Avocado Dye — Julia Carrington

In college, I took a class called "mother earth chemistry," which was basically "fun chemistry for non-science majors." In that class, we did a lot of strange but cool things like make soap, cheese, and beer. We also learned about the magic of natural dyeing. With everyone playing with tie-dye again right now, I thought this would be an excellent time to try out some natural dye again.

We eat a lot of avocados in my apartment. Avocado pits have the magical power of turning things pink, and pink is one of my favorite colors. So I've spent the last month collecting avocado pits to test this out.

I did a little research to figure out the best way to get the color out, and everyone seemed to say something different. Some people said you need to soak the avocado pits for over 48 hours before adding fabric, and others were saying you need to freeze or dry the pits ahead of time. I decided just to wing it.

I had saved about 10 pits that I kept in the fridge and picked out one of the white cotton shirts I already had in my closet. A natural fiber is always best when it comes to dye; synthetics really won't take any color. 100% cotton, silk, or wool are… — I had saved about 10 pits that I kept in the fridge and picked out one of the white cotton shirts I already had in my closet. A natural fiber is always best when it comes to dye; synthetics really won't take any color. 100% cotton, silk, or wool are best.

I started by chopping up some of the bigger pits because the more surface area, the more color saturation.

I added the pits to a pot of water and brought it to a low simmer and left it on the heat for about an hour. After the first hour, I took it off the heat for another hour, then repeated that process one more time with an hour on and an hour off.

While the pits were soaking, I soaked the shirt I was dyeing in warm water. This isn't necessary, but the longer the fabric soaks in water ahead of time, the better the color takes to the fabric.

When my dye bath got to this nice, deep red color, it was time to toss in my shirt. At this point, I had already taken it off the heat and didn't turn the heat back on for the remainder of this process. I chose to leave all the pits in the bath with… — When my dye bath got to this nice, deep red color, it was time to toss in my shirt. At this point, I had already taken it off the heat and didn't turn the heat back on for the remainder of this process. I chose to leave all the pits in the bath with the shirt in case I could get a bit more color out of them. You could also strain out the liquid and just use that as well. I don't know if leaving everything in made a difference, but it didn't hurt. If you want a more even color, I would probably suggest straining to make sure there are no imperfections.

I wanted my shirt to have a crumpled look to it that wasn't exactly a typical tie-dye pattern, but still gives a variety of color tones. I lightly scrunched the shirt up and put two rubber bands on to keep it together. Every 20-30 minutes, I would f… — I wanted my shirt to have a crumpled look to it that wasn't exactly a typical tie-dye pattern, but still gives a variety of color tones. I lightly scrunched the shirt up and put two rubber bands on to keep it together. Every 20-30 minutes, I would flip the shirt because my dye bath wasn't deep enough to cover everything. The shirt stayed in the dye bath overnight. If we want to get technical, I put it in around 4pm and took it out the next day at about 10am, so around 18 hours.

This is what it looked like right before I took the shirt out to wash it.

I hand washed the shirt with a bit of detergent and kept rinsing until the water ran clear, but honestly, you can just toss it in the washing machine on its own instead. I would have done that, but my washer was occupied, and I was too excited to wa… — I hand washed the shirt with a bit of detergent and kept rinsing until the water ran clear, but honestly, you can just toss it in the washing machine on its own instead. I would have done that, but my washer was occupied, and I was too excited to wait.

I also decided to air dry the shirt, but again, depending on the fabric, you could probably throw it in the dryer. I do suggest washing and drying the way you would regularly wash your clothes just so you have an idea of how much color will stay in … — I also decided to air dry the shirt, but again, depending on the fabric, you could probably throw it in the dryer. I do suggest washing and drying the way you would regularly wash your clothes just so you have an idea of how much color will stay in the fabric.

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Here's how it turned out! I'm super happy with it. The pink shade is this perfect blush tone with a lot of variation of saturation with the crumpled look. There are some in perfections, like little speckles or spots, but I think that adds to the cha… — Here's how it turned out! I'm super happy with it. The pink shade is this perfect blush tone with a lot of variation of saturation with the crumpled look. There are some in perfections, like little speckles or spots, but I think that adds to the charm.

I'm kind of obsessed, and now I want to dye everything like this. It was a simple process and gave my avocado scraps a new life. The fun thing about natural dying is the color isn't always consistent. I could do this same process again and get a completely different color. And there are loads of other natural dyes you can try out like eucalyptus to get a green color or turmeric to get a yellow color. It's worth trying, and it's so much better for the earth than the powder or liquid dyes you usually buy at the craft stores.

How you yall think this turned out? Do you want me to test out some other natural dyes? Let me know in the comments.

Love,
Julia Carrington

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