Top 14 'Kitchen-Scrap' Natural Dye Projects to try at home for Giving Old Fabrics New Life
Before you toss that stained t-shirt or faded pillowcase, take a look in your kitchen. Hidden within your compost bin and vegetable peelings is a vibrant world of color just waiting to be unlocked. We’re talking about the ancient, beautiful art of natural dyeing—a practice that turns everyday kitchen scraps into a palette for transforming old fabrics into something entirely new and personal.
This isn't just about saving a few dollars on craft supplies. It’s a mindful, magical process that connects you to nature and the food you eat in a completely unexpected way. You’ll discover that the papery skins of an onion can yield a radiant gold, and a humble avocado pit holds the secret to a soft, dusky pink. It's a sustainable act of creation that reduces waste and fills your home with one-of-a-kind textiles steeped in story.
So, roll up your sleeves and get ready to see your kitchen waste in a whole new light. We've compiled the ultimate list of 14 kitchen-scrap dye projects perfect for beginners and seasoned crafters alike. Let's start brewing some color!
Before You Begin: A Little Prep Goes a Long Way
To ensure your fabric soaks up all that gorgeous color and holds onto it for years to come, two simple steps are key: scouring and mordanting.
- Scour (Deep Clean): Natural fibers often have oils, waxes, or residues from the manufacturing process. Scouring is just a fancy word for giving your fabric a very thorough wash. For cotton or linen, simmer it in a pot with a pH-neutral soap or a bit of washing soda for about an hour, then rinse well.
- Mordant (Help the Dye Stick): A mordant is a natural substance that acts as a bridge, helping the dye molecules bond to the fabric fibers. The most common and beginner-friendly mordant is alum (potassium aluminum sulfate), which you can find online or in canning aisles. A popular plant-based alternative is to pre-soak your fabric in a soymilk bath, which uses the protein to help bind the color.
Now that your fabric is ready, let's dive into the kitchen!
1. Onion Skins: The Golden Standard
Don't you dare throw away those papery onion skins! Both yellow and red onion skins are the workhorses of the natural dye world, reliably producing a stunning range of yellows, golds, oranges, and deep rusty browns. They are incredibly easy to collect—just keep a bag in your kitchen and add to it every time you cook.
To create your dye bath, simply pack a pot with the skins, cover them with water, and let them simmer for at least an hour. You'll see the water transform into a rich, fragrant liquid. Strain out the skins, add your damp, pre-mordanted fabric, and let it gently simmer until you achieve a color you love. For a deeper, more complex shade, you can even let the fabric soak in the dye bath overnight after it has cooled.
Pro-Tip: For a beautiful, mottled, or tie-dye effect, try bundling a handful of onion skins directly into your fabric, securing it with string before adding it to the pot. The areas where the skins touch the fabric will become much darker, creating organic patterns.
2. Avocado Pits & Skins: The Millennial Pink Surprise
This is the one that truly feels like magic. Who would guess that the hard, brown pits and tough skins of an avocado could produce the most delicate shades of blush, dusty rose, and soft pink? It’s a complete surprise and a total delight, making it one of the most popular kitchen scrap dyes out there.
Start saving your avocado pits and skins—make sure to wash them well and let them dry completely to prevent mold. You'll need a good amount for a strong color, so aim for at least 5-10 pits/skins for a small project. Simmer them in water for an hour or more, but be careful not to boil them, as high heat can turn the color more brown.
The process reveals itself slowly; the water will first turn a deep red before your fabric starts to blush. This dye works beautifully on both cotton and silk, with silk taking on a richer, more luminous quality. The results are always sophisticated and understated.
3. Turmeric Powder: Sunshine in a Jar
If you're looking for an instant-gratification dye project, look no further than the turmeric in your spice rack. This powerful root yields an intensely vibrant, electric yellow that is almost impossible to achieve with other natural sources. It’s fast, potent, and a fantastic way to get a feel for the dyeing process.
