Top 9 'Pantry-to-Palette' Natural Dyeing Techniques to explore for beginners - Goh Ling Yong
Have you ever looked at a simmering pot of tea, the vibrant skin of an onion, or a leftover avocado pit and seen a world of color? If not, you're in for a treat. The ancient art of natural dyeing isn't some complex, forgotten craft reserved for experts with secret gardens. It’s a beautiful, accessible practice that begins right in your kitchen. Welcome to the world of 'Pantry-to-Palette,' where everyday ingredients and kitchen scraps transform into a stunning spectrum of dyes for your fabrics.
This journey is about more than just color; it's about sustainability, mindfulness, and connecting with the natural world in a new way. It’s about seeing potential in what we might otherwise discard. By using what you already have, you can create unique, one-of-a-kind textiles with a story woven into their very fibers. It’s a process of beautiful unpredictability, where the same ingredients can yield different shades depending on the water, the fabric, and the season.
So, roll up your sleeves and get ready to explore. Here on the Goh Ling Yong blog, we believe that creativity is for everyone, and your artistic journey can start with something as simple as saving your onion skins. This guide will walk you through nine of the best pantry staples for beginner dyers. We’ll cover the basics, offer tips, and inspire you to see your kitchen in a whole new light.
1. Onion Skins: The Golden Standard
If you're going to start anywhere, start here. Onion skins are the undisputed champion for beginner natural dyers. They are incredibly easy to collect, cost nothing, and produce a stunning and reliable range of colors, from sunny yellows and rich golds to deep, rusty oranges and browns. Both yellow and red onion skins work beautifully, offering slightly different results.
The process is wonderfully simple. Just collect the dry, papery outer skins of your onions in a jar or bag until you have a good amount (at least a handful for a small project). Place the skins in a non-reactive pot (like stainless steel), cover with water, and simmer for about an hour to extract the color. Strain out the skins, and your golden dye bath is ready for your pre-wetted fabric. The color from onion skins is surprisingly colorfast, meaning it holds up well to washing and light, especially on protein fibers like wool and silk.
Pro-Tip: For deeper, rustier tones, use the skins from red onions. For brighter yellows, stick with yellow onion skins. Don't be afraid to pack the pot with skins—the more you use, the more saturated your color will be. Mordanting your fabric beforehand with alum will create even more vibrant and long-lasting results.
2. Avocado Pits & Skins: The Millennial Pink Surprise
This is the one that always amazes people. Those hard, slippery avocado pits and tough skins you usually toss in the compost? They are a magical source of the most beautiful, delicate, and sophisticated colors. Depending on the type of avocado, your water chemistry, and your fabric, you can achieve a spectrum from soft, dusty blush and millennial pink to deeper rosy tans.
First, you need to clean the pits and skins thoroughly, scrubbing off any remaining green flesh, which can muddy the color. Let them dry completely, and then you can store them in a jar until you have enough for a project (at least 5-6 pits for a noticeable color). When you're ready, you can either smash the pits with a hammer or leave them whole, then simmer them in a pot of water for at least an hour, or until the water turns a deep reddish-brown.
Pro-Tip: The color develops slowly with avocados, so be patient. Some dyers let the pits and skins soak in water for a day or two before simmering to help extract the color. Adding a pinch of soda ash or a rusty nail (for iron) to the dye bath can shift the pinks towards more purplish or deeper tan hues.
3. Turmeric: The Sunshine Spice
For an instant blast of brilliant, fiery yellow, look no further than the turmeric powder in your spice rack. Turmeric is one of the easiest and most potent natural dyes to work with, giving you an almost fluorescent yellow-orange with very little effort. It’s a perfect choice for kids' projects or when you want a guaranteed vibrant result without much waiting.
Unlike many other natural dyes, you don't need a huge amount of turmeric to create a strong color. Just a tablespoon or two dissolved in a pot of hot water is often enough to create a powerful dye bath. Simply stir the powder into the water until it's dissolved, add your wet fabric, and gently heat it for about 30-60 minutes. The color will take to the fabric almost immediately.
A Word of Caution: Turmeric's biggest strength is also its weakness. While the color is incredibly vibrant, it is notoriously "fugitive," meaning it fades quickly in direct sunlight and can change color with washing. Because of this, it's best used for items that won't see a lot of sun or frequent laundering, like wall hangings, decorative ribbons, or play silks for children.
4. Black Tea & Coffee: The Vintage Patina
Your morning ritual can double as your dye studio. Both black tea and used coffee grounds are fantastic sources of tannins, which act as a natural mordant and create lovely, earthy shades of tan, beige, and brown. This is one of the most foolproof dyeing methods and is perfect for giving fabrics a vintage, aged look.
The method is as simple as brewing a very, very strong pot of tea or coffee. For tea, use a handful of cheap black tea bags. For coffee, save your used grounds from the week. Simmer your tea bags or coffee grounds in a pot of water for 30-60 minutes to create a dark, rich dye bath. Strain out the solids, then add your fabric and let it steep. The longer you leave it, the darker the color will become.
Pro-Tip: Tea dyeing is particularly effective on cotton and linen because the natural tannins in the tea bond well with plant fibers. You can create interesting patterns by bundling your fabric with rubber bands or string (a simple shibori technique) before placing it in the dye bath.
