Shepherd Textiles Gardenia Seed Natural Dye, 4 oz.

1. Mordant with Alum (Optional)

Mordants are optional when dyeing with Gardenia Seed, however, they may be used to improve lightfastness.

For wool and silk: pre-mordant with 12% weight-of-fabric (WOF) alum. Fill dyepot with hot water, weigh out alum, add, and stir until dissolved. Add pre-soaked fiber, heat to 170F for an hour, then allow to cool to room temperature. Remove fibers and dispose of mordant liquid according to local regulations.

For cotton and linen: Simmer for one hour with 10% weight-of-fabric (WOF) Sumac Extract or another strong tannin. When cool, rinse and mordant with alum as described above.

*Always wear gloves and eye protection when working with mordants or mordant liquor.

2. Build the Dye Bath

Fill your dyepot with warm water. Gardenia Seed dyes well at neutral PH: no PH adjustments are necessary.

Weigh out 40% weight-of-fabric (WOF) of Gardenia Seed Natural Dye. Put it in a disposable cup and mix with a little hot water to break up any clumps of powder. Pour the slurry into the dyebath and mix well. You are now ready for dyeing*.

*If you are dyeing yarn, you may wish to heat the dye bath to 170F for an hour to extract the color, then cool it to room temperature and filter it through cheesecloth or a strainer before adding fiber. The little particles of seed will easily wash off woven fabric, but can be frustrating to rinse out of loosely spun yarn.

3. Simmer for 90 Minutes

Place your pre-soaked fiber into the dyebath. Make sure there is plenty of water for everything to move around freely. Heat to 185°F for 90 minutes. Stir gently every 15 minutes to make sure fiber dyes evenly. Be careful not to agitate wool too much, otherwise it may felt. A cheap candy thermometer that clips to the side of the dyepot will make it much easier to keep the temperature steady.

After 90 minutes, remove dye pot from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

4. Rinse and Dry

Carefully remove dyed fiber. You can either hang it up to dry to help the color set, or proceed immediately to rinsing.

Rinse thoroughly with a PH-neutral fabric detergent according to manufacturer's directions. Use plenty of detergent; it will not remove color that has already bonded to the fiber. After rinsing, squeeze gently to make sure water runs clear. Hang up to dry in the shade--direct sunlight may fade the color before it has had time to set.

CAUTION: Natural dyes like Gardenia Seed may bleed if the fiber is not thoroughly rinsed after dyeing.