Shades Of Orange
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Alder Bark - (orange)
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Bloodroot will give a good orange to reddish orange color.
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Sassafras (leaves)
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Onion (skin) - orange
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Lichen (gold)
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Carrot - (roots) orange
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Lilac (twigs) - yellow/orange
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Barberry (mahonia sp.) yellow orange (with alum) very strong & permanent.
Any part of the plant will work.
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Giant Coreopsis (Coreopsis gigantea) Yields bright permanent orange with alum.
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Turmeric dyed cloth will turn orange or red if it is dipped in lye.
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Pomagrante – with alum anywhere from orange to khaki green.
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Butternut - (seed husks) - orange
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Eucaluptus - (leaves and bark) beautiful shades of tan, orange and brown.
Shades Of Brown
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Wild plum root will give a reddish or rusty brown.
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Oak bark will give a tan or oak color.
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Sumac (leaves) - tan
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Dandelion (roots) brown
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Broom - (bark) - yellow/brown
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Walnut (hulls) - deep brown (wear gloves)
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Walnut (husks) - deep brown - black
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Tea Bags - light brown, tan
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White Birch - (inner bark) - brown
-
Juniper Berries
-
Fennel - (flowers, leaves) - yellow/brown
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Coffee Grinds
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Acorns (boiled)
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Hollyhock (petals)
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Colorado Fir - (bark) - tan
-
Yellow dock (shades of brown)
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Beetroot -Dark Brown With FeSO4
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Maple Trees (Red Leaf Buds) - red-brown color when dried. Found on branches
before new leaves appear only present during early spring and throughout fall.
-
Amur Maple (Acer Ginnala) - black, blue, brown from dried leaves.
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Ivy - (twigs) - yellow/brown
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Pine Tree Bark - light medium brown. Needs no mordant.
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White Maple (bark) - Light brown/ buff - Alum to set
-
Birch (bark) - Light brown/ buff - Alum to set
-
St John's Wort (blossom) - brown
-
Broom Sedge - golden yellow and brown
-
Coneflower (flowers) - brownish green ; leaves and stems - gold
-
Goldenrod (shoots ) - deep brown
Shades Of Pink
-
Strawberries
-
Cherries
-
Raspberries (red)
-
Roses and Lavender, with a little mint and some lemon juice to activate the
alkaloids can make both a brilliant pink dye and a very tasty pink lemonade.
-
Lichens - A pink, brown, or wine colored dye can be produced from a lichen
known as British soldiers.
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Camilla -It's a nice pink-magenta. With lemon and salt.
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Grand Fir -(bark) pink
Shades of Blue/Purple
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Dogwood (bark) - blue
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Red cabbage
-
Woad (first year leaves). Woad gives a pale to mid blue colour depending on the
type of fabric and the amount of woad used.
-
Mulberries (royal purple)
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Elderberries (lavender)
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Saffron - (petals) blue/green
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Grapes (purple)
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Blueberries
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Cornflower - (petals) blue dye with alum, water
-
Cherry (roots)
-
Blackberry (fruit) strong purple
-
Hyacinth - (flowers) - blue
-
Japanese indigo (deep blue)
-
Indigo (leaves) - blue
-
Red Cedar Root (purple)
-
Raspberry -(fruit) purple/blue
-
Red Maple Tree (purple)(inner bark)
-
Nearly Black Iris - (dark bluish purple) alum mordant
-
Dogwood - (fruit) greenish-blue
-
Oregon Grape -(fruit) blue/purple
-
Purple Iris - blue
-
Sweetgum (bark) - purple / black
-
Queen Anne's Lace –
Shades of Red
-
Elderberry - red
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Red leaves will give a reddish brown color I use salt to set the dye.
-
Sumac (fruit) - light red
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Sycamore (bark)- red
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Dandelion (root)
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Beets - deep red
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Bamboo - turkey red
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Crab Apple - (bark) - red/yellow
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Rose (hips)
-
Chokecherries
-
Madder (root) - red
-
Hibiscus Flowers (dried)
-
Kool-aid
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Canadian Hemlock - (bark) reddish brown
-
Japanese Yew - (heartwood) - brown dye
-
Wild ripe Blackberries
-
Brazilwood
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St. John's Wort - (whole plant) soaked in alcohol - red
-
Bedstraw (root) - red
Shades of Gray/Black
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Iris (roots)
-
Sumac (leaves) (Black)
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Carob pod (boiled) will give a gray to cotton
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Oak galls - makes a good black dye.
-
Sawthorn Oak - (seed cups) - black
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Walnut (hull) - black
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Rusty nails & vinegar - set with Alum.