5. Red Cabbage: The pH Magic Trick
Get ready for a little kitchen chemistry! Red cabbage is less about creating a permanent dye and more about a magical, color-changing experiment. The pigment in red cabbage is an anthocyanin, the same compound found in blueberries and fall leaves, and it is extremely sensitive to pH levels. This means you can create a whole palette of colors from a single dye bath.
First, chop up about half a head of red cabbage and simmer it in water for about an hour. The water will turn a deep violet-blue. Strain out the cabbage. Now for the fun part: if you dip your fabric into this base dye bath, you'll get a purplish-blue. If you add a splash of white vinegar (acid) to the bath, it will instantly shift to a vibrant magenta or pink. If you add a spoonful of baking soda (alkaline), it will transform into a beautiful teal or green.
Remember: Like turmeric, cabbage color is not very lightfast or washfast. Think of this as a temporary and fun project. It's an incredible way to teach children about science and art simultaneously, and the results, while fleeting, are breathtaking.
6. Pomegranate Skins: The Earthy Tones
Don't throw away the tough, leathery skin of a pomegranate. It's a fantastic source of tannins and yields a beautiful range of colors, from golden yellow and khaki-green to soft grey. The color is much more subtle and earthy than some of the other dyes on this list, giving a wonderfully sophisticated and muted palette.
To use them, simply collect the skins after you've enjoyed the fruit. You can use them fresh or dry them for later. Chop them into smaller pieces and simmer them in water for at least an hour. You'll see the water turn a yellowish-tan color. After straining, your dye bath is ready. Pomegranate is a great dye for both protein fibers (wool, silk) and cellulose fibers (cotton, linen).
Modifier Magic: Pomegranate dye reacts beautifully with an iron modifier. After dyeing your fabric yellow, you can dip it into a weak iron solution (made by soaking a few rusty nails in water with a splash of vinegar). The fabric will instantly "sadden" and transform into a lovely shade of cement grey or deep mossy green. This is a key technique in expanding your natural dye palette.
7. Beets: The Beautiful Disappointment
Beets are on this list for an important reason: to teach a valuable lesson about natural dyeing. When you cut into a raw beet, the vibrant magenta juice stains everything it touches, leading many beginners to believe it will make a fantastic, permanent dye. While you can certainly get a beautiful pink or red color initially, the sad truth is that the color is completely fugitive.
The pigment in beets (betanin) is not chemically stable and will fade to a bland beige or grey with a single wash or a few hours of sun exposure. You can still use it for temporary projects, like dyeing Easter eggs or for craft projects that won't be washed, but it's crucial to manage your expectations.
The Lesson: Not all things that stain will dye. A true dye forms a chemical bond with the fiber, making it resistant to washing and light. A stain, on the other hand, simply sits on the surface of the fiber. Including beets in your first experiments is a great way to learn this difference firsthand.
8. Spinach: The Gentle Green
Achieving a true, vibrant green with a single plant source can be tricky in the world of natural dyeing. While spinach will give you a color, it produces a very soft, delicate, pale celery or mint green. The chlorophyll that makes spinach so green is unfortunately not a very stable dye molecule and breaks down easily with heat.
To get the most color out of spinach, use a large amount and avoid boiling the dye bath. Chop the spinach, cover it with water, and heat it very gently for about an hour—do not let it come to a rolling boil. A gentle simmer is best. The resulting color will be subtle, but it's a lovely and easy way to get a hint of natural green onto your fabrics.
Advanced Tip: Professional dyers often achieve green by "over-dyeing." They will first dye a piece of fabric yellow (with onion skins or pomegranate, for example) and then dip it into a blue dye bath (like one made from indigo or woad). In the pantry, you could try dyeing with turmeric first and then dipping the fabric into a pH-modified blue red cabbage bath for a fun, experimental green. As I, Goh Ling Yong, often tell my students, layering colors is where the real magic happens.
9. Paprika: The Spicy Orange
Similar to turmeric, the paprika in your spice cabinet can be used to create a lovely, warm dye. It produces a range of colors from soft peach to a rich, rusty orange, depending on the type of paprika (sweet, hot, or smoked) and the amount you use. It's another super simple dye that's perfect for a quick and satisfying project.
Just like with turmeric, simply stir a few tablespoons of paprika into a pot of hot water to create your dye bath. You may want to strain it through a coffee filter or cheesecloth to remove any gritty sediment before adding your fabric. Simmer your fabric gently in the dye bath for about an hour for a good, even color.
Experiment Idea: Try creating a gradient or ombré effect. Dip one end of your fabric into the paprika dye bath, leaving it in for the full time. Then, slowly and incrementally dip more of the fabric in for shorter periods, pulling it out bit by bit. This will create a beautiful transition from a deep, rusty orange to the fabric's original color.
Your Colorful Journey Begins
The world of natural dyeing is a slow, rewarding, and endlessly fascinating craft. The nine ingredients listed here are just the beginning—a gateway from your pantry to a full-fledged artist's palette. The beauty lies in the experimentation and the unique results that you, and only you, can create. Don't be afraid of unexpected outcomes; a splotch here or a paler-than-expected shade there is all part of the story of your hand-dyed piece.
Your kitchen is waiting. The journey from 'Pantry-to-Palette' is one of discovery, sustainability, and pure creative joy. Start saving those scraps, fire up your stove, and see what colorful magic you can make.
We would absolutely love to see your creations! Share your natural dyeing experiments on Instagram and be sure to tag us. What will you try dyeing first? Let us know in the comments below
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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