Sunday, February 12, 2012

Dyeing with avocado skins

I didn't think it was the least bit possible.  Using avocado skins to create a soft pink dye to use on laces, fabrics, etc.  Yet I had seen on several blogs that people were doing just that.  So I gave it a try a couple of days ago.  Made delicious guacamole from scratch and then put the avocado skins in some water and brought it to a boil.  After the water turned pink (yep!! it actually did) I turned off the heat and let the skins sit in the water overnight.  After straining, this is the resulting color of the dye.
 I know this looks orange-y, but it is pretty close to the right color of the dye.
I dyed some cheese cloth and a bit of tatted trim.  The original cheese cloth is underneath the two pieces.  The tatted trim was about the same color.  So, it does work!  A nice soft pink. 

Am going to try this again next week using a little less water to see if the dye gets stronger and darker.  Got more things to dye and am looking forward to it.  Stay tuned!!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I was waiting to see how your experiment worked. Is it a peachy pink? It's pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.
Marissa

Sarah said...

How interesting, Judy. The color is so soft and vintage. I may have to try this.

Susan said...

I've seen this too and am glad to hear it really works. The color is beautuiful.

Holly Loves Art said...

A great project!!! Who knew?! Thanks for sharing.

Dorthe said...

Yes it works beautifully- I have tried it myself, and the colour is so lovely.
Hugs,Dorthe

Alba Linea said...

thank you sooo much for the avocado skin instruction. i want to try it if i got some of the skins. your so creative and i want to become a new follower of your sweet blog. have a creative day! di
;0)