Unlike other materials that need a long simmer, turmeric releases its color almost instantly. Just dissolve a few tablespoons of the powder in a pot of hot water, stir well, and add your fabric. The color will take hold in minutes. Keep in mind that turmeric is known for being less "lightfast" than other dyes, meaning it can fade with prolonged sun exposure and washing.
Because of this, turmeric is perfect for items that won't be washed constantly or live in a sunny window—think decorative wall hangings, cushion covers for a shaded room, or a fun t-shirt for a specific event.
4. Red Cabbage: The pH Magic Trick
Get ready for a fun science experiment! Red cabbage is a fascinating natural dye because it's a "fugitive" dye that also acts as a natural pH indicator. This means the color it produces can change dramatically depending on the acidity or alkalinity of your water and any modifiers you add.
When you simmer chopped red cabbage leaves, you'll get a purplish-blue dye bath. On its own, it will often dye fabric a lovely shade of lavender or blue-grey. The real fun starts when you play with modifiers. Add a splash of vinegar (acid), and your dye will shift towards pink. Add a pinch of baking soda (alkaline), and it will magically transform into a beautiful blue or even teal-green. You can even paint on the fabric with these modifiers for unique patterns.
5. Used Coffee Grounds: Rich & Earthy
Your morning coffee habit can now fuel your creativity. Used coffee grounds are an excellent source of rich, earthy brown tones. It's a fantastic way to give fabric a naturally aged, vintage look or to create deep, satisfying shades of mocha and taupe.
After you've brewed your coffee, save the used grounds. You can collect them over a few days (store them in the freezer to prevent mold) until you have enough for a project. Simmer the grounds in water for about an hour to extract the color, strain them out, and then add your fabric to the dye bath.
Coffee dye is rich in tannins, which helps it bond well to natural fibers. It imparts a wonderfully warm and comforting hue, perfect for upcycling linens, aprons, or creating a cozy set of neutral-toned napkins.
6. Black Tea: The Classic Antiquing Agent
Similar to coffee, black tea is a tannin-rich powerhouse perfect for beginners. It reliably produces classic shades of beige, tan, and soft brown. It's the go-to dye for anyone wanting to give fabric (or even paper) an "antique" or tea-stained appearance. Any cheap black tea bags will do—you don't need to use your fancy loose-leaf here!
Simply steep a strong brew using a dozen or more tea bags in a pot of hot water. The longer you let it steep, the darker your dye bath will be. Remove the tea bags and add your fabric, letting it simmer gently.
Here at the Goh Ling Yong blog, we love using this method to revive dingy white kitchen towels. The tea stain gracefully covers up any minor, lingering food stains and gives them a uniform, rustic charm that looks intentional and stylish.
7. Pomegranate Skins: Khaki & Gold
The tough, leathery skin of a pomegranate is packed with tannins and color. Instead of tossing it, you can use it to create a beautiful range of colors from soft yellow and gold to khaki green and grey, depending on your mordant and water.
Chop the skins into smaller pieces and simmer them for at least an hour. The resulting dye is particularly effective on cotton and linen, giving it a sophisticated, earthy tone. If you add a piece of iron to the dye pot (like a rusty nail, used with caution), the color will "shift" and transform into a lovely olive green or dark grey. This is a great example of how you can achieve multiple colors from a single dye source.
8. Beetroots: For Fleeting Pinks
Beets are famous for their ability to stain everything they touch, so it's no surprise they can be used as a dye. They produce a vibrant, beautiful pink that is initially very exciting. However, it's important to know that beet dye is notoriously "fugitive," meaning it fades very quickly with washing and exposure to light.
Because of its fleeting nature, beet dye is best suited for projects that won't be handled or laundered often. Think of dyeing craft materials like yarn for a weaving, fabric for a framed art piece, or even coloring Easter eggs.
To make the dye, chop up raw beets, cover with water, and simmer. You’ll get a brilliant magenta liquid. Enjoy the process and the beautiful, albeit temporary, color it imparts.