Shades of Red-Purple
- Pokeweed (berries)
- Hibiscus (flowers, dark red or purple
ones) - red-purple.
- Daylilies (old blooms)
- Safflower - (flowers, soaked in
alcohol) - red
- Logwood (is a good purple but you
have to watch it as it dyes quick when the pot is fresh. Also it exhausts fast.
We use alum to mordant and using iron can give you logwood gray.)
- Huckleberry - lavender (can use it
for dye and also for ink.)
- Portulaca - (flowers, dried and
crushed to a powder) use with a vinegar orsalt mordant, can produce strong
magentas, reds, scarlets, oranges and yellows (depending upon the color of the
flower)
- Beluga Black Lentils - soaked in
water overnight .. yield a dark purplish / black water. The color is washfast
and lightfast and needs NO MORDANT and it lasts - a beautiful milk chocolate
brown (when super thick) ... to a lighter medium brown or light brown when
watered down.
- Dark Hollyhock (petals) - mauve
- Basil - purplish grey
Shades of Green
- Artemisia species provide a range of
greens from baby's breath to nettle green.
- Artichokes
- Tea Tree - (flowers) green/black
- Spinach (leaves)
- Sorrel (roots) - dark green
- Foxglove - (flowers) apple green
- Lilac - (flowers) - green
- Camellia - (pink, red petals) - green
- Snapdragon - (flowers) - green
- Black-Eyed Susans
- Grass (yellow green)
- Pigsweed (entire plant) yellow green
- Red Pine (needles) green
- Nettle
- Broom - (stem) green
- Larkspur - green - alum
- Plantain Roots
- White Ash - (bark) - yellow
- Purple Milkweed - (flowers &
leaves) - green
- Lily-of-the-valley (light green) be
careful what you do with the spent dye bath. The plant is toxic so try to avoid
pouring it down the drain into the water supply.
- Barberry root (wool was dyed a
greenish bronze-gold)
- Red onion (skin) (a medium green,
lighter than
forest green)
- Yarrow - (flowers) yellow & green
shades
- Mulga Acacia - (seed pods) - green
- Peach - (leaves) yellow/green
- Coneflower (flowers) - green
- Peppermint - dark kakhi green color
- Queen Anne's Lace - pale green
- Black-Eyed Susans - bright
olive/apple green
- Hydrangea (flowers) - alum mordant,
added some copper and it came out a beautiful celery green
- Chamomile (leaves) – green
Shades of Yellow/Wheat
- Bay leaves - yellow
- Barberry (bark) - yellow
- Crocus - yellow
- Fustic - yellow
- Saffron (stigmas) - yellow - set with
Alum.
- Safflower (flowers, soaked in water)
- yellow
- Sassafras (bark)- yellow
- Syrian Rue (glows under black light)
- Red Clover (whole blossom, leaves and
stem) alum mordant - gold
- Yellow cone flower (whole flower
head); chrome mordant; Brass to Greeney-Brass.
- Onion (skins) - set with Alum.
- Alfalfa (seeds) - yellow
- Marigold (blossoms) - yellow
- Willow (leaves)
- Queen Anne's Lace
- Heather - (plant) - yellow
- St. John's Wort - (flowers &
leaves) - gold/yellow
- Burdock
- Celery (leaves)
- Golden Rod (flowers)
- Sumac (bark) - The inner pith of
Sumac branches can produce a super bright yellow color.
- Weld (bright yellow)
- Old man's beard lichen -
yellow/brown/orange shades
- Oregon-grape roots - yellow
- Cameleon plant (golden)
- Mimosa - (flowers) yellow
- Dandelion flower
- Osage Orange also known as Bois d'arc
or hedgeapple (heartwood, inner bark, wood, shavings or sawdust) (pale yellow)
- Daffodil flower heads (after they
have died); alum mordant
- Mullen (leaf and root) pale yellow.
*careful, because the little fuzzy hairs can make one itchy!
- Hickory leaves (yellow) if plenty of
leaves are boiled and salt added.
- Tea ( ecru color)
- Yellow, Curly, Bitter, or Butter Dock
(despite various leaf shapes, all have a bright yellow taproot) gives you a
yellow/flesh color.
- White mulberry tree (bark) Cream
color onto white or off-white wool. Alum mordant.
- Paprika -pale yellow - light orange)
- Peach (leaves) - yellow
- Beetroot (yellow) (alum &
K2Cr2O7)
- Turmeric (spice) --bright yellow
- Oxallis (wood sorrels) (flowers) -
the one with the yellow flowers. Use the flower heads, some stem ok. It is
nearly fluorescent yellow, and quite colorfast on alum mordanted wool.
