Before eco-printing or natural dyeing, it is a good idea to wash the fabric first. New fabric is often coated in waxes, oils and pectic substances that will inhibit the take up of dye. And even secondhand fabric can require pre-washing, for reasons that we will explore. Here I’ll go through a lazy method, a compromise method and a more thorough method.
The lazy dyer’s method – do nothing
The simplest method is to use old clothing or fabric that you know has been washed lots of time. Old white clothing from your wardrobe, secondhand clothing or old bedsheets are all suitable. The absolute simplest approach is to take these and use them as is, trusting that they have already been pre-washed.
The pros of the lazy dyer’s method is that you don’t have to do anything! Just take some fabric and get started.
The cons of this method is that sometimes there are pitfalls. Quite literally in fact, because the armpit of tops are sometimes stained with sweat or deodorant that appear invisible until you dye it. There’s nothing worse than unwrapping a beautiful eco-print …
… only to discover staining has appeared under the armpits!
This is the most common problem, but sometimes there are stains or oil marks on other areas of the fabric that aren’t obvious until you dye it. And of course sometimes clothing bought second hand is actually brand new and never washed. I used to never wash or scour second hand clothing before eco-printing and sometimes I would get great results and sometimes I would get terrible results, from the same set of leaves and mordant and cooking method. I puzzled over it for a long time before finally realising that the washing (or lack of it) was the variable factor.
So to avoid potential disappointment, I recommend washing all fabric before you dye it. This can be done in a simple way, or more rigorously through scouring. Let’s explore both options.
The compromise method – simple washing
If you want to pre-wash your plant based fabric, but still keep things simple, I suggest putting your fabric in the washing machine on a hot wash with a mild detergent, and do an extra rinse cycle at the end to ensure that there are no traces of soap left in the fabric. If you are using new fabric or clothing, I recommend washing them several times first. You don’t need to do a specific load for them, just add them in anytime you are already doing a hot machine wash. Just avoid using any detergent with whiteners or brighteners – stick to a basic one.
The pros of simple washing are that, well, it is simple! If you’re already doing a load anyway, why not just throw your white clothing in too, especially if it is second hand clothing that you are only washing ‘just in case’.
The cons of simple washing are that sometimes it isn’t thorough enough, especially if you are using new clothing or synthetically dyed clothing that you want to eco-print over.
The thorough method – scouring
When using old clothes, this simple method of washing is enough. But if you are using new fabric and want to wash it more thoroughly, you can try scouring your fabric. Scouring is a special type of deep washing used to prepare fabric for natural dyeing.
The pros of scouring are that it is the most thorough method so you know for sure that your fabric is now ready for dyeing with.
The cons of scouring is that it requires some special ingredients and is a bit more work to set up and clean up compared to using the washing machine. You’ll also need a very large pot if you are scouring a lot of fabric.
To scour, you will need a pH neutral scouring agent such as Synthrapol or Orvus Paste, or a neutral dishwashing liquid. For cellulose fabric, you will also need soda ash or washing soda. The amount you use is calculated as a percentage of the weight of fibre (w.o.f.). For example, if you are scouring 500 grams of cotton, adding scouring agent at 1% w.o.f. requires adding 5 grams.
Scouring cellulose (plant based) fibres
Step one: Weigh your fabric. Then put it in a large pot and cover with warm water. Make sure it can move freely to ensure even scouring.
Step two: Add soda ash at 2% w.o.f. OR washing soda at 4% w.o.f. PLUS scouring agent at 1% w.o.f. OR dishwashing liquid at 2% w.o.f.
Step three: Simmer for about 1 hour. Let the pot cool down and then rinse the fabric well in warm water.
Scouring protein fibres (wool or silk)
Step one: Weigh your fabric. Then put it in a large pot and cover with warm water. Make sure it can move freely to ensure even scouring.
Step two: Add scouring agent at 1% w.o.f. OR dishwashing liquid at 2% w.o.f.
Step three: Heat gently for about 1 hour. Make sure not to simmer the fabric or agitate it, as you don’t want to damage the fabric or cause the wool to felt. Let the pot cool down and then rinse the fabric well.
Once your fabric is washed
After washing your fabric, or even if you are going with the lazy dyer’s method and doing nothing, you still need to prepare your fabric with a mordant or binder. There are endless ways to do this depending on your style of dyeing and the results you want to get. If you want some help getting started, I explore iron mordants in my Gum Leaf Alchemy ebook and Soy Milk Binder in this one.
Thank you for all the valuable information. I am just beginning my journey in eco-printing!
