Dyeing with Eucalyptus Leaves

As a general rule, I forage for things to create dyes with. I decided to create a dye using the leaves from a Eucalyptus tree as I noticed quite a few on the ground at my local arboretum. Eucalyptus trees don't shed their leaves so the leaves I found must have been blown off the tree with the wind.

In order to extract as much colour as possible from the leaves, I boiled them for a few hours.

I dyed some single ply wool, 2 ply wool, and some thick cotton. I scrunched up the cotton in a net bag to create an uneven dyed creased pattern.

Original Eucalyptus Leaf Dye Results

The wool didn't take the dye very easily, so I kept it over the heat for as long as possible. However, I love the beige colour the dye created.

Eucalyptus Leaf + Acid Dye Results

Adding a small amount of acid (I used vinegar) to the original Eucalyptus leaf dye lighter. Doing this usually brightens/ lightens the dye.

Because the original Eucalyptus leaf dye was quite pale, adding acid made the dye even lighter. Somehow the dyed cotton didn't dye very well.

Too pale?

Eucalyptus Leaf Dye + Iron (ferrous sulphate) Results

To darken/ sadden the colour of the original Eucalyptus leaf dye I added a pinch of  ferrous sulphate.

Adding iron to the original dye created this greeny brown shade. The fabric and the wool both seemed to absorb the dye much better.

🌱Kat Webb🌱