Natural Dye Lightfastness Results
Last summer I did a lot of natural dye experiments, I gave the samples a year to rest, and then put them out in the sun for a month to see how they would hold up. Covering half of each sample retains the original color, and then it’s easy to compare the befores and afters.
These were the sunflower dyes, and they were very colorful when they were fresh. They faded into nondescript tans, and most all of the other dyes did the same.
Before the light tests, these sunflower samples showed a lot of variation. Afterward, they are mostly tan, with only the iron-dipped samples retaining color.
There were a few that held their color well enough that I will try those plants again, tweaking the process to see if I can get better results.
The pear dye was a lot of work – the twigs had to be soaked for days. But this is a nice rosy brown, so it’s worth the work.
These yellow dyes, from waterleaf, dog fennel, parsley hawthorn, and persimmon, are easy to do, and the results are good even after a year. Plus, I have a ton of these plants so it is good to find a use for them!
The skeins that stayed in the house still show more intense colors, in more shades, and the same with the scarf I knit from them.
I might make something else for myself with those skeins – after all the final product would never be left outside in bright sunlight for 30 days straight! But it will take a lot more experimenting to get yarns that are really colorfast.
The biggest benefit to me has been learning more about the plants that are around me, and the whole dye process.
Interesting. I would never have thought of altering a fabric’s color by leaving it in the sun. John
With modern chemical dyes, we don’t have to worry too much about color changing. But natural dyes are notoriously fugitive, so you have to test to see whether they will last through washing, or just being in the sun. Let’s say I was going to sell these yarns at a farmer’s market -when they are freshly dyed, they look great and would probably sell. But there would be unhappy customers if that color didn’t last. Even if I was going to just use them myself, I wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time making something, only to have it all fade to beige. So I test, tweak the process, and test again! 🙂
Thank you for showing your test results – very interesting. I’m glad your lovely scarf has not faded much.
I have also noticed that continued direct sunshine really is no good to most natural dyes. I was doing some light-fastness tests last summer, and I kept my samples on a south facing window in the autumn and even in the UK autumn conditions most of them faded quite a bit, some of them completely. From now on I’m going leave my samples on a North facing window, or perhaps just indoors in some area that doesn’t get direct sunshine, and see what happens then.
I really want to try harsh conditions on them and see what happens. If I can find even one that will make it through all I can throw at it, I might find a new use for one of our “weeds”, and earn it some respect! 🙂
Interesting – I’ve thought of using berries to dye fabric and yarn but never plant leaves, etc. Hmm..new perspective. Great post.
It is so much fun to just go out to the yard and pick a plant at random and see what it does! None of the ones I tried were even particularly colorful or “juicy”, but I got some great results. I just noticed a bunch of little wild persimmons that I am going to try!
Now I have some notion why colors fade so much on really old textiles or yarns dyed with plant materials. Thanks for your thoroughness and experimental nature.
That’s why I only use 10 gram skeins to try things out- the early results can be so good but so misleading! 🙂
Yay! Test results. Love the scarf, too.
Very interesting! Being new to the natural dyeing world I have often wondered how lasting these colours are.
I think they would last pretty long with average use – say, if I knit a scarf and kept it in a closet, I could probably take it out and wear it occasionally for several years. And after that, I might have a scarf in shades of tan! 🙂