If the oxalis flowers are fermented or
if a small dash of cloudy ammonia is added to the dyebath (made alkaline) the
fluorescent yellow becomes fluorescent orange. Usually I do this as an
after-bath, once I have the initial colour. Useful for shifting the dye shade,
and some good surprises in store!
- Dahlia Flowers (Red, yellow, orange
flowers) make a lovely yellow to orange dye for wool.
- Mulga Acacia -(flowers) - yellow
- Sunflowers - (flowers) - yellow
- Dyer's Greenwood (shoots) - yellow
- Tansy (tops) - yellow
- Yarrow - yellow and gold
NATURAL HOMEMADE PAINTS
The basic elements in natural paints:
- Binder- the main ingredient of the
paint. Natural options include: lime, clay, chalk, casein (non-fat milk curds),
oil and flour paste.
- Pigment- the color. Natural options
include: clay, nuts, berries, herbs, charcoal, bark and soot.
- Filler/stabilizer (*optional)- for
texture. Natural options include: chalk, clay and talcum.
Starch
Paste:
Add 1 part white flour to 2 parts cold
water & set aside.
Add above mix to 1 1/2 parts boiling
water.
Cook mixture on low heat until
thickened.
Paint mix:
Dilute 1 part starch paste with 2 parts
water.
Add clay (bought as a clay powder or it
can be found naturally near a riverbed-- though needs to be cleaned and
strained before use). Mix enough clay into the paste so that it becomes like a
thick cream.
Add pigment (optional: if you like the
color of the paint this is not necessary). You can find natural pigments, in
powder form, at art supply stores.
Use a brush to apply to wall. When
paint is nearly dry (but still moist), it can be polished with a damp tile
sponge.
Receipe
2:
1 cup of cornstarch
1/2 cup of water
1/3 cup of soap flakes melted with a
half cup of boiling water
Natural homemade dyes
Grate a homemade soap bar until you get
a third cup of soap flakes.
Combine cornstarch, water, and melted
soap in a bowl.
Stir well and let mixture set until
thickened.
Divide into separate bowls and add in
natural dyes for color.
Your paints are now ready for a canvas!
Recipe
for milk paint
8 parts skim milk
1 part hydrated lime (AKA builders
lime). Avoid quick lime.
2 parts linseed oil ( boiled type )
1/4 part salt
Pigment
Mix ingredients. Strain with
cheesecloth or fine mesh. Can be kept in refrigerator for a few days.
Receipe 2:
The easiest to make and least expensive homemade paints
consist of milk, lime, and pigment. For additional body a filler, such as chalk
powder or plaster can be added. My
preferred recipe is simplicity itself:
- Hydrated
lime (available at most home and garden supply stores)
- Water
- Pigment (powder or liquid)
- Whole milk (at room temperature)
1. Fill a container with one to two
cups of hydrated lime. Gradually add water and stir until you have a thick
paste.
2. In a separate
container, do the same with the pigment powder. For a small batch like this, 2 to 4 tablespoons of
pigment is typically sufficient.
3. Gradually add milk
to the lime paste until you achieve
the consistency of sour cream. Then add the pigment paste and mix
thoroughly.
Safety tip: Despite the
relative low toxicity of the ingredients, wear vinyl gloves and a dust mask
when working with lime and pigment.
ADDING PIGMENTS TO HOMEMADE PAINT
You can buy
pigmentsat many hardware and artist supply stores. Avoid using
pigments made from toxic compounds, otherwise you'll defeat the purpose of
making your own paint. Some common toxins used in pigments include cadmium,
lead, mercury, and cobalt.
You can make many of
your own colorants using natural
ingredients but the process is a lot more time-consuming than making paint
alone. Also, the colors produced through home-brewed dyes are more subtle than
store-bought pigments. If you do want to make homemade pigment, try these
methods:
- Add water to steel wool for a red rust
coloring.
- Try simmering everything from berries and
vegetables to bark and leaves to create the dyes. Blackberries, for example,
make a strong dye.
- Brew coffee or many tea to create neutral
tones.
- Boil peach or crab apple leaves for
greens.
- Use store-bought juice concentrates, such as
blueberry and cranberry, to create pleasing tints.
ADDITIONAL TIPS ABOUT HOMEMADE PAINT
- Milk paint is not as
scrubbable as its commercial cousins. In
areas subject to spills, apply a protective coat of shellac or oil finish. If
you choose the latter, stay green with a plant oil-based finish.
- The shelf life for
milk paint is short. Store unused
paint in the refrigerator. It can be used until the milk sours. Brushes clean
easily with soap and water.
