Onion Skin Dye (+ Iron experiment)

Creating Two Colours From One Dye

• I used brown onion skins only for this dye.
• I covered the skins with a generous amount of water and kept on a low heat for around two hours.
• I then left the onion skins and water in the pot for the rest of the day and over night.
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This video shows the colour of the water just before I added any heat to the dye pot.

This video shows the colour of the dye after heating it up for about 2 hours. Onion skins don't need much time or heat to release their colour as they are thin and rich in tannins.

I strained the dye with a muslin cloth

Next, I split the dye equally into two large aluminium pans.

• I added a pinch of ferrous sulphate (soluble iron) to the left dye pot. This darkened the colour of the dye massively to create another colour.
• I then added equal amounts of wool and cotton to each pan. I added some water to the pans to ensure the wool and cotton was fully submerged in the dye and could move around freely.

This photo shows the two different colours created.

I am very pleased how this dye turned out, a lovely sunny orange colour. I was expecting more of a shade of brown but love this orange. The wool took the dye very well compared to my previous avocado dyes, I think that it is because of the tannins in the onion skins.

Photo of the dyed raw washed wool after dyeing and carding.

I wasn't sure what colour adding the iron to the dye as I have never used it before. All I knew was that it would go darker. I think did add too much iron as it completely changed the colour rather than darkening it a bit. However, I do love this earthy grey/ green colour.

Photo of the dyed raw washed wool after dyeing and carding.

🌱Kat Webb🌱