Natural dyes

[skeetstar]

Guys and Gals, just a quick question...

My wife is heavily into stitching things and other cloth based activities. She has developed this into the dying of fabrics with vegetable dye. She makes them out of fruit, leaves and bark. (The kitchen resembles an alchemists workshop, so she is getting a 'factory' built down the garden to whence she and her foul smells can be banishes).

Anyone know if there are any dyes she could make that would be good for wood?

Might as well get her doing something useful.

 

[CHJ]

Presume she uses a mordant with most of her dyes to fix and make them light safe when used with fabrics.
There are some natural dyes such as Onion, Turmeric, Tea & Curry that don't need fixing but think the range will be limited for use with wood.

 

[ED65]

Anyone know if there are any dyes she could make that would be good for wood?

All of them, as long as you don't mind that the majority will fade. Bear in mind that unless you make a very concentrated solution you'll get the merest hint of colour. Try a comparison between a weak cup of tea versus builder's tea, versus tea made with two bags steeped until cold and then boiled down by half and you'll get some idea.

Usual caveat with water-based dyes and the type of wood, like don't expect any nice results on most softwoods and a few hardwood species prone to blotching.

 

[skeetstar]

Forgot about the mordant process, yes she has to do that to fix the dye.

From what I have seen nothing she is doing would be a strong colour, so if a paler colour fades even more, I guess this is a dead end, thanks