How to dye with marigolds
Gather your supplies
- Kitchen scales
- Calico (unbleached cotton fabric)
- Stainless-steel pot (not used for food)
- 2 tsp washing soda
- 1/2 cup mild, pH-neutral liquid laundry detergent
- Stirrer and sieve
- Tara powder
- Plastic bucket
- Alum powder
- Soda ash
- Dried marigold heads
Step 1
Use scales to weigh fabric (WOF) and jot the number down on a piece of paper (about 90cm = 142g).
Step 2
For scouring (cleaning), fill pot with water, leaving room for fabric, add washing soda and detergent, and stir. Wet fabric under tap and add to pot. Bring pot to a gentle boil and let simmer for about 1 hour. Remove pot from heat (don’t drain). Once cool, rinse fabric with cold water and hang to dry out of direct sunlight.
Step 3
For mordanting (prepping for colour), measure out tara powder as per packet directions, using WOF. Fill bucket with hottest possible tap water, leaving room for fabric, and add tara powder. Stir and add fabric. Let soak for 8-24 hours. Remove fabric and gently rinse; do not dry.
Step 4
Measure alum powder to 15% of WOF (e.g. 284g WOF x 0.15 = 42.6g alum). Clean and refill bucket with hottest possible tap water, leaving room for fabric, add alum and stir. Measure soda ash to 2% of WOF (e.g. 284g WOF x 0.02 = 5.68g soda ash). Add to bucket and stir, then add damp fabric. Allow to soak for 8-24 hours. Remove fabric from bucket, wring out and rinse.
Step 5
Measure equal weight of dried marigolds to WOF. Clean and refill pot with flowers and water, leaving room for fabric. Bring to simmer, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Strain out flowers. Add damp fabric and let soak in simmering water for 1 hour, occasionally stirring. Turn off heat. Let steep to get desired colour. Rinse well (if fabric is warm, use warm water); hang to dry out of direct sunlight.