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Natural Dye Kit Instructions

PRE-MORDANTING

1. Remove the ingredients from the recyclable glass jar.

2. Pre-soak your silk bandana in plain, tap water. This will allow your alum mordant to penetrate more evenly.

3. Pour contents of the Alum packet into a stainless steel pot* filled with hot water. Alum is also used as pickling salt, so it is foodsafe and can be used in a household pot.

*The size of the pot should be able to hold ~8 QTS. This allows enough room for the fabric to “swim.” We recommend working with a pot this size, but it’s fine to use one that is slightly smaller or slightly larger.

4. Make sure alum is dissolved completely. You can tell it’s ready when you no longer see any salt crystals pooled at the bottom of the pot.

5. Add your wet fabric to the alum bath. “Cook” your alum bath + fabric at medium heat. Let the fabric + alum bath simmer (uncovered) for ~30 minutes, stirring often. Turn the heat off and let the fabric “cook” for another 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. (Optional) Alum bath can be re-used to pre-mordant additional fibers. Alum + dye baths will only work on natural fibers such as silk, wool, cotton, linen, bamboo, lyocell, etc. All fabric must be pre-washed prior to mordanting. You can store leftover alum bath in the refrigerator.

DYEING

1. Remove the ingredients from the recyclable glass jar.

2. Add dyestuff to jar. Fill jar ~¾  with very warm (not hot!) water.

3. Add pre-wetted, mordanted silk scarf to jar.

4. If necessary, add more very warm (not hot!) water to completely cover/submerge the  fabric.

5. Let silk + dye material sit in the jar for up to 24 hours.

*You can dye your fabric for less time, minimum 1 hour. We like to let ours sit for 24 hours to allow the dye to cure and to ensure maximum saturation and colorfastness.

6. Remove fabric from the jar and rinse in cool tap water.

7. (Optional) Remaining dye bath can be used to dye additional pre-mordanted fabrics in lighter shades.

AFTER CARE INSTRUCTIONS

We recommend hand washing your naturally dyed silk in warm water with an eco-friendly soap. Wash until the water runs clear. Hang to dry.
Our favorite soaps are Meliora and Seventh Generation.

SAFETY

Please handle all materials with care. We recommend wearing rubber gloves and a dust mask when handling powders. Minors should only use the Natural Dye Kit with adult supervision. Do not eat or otherwise ingest dyestuff.