You are so welcome Jan! There’s a lot to take in at first but you’ll slowly get your head around it. Please let me know if you have any questions.
I am fairly new to eco printing. I mainly work with dyeing paper. In any videos I have seen online so far in which they discuss using “rusted pieces” as the mordant, the quantity to add is not specific. Is there a recommended ratio of water quantity : mordant quantity? I have also read that one should designate a specific pot for eco printing because using that pot later for food preparation can be dangerous. If this is an accurate statement, can you explain what happens to the pot to make it unsafe for subsequent cooking? Finally, I have read how using various additives (salt, baking soda, vinegar, ammonia) can change the resulting colors that appear on the paper. Would adding vinegar significantly acidify the paper and lead to quicker deterioration? Thank you for your help. ad
Hi Angela, those are great questions and I’ll try to do them justice. If you are using homemade iron mordant, it isn’t possible to use a recommended ratio because the strength of each mordant will vary. I just use a small splash if it is dark coloured, and a larger splash if it looks more pale. Some people use powdered mordants, and then you can measure out specific amounts.
Over time, a dye pot will build up a visible surface of plant dyes and mordants. Even if you wash it each time, I wouldn’t want to risk there being small amounts of the mordant on the surface of the metal. Aluminium pots will take this up more than stainless steel, but even stainless steel will be holding onto some of the mordant and dye. I suppose if you were sticking to food safe dyes such as onion skins, and only preparing your fabric with soy milk binder, you could use keep using it as a cooking pot, but it is simpler to just designate a dye pot.
Yes vinegar will acidify the paper, so if long term archival quality is important to you, then avoid using it. But my understanding is that leaves also contain varying amounts of acid, so even if you are printing on beautiful archival quality acid free paper, as soon as it is eco-printed on you have introduced some acids and eventually the paper will deteriorate. It will be a long time happening though! For most people’s purposes it won’t matter.
Hi Louise
I have your soy milk book – thank you. I buy fabric from retail and thrift. The retail store purchases are either cotton, linen or silk. The thrift stores are random and even unknown fibres although I have some clues as to what most are. I plan on processing eco prints and dyes using soy on the cellulose. I may run into a poly/cotton in some of my thrift purchases, do you have any thoughts on what could result please?
Hi Dee, I also use a lot of thrifted items. And yes, it is hard to avoid synthetics at second hand stores unfortunately. It is fine to eco-print or dye on semi-synthetic fibres like viscose. If you are doing a cotton polyester blend, just try to choose fabric that has a high proportion of natural fibre – more natural than synthetic is ideal e.g. at least 50% cotton. The same applies for wool/polyester blends. Anything that is purely synthetic is not suitable for natural dyeing, with the exception of nylon. It is a special case, that takes up natural dyes and eco-prints surprisingly well – see this post for examples.
Hi there,
I’m trying mordanting for the first time. I’m using soy milk. I’ve now gone thru the dipping & drying several times.
I’m wondering: am I supposed to wash the fabric before dying? How will I get the soy milk smell out? It’s not bad, just obvious. I can’t find any info on this. If I cure the fabric for a few weeks- do I need to rinse then before dying?
Thank you so much!
Hi Malorie. Please don’t wash your fabric before dyeing, you don’t want to wash out the soy milk after all your hard work of dipping and drying! The scent will change and fade after you dye over it and after you wash it. If you find that it is still a strong smell after that, I would ask if you did the process in hot weather? It’s good to keep the soy milk cool otherwise it does get much more smelly. Adding ice cubes to the soy milk, storing it in a cool place, trying to finish the process in 1-2 days, and avoiding doing it in summer can all help.
Hi I have a shawl that I purchased from a second hand shop for a few pounds.
It looks like an Indian kashmiri embroidered shawl in a beige colour
I’m not sure what fabric it is but suspect could be wool or a wool mix
It’s beautiful but badly stained
I tried soaking in stain removers for colours but shawl is still very blotchy
I was considering doing eco printing but have no clue how to!
Can you help me?
Hi Waheeda, eco-printing is a great way to cover over stains! It’s a more involved process than I can share in a single comment, but basically if you gather eucalyptus leaves, put them over the fabric, roll or fold it up, tie tightly with string and cook in water or dye for 2 hours, then if you have used the right sort of eucalyptus leaves, you will have create beautiful orange prints. You can also do this method with brown onion skins instead, for orange patterns. I have some ebooks and ecourses on my website that go further into specifics of the process – you might be interested in the Wool and Shibori course.