The other day, I let some avocado skins and pits simmer for a few hours on my stove.
Yesterday, I played with them. First, check out my awesome jar. I don’t usually buy jars without lids but this one was so large and impressive that it came home with me.
I knew I’d find a use for it.
I reheated the witch’s brew this morning and strained out the big pieces. It smelled of avocados.
I was really struck by how very red it was.
The light in my kitchen isn’t great so I guess you’ll have to take my word for it.
I decided to experiment on one thrifted cotton napkin and one flour sack dish towel.
I thought about using some resist techniques but the rubber bands weren’t right in front of me so I didn’t.
I will next time.
I used an old tee-shirt made into a rag to strain the little bits out.
That went well BUT
I knocked it over and spilled half the water – D’oh! I’m so glad I was working in the sink.
I still managed to christen my counter and back splash.
So only slightly daunted – I always expect some kind of mistake will be made at some point – I kept going.
They got very pink right away – this is right after I shoved them in there.
I left the jar out in front my house – keeping the rosemary company – to catch the afternoon sun.
I put a napkin over the top but it didn’t look nice so it’s not in the picture. I used that skewer to move the fabric around a couple time during the day, just to make sure it all got equal time in the dye bath. I left the jar out till the early evening cool down.
It was toasty warm when I brought it in.
It was hard to get a good shot of the flour sack towel when I took it out. It wasn’t this orange-y – that’s just a reflection of my orange kitchen walls and my bad lighting.
But this picture seems pretty accurate. It lost a ton of color when I rinsed it but it’s still a very pretty pale pink. I left the napkin in the jar. I’ll let it soak another 24 hours to see what happens. I used about 8 – 10 avocado skins and probably 4 – 5 pits. That’s more than most of the tutorials I looked at so I was expecting more color. Live and learn.
Cool experiment. I hope I can see the color in person. I mean, pink???! So worth the effort. What about a mordant?
Everything I read said avocados don’t require a mordant. Time will tell!
I had no idea avocado skins would produce a pink color. That’s pretty fantastic! All your talk of dyeing makes me want to get back into it. When I moved from a detached house with a back yard (in Alabama) to a condo in the DC area, I sold off all my dyestuffs knowing I would not have the space for it. I’m so looking forward to moving somewhere where we have a kitchen larger than a postage stamp and a back yard to call our own. Then the dyeing will begin again!
Get on it, you! This kind of dyeing doesn’t require a yard and only makes a mess if you spill it everywhere.