Avocado pit: yields delicate pink/orange.
Avocados are classified as fruits and not veggies.Avocado pits have been used centuries to color textiles a deep orange color. Word is that the pits smells awful when being prepared… they must be boiled and soaked in water for hours (some say days) before beginning to leach orange and pink. Holy guacamole!
Chamomile leaves: yields deep green. Chamomile serves several purposes beyond lulling our eyes shut. The leaves can be boiled with water to create a deep green dye for all sorts of fibers!
Red onion skin: yields light green.
red onion skin is strong enough to leach permanent dye. What does surprise all is the color it creates – a light green. The skins need to be soaked and rubbed onto the material.
Red Cabbage: yields lavender
Boiling red cabbage with salt and water isn’t just a dieting trend. It produces a beautiful lavender color that can be used to dye many types of fiber..
Prickly Cactus Pear: yields magenta and purple
Native American groups have been using cactus pear juice for dyeing textiles for centuries. The most effective way to utilize this fruit for dye is by fermentation. The cactus juice will need to stand in a warm place for a couple of weeks before the fermentation process begins. If vinegar is added, the solution will become more blue. The pigment in prickly pear is betalain, which is the same pigment in beets! Pretty!
