Natural dyes for hose?

[haukehaien]

This page looks like it might be useful - lots of info on natural dyes broken down by color. It does have some info on using berries to make dye as well ...

[James MacMillan]

By the way, even though Ritt was messy, did you like the result? A friend suggested that we should dye our stark white piper's hose to go with our new band clothes. Even though I loathe white hose, I've been a bit hesitant to take her up on the suggestion. I've just imagined hideous results and don't want to ruin some perfectly good (but bright white) hose.

Ritt works - and I would suggest doing all the band's hose at the same time. I have one pair that turned out really close to lovat blue with ritt.

Follow directions and just s s s l l l l o o o o w w w down the heating and cooling process if doing wool. Gentle heating and cooling doesn't seem to shrink the wool.... of course cotton is almost shrink proof.

I only ruined one pair, before I slowed down the heat and cool. Since then no problems.

[pipesndrumsnun]

Ritt works - and I would suggest doing all the band's hose at the same time. I have one pair that turned out really close to lovat blue with ritt.

Follow directions and just s s s l l l l o o o o w w w down the heating and cooling process if doing wool. Gentle heating and cooling doesn't seem to shrink the wool.... of course cotton is almost shrink proof.

I only ruined one pair, before I slowed down the heat and cool. Since then no problems.

Thanks James! I once tried to Ritt dye a bow-tie for my little nephew...it was supposed to be navy, but turned out more like "gun metal grey"...turns out the guy who sold me the tie was wrong...he told me it was cotton, but it was really polyester, so the dye wouldn't take or set well or something. Your experience will leave me more open to the possibility of Ritt dye and kilt hose!

[cacunn]

This sites seems to have a list of suppliers for natural dyes:

http://www.naturaldyes.org/sources.htm

[TheKiltedWonder]

I brought out a book I have on self-sufficiency, and I'm looking at the dye page right now. Apparently Onion skins w/ alum as a mordant produce a dull yellow, while coreopsis and alum would give you a much brighter yellow. Lily of the valley and Queen Anne's Lace can both produce a color near lovat green with alum as a mordant. Acorns can produce browns and might be easier to find than walnuts or butternuts. And Pokeberry's produce a liht brown with alum, but apparently might be able to produce a red??

[Moosedog]

Yeh, walnut dye is tough stuff!

Results may also vary due to different fabric content--synthetics usually don't accept dye like natural fibers. Cotton soaks it up, while wool's lanolin resisits it a bit and needs some coddling to get it right, as James has described.

Moosedog

[Abax]

Has anybody experimented with and other natural dyes?

I've used Dharma Trading Co. Procion fiber reactive dyes and received good service from them. They also sell natural dyes. They also sell a soap designed to strip any oils from fabric and prepare it for dyeing.

Abax

[Chef]

Sister, I would pass on trying to dye your hose. If you did, not only would you need to dye them all at once but you should probably make sure you laundered them together as well, so that inconsistencies don't arise over time. Do-it-yourself dyes can be less predictable than commercially dyed items. Also if you dye the hose and then add a new member or a member needs to replace their hose, matching would be very difficult.