Dyeing your clothes is a great way to extend their life, whether you're hiding a stain or just no longer find yourself wearing or needing a garment as is!
Most people don’t consider where the colors and pigments in our clothes come from. "In most cases, the fabrics were dyed in a factory far away using dyes and chemicals that are not only harmful to the people tasked with using them, but also have extreme consequences to the environment. When these dyes are used, the excess is dumped into the water stream. As the water becomes contaminated, these chemicals find their way into the ocean, making it dangerous for the people, animals, and marine life living near the production to drink and use the water" (Textile Arts Center).
It's not expected that we all stop buying garments with color, but you can make natural dyes for FREE using foods and plants in our neighborhood!
Photo Credit: Ignite Studio at HEPL
The Textile Arts Center has a accessible and environmentally-friendly guide to sourcing natural dyes in NYC. Their article also contains a lot of information about the sustainability of choosing to use natural dye, rather than turning to clothing that is dyed chemically. TAC also have classes, but these cost money.
TAC also refers to this guide on natural dye by the Poughkeepsie Journal you may want to check out for yourself!
The New York Textile Lab (Instagram) has a student research project called The Urban Dyer's Almanac, where they document natural dye explorations.
"The almanac is a database for the vegetable and plant dyes from producers who sell at the Union Square Greenmarket in NYC. The almanac also includes a list of the natural fibers from NYS wool and alpaca farms. Functioning as a both a calendar, and recipe book, the almanac allows for an enhanced understanding of the origin, regional ecology, and growing season of the plants and vegetables that are being used as natural dyes."
Architectural Digest also has a four step guide to naturally dyeing any fabric using foods, with many helpful tips on the process from start to end.
DIY Natural also has a guide that includes tips on what kinds of fabric to use, how to achieve certain colors, and more tips on the process.
An interesting free-to-read article by the National Library of Medicine called "Natural Colorant: Historical, Processing and Sustainable Prospects," if you find this subject interesting!
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