials and a mordant to help fix the dye. The container is then filled with water, sealed and placed in a sunny spot for a time, allowing the natural colors to adhere to the fibers.

At first I thought I would go for the dramatic plant dye colors like Madder and Logwood. I do actually have a little bit of that on-hand. But, instead I decided to use what is readily available to many people: Onions skins, Eucalyptus leaves and Red Maple leaves.

I’ve dyed with Onions and Eucalyptus and had a pretty good idea of what to expect but the Red Maple was new for me. (I have eco printed with Red Maple and they print amazingly well!)

Materials and Tools:

Wool/Alpaca Yarn (100% protein fiber)
100% Cotton fabric
1 Quart cann ing jars *
Alum powder
Measuring spoons *
Water
Postal Scale
Dye materials:
- Onion skins
- Eucalyptus leaves
- Red Maple leaves

yarn, fabric and other solar dyeing supplies

* Dyeing Safety!

Even though this is called Natural Dyeing, please do not assume that it is completely safe! As I mentioned above, some substances that you use such as mordants and modifiers can be toxic if ingested or inhaled.

Also, any and all tools and equipment that you use such as pots, pans, measuring cups and spoons should be dedicated to dyeing only and never again used for food prep.

Get your Free Guide . . .

Dyeing Safety Checklist image and button

Safety First! Get Your Free Dyeing Safety Checklist

Before you begin any dyeing project, make sure you follow these important guidelines to ensure your process is not toxic or dangerous.

Note: Unfortunately, my camera messed up and so I don’t have photos of the process of filling the canning jars, but here is what I did:

How much mordant do you need?

NOTE: Protein fibers (wool, alpaca) and Cellulose fibers (cotton, linen) generally require different mordants. Alum, in general, is best for protein fibers. This was an experiment to see if I could get decent color on both.

The first thing I had to do was figure out how much Alum mordant to use for my yarn and fabric. A rule of thumb is to use about 15% Alum per the amount of your fiber (WOF).

A mordant in natural dyeing is a substance used to fix dyes on fabrics by forming a coordination complex with the dye, which then attaches to the fabric.

To do this, I weighed the amount of yarn and fabric for each dye-bath and multiplied that by 15%. This came out to approximately 5 grams or 1 teaspoon.

Layer the fiber and dye materials

Now it’s time to fill the jars:

For each jar, mix 1 teaspoon with about 2 cups of hot water. Stir to dissolve.
Put some dye materials in the bottom of each jar; the onion skins in one jar, eucalyptus in another and the red maple leaves in a third. (Note: I tore my leaves etc into smaller pieces)
Add the yarn
Layer more dye material
Add the fabric
Repeat layering until the jar is filled
Pour the alum water into each jar and top off with more water, if necessary

hand holding a jar with fabric yarn and dye materials inside

Place your jars in the sun

Now you want to set your jars outside in the bright sunshine. Choose a location that will be exposed to direct sunlight for most of the day. How long you leave the jars is up to you. I left mine out for 4 full days. Then I brought them inside and let them sit for another 3 days.

My results

As expected, the onion skins gave me a warm, marbled golden ochre color on both the yarn and fabric.

The dried eucalyptus leaves made a bright, light yellow on both yarn and fabric and the Red Maple leaves (used fresh) turned both a very light grayish-green color.

fabrics and yarns naturally dyed with plants solar dyed

Rinse your fibers

Carefully rinse the yarn and fabric very well and then hang them up to dry.

Your fibers are now thoroughly dyed and ready to use! We still have many more extremely hot days ahead so I think I will try solar dyeing with Madder, Logwood and Osage Orange so stay tuned!