A record of my most recent natural dye experiments.
Buddleia (solar dye pot)
I used deadheaded buddleia flowers from the garden in a solar dye pot with merino wool and alum as a mordant. The weather didn’t really get warm enough to get the pot particularly hot, but the results were a subtle range of creams. I plan to try out buddleia using a pan on the stove to extract the dye to see if that gives a stronger colour. When I tested for lightfastness in a window there was some fading.
Onion skins
I used brown onion skins that I had collected in the kitchen, with merino wool that was premordanted with alum. The onion skins were heated in water to extract the dye, then the wool was simmered in the resulting dye. The result was an unexpectedly bright yellow, which didn’t show any noticeable fading when I tested for lightfastness. The wool has felted slightly but is still usable.