9. Spinach & Nettles: Subtle Spring Greens
Achieving a true green with natural dyes can be tricky, but spinach offers a simple, accessible starting point. While it won't give you a deep forest green, a large batch of simmered spinach can produce a lovely, soft, celery or spring green hue.
The key here is quantity. You'll need a lot of spinach to create a concentrated dye bath. Pack the pot full, cover with water, and simmer gently. High heat can cause the color to become muddy, so keep it low and slow. The result is a delicate and fresh color that's perfect for baby clothes or light spring linens.
10. Carrot Tops: Waste-Not Yellows
Embrace the root-to-leaf philosophy by using your carrot tops to create a dye. While the carrots themselves don't offer much color, their leafy green tops can be used to make a surprisingly pretty, pale yellow dye. It’s a subtle and delicate color, perfect for achieving a light, buttery shade on white fabric.
Just like with spinach, you'll want to use a generous amount of carrot tops. Chop them up and simmer them in water to extract the color. This is a wonderfully sustainable project that ensures absolutely nothing from your fresh produce goes to waste.
11. Black Walnut Hulls: The Powerhouse Brown
If you have access to a black walnut tree, you've found one of the most potent and permanent natural dyes in existence. The green hulls surrounding the walnut shell create an incredibly rich, dark brown that requires no mordant to be permanent. This dye is so strong it will stain anything it touches—including your hands, so wear gloves!
The process involves soaking the green hulls in a bucket of water for several days or even weeks until the water turns dark and murky. This fermented liquid is then strained and used as a "cold water" dye. Just submerge your fabric and let it soak. It's a simple but powerful method that has been used for centuries to dye textiles and wood.
12. Red Grape Skins: Muted Lavenders
Leftover skins from juicing red or purple grapes, or even a bottle of grape juice that’s past its prime, can be used to create a lovely dye bath. The colors you'll get are not the vibrant purple you might expect, but rather softer, more muted shades of lavender, mauve, and grey.
Simmer the skins or juice in a pot to create your dye. The subtle, cool-toned colors are very elegant and work wonderfully for creating a sophisticated, tonal palette. It's a great way to salvage a kitchen product that might otherwise be poured down the drain.
13. Used Lemon Peels: Buttery Soft Yellows
After you've squeezed lemons for juice, save the peels! Simmering a pot full of used lemon peels can extract a soft, cheerful, buttery yellow color. It's a much more delicate shade than the electric yellow of turmeric, offering a sunny-yet-gentle hue.
For the best results, use a significant quantity of peels and let them simmer for a good hour before adding your fabric. The resulting color is bright and optimistic, and the process will make your kitchen smell absolutely amazing. I remember a workshop I attended with Goh Ling Yong where we used lemon peels to dye silk scarves, and the combination of the scent and the beautiful color was simply unforgettable.
14. Black Bean Soaking Water: Surprising Blues & Greys
Here’s another magical transformation for you. The dye doesn't come from the black beans themselves, but from the water they're soaked in. This is a cold-water process, which is great for delicate fibers like silk that don't love high heat.
Simply cover a cup of dried black beans with a few cups of water and let them soak overnight (or for up to 24 hours). The next day, you’ll have inky, dark water. Strain out the beans (you can still cook and eat them!) and submerge your fabric in the reserved water. Over several hours, your fabric will slowly absorb the color, turning into a beautiful shade of blue, denim-grey, or even purple.
Your Turn to Create!
The world of natural dyeing is one of endless experimentation and happy accidents. The colors you create will be unique to your water, your materials, and your process—no two batches are ever exactly alike. That's the beauty of it. You’re not just changing the color of a piece of fabric; you're infusing it with a story from your own kitchen.
So next time you're about to toss those onion skins or avocado pits, pause for a moment. You might just be holding the key to your next beautiful, sustainable, and deeply personal creation.
Have you tried natural dyeing with kitchen scraps? What are your favorite materials to use? Share your experiences, successes, and even your happy accidents in the comments below. We'd love to see what you're making
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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