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Using tea as a dye
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Different teas will yield different results.
It all started with an English gent posted to Colonial India who was tired of sweating away the days in woolen trousers. He preferred his light weight cotton pajamas, but they were not proper for polite society. To solve the problem he dyed his white cotton pajamas in black tea and thus kakis were born. Or so the story goes.
Doing your own tea dyeing at home is pretty simple and a great way to get rid of some less than desirable tea without throwing it away or forcing yourself to drink it. It can also be a fun way to freshen up a favorite light colored garment or put your own unique stamp on a new one. It is best to use a new garment, but a used clean garment free of stains can work, too. Stains and discoloring can actually show up more after the dyeing process, unless perhaps, it was tea you spilled on it in the first place. These directions are for a small article of clothing, say a small t-shirt or few pairs of socks.
- Bring eight cups of water to a boil in a pot.
- Once boiling is reached turn off the heat and add six tea bags (you can add or subtract a few depending on how dark you want the dye).
- Let the tea steep ten minutes, remove, stir and add the clean clothing.
- Let the fabric soak, stirring occasionally, until desired color is reached- about two hours. You may want to let it soak overnight for a deep tan.
- When done soaking rinse in cool water until the water off the clothing runs clear.
- Dry garment in dryer to set dye. Be sure to wipe out the dryer when done to ensure none of the tea residue is left behind to stain other loads.
- Run garment through a washing cycle with detergent and dry again.
Feel free to have some fun and mix it up. Any kind of tea will work. Different steep and soak times along with different kinds of tea will give you a variety of teaish colors and shades.
