Dyeing With Onion Skins

I had to dye with onion skins for my final uni project as it is one of my favourite things to dye with. It is a food byproduct and so quick and easy to dye with. I always keep a bag in the kitchen for everyone to put their onion skins in when they are cooking with onions.

White onion skins

I boiled the skins in water for around half an hour to extract all of the colour.

Original Onion Skin Dye Results

The onion skin dye dyed the cotton a mustard/ brown colour. To create this pattern I 

I can't believe how bright the wool turned out! It is a bright mustard colour, almost too bright for my earthy colour palette. However it is interesting to know that onion skins alone can dye wool so bright.

Onion Skin Dye + Acid #1 Results

I decided to dye linen with this dye. Adding acid (vinegar) to the original dye changed the tone of it completely to a more peachy colour. I love how subtle the pattern is on this fabric.

The onion skin dye + acid dyed the wool a salmon colour. I am unsure of why the dye ended up so patch which is a shame.

Onion Skin Dye + Acid #2

I decided to make this dye again as I think I put too much vinegar in the first onion skin + acid dye. I am much happier with this result. The photograph really doesn't do the colour justice. It turned out very bright and I love the markings created on the cotton.

This wool is a much better colour to the first attempt. It is a lovely orange colour and much less patchy.

Onion Skin + Iron #1

Adding iron to the onion skin dye created a grey colour with a green tinge.

The wool turned out a grey/ green colour.

Onion Skin + Iron Boiled Down

To achieve this colour I used some onion skin dye + iron and boiled it down. I thought it would maybe go a darker green but instead it just went a brown colour.

Onion Skin + Iron + Mahonia

Creating this colour was an experiment to see if I could create a brighter green. I created the onion skin + iron dye which made my original green colour, then I made a yellow dye with some wood from a mahonia bush and mixed the dyes together to dye the wool. Luckily this experiment worked well and the green came out nice and bright!

Photo showing yellow mahonia wood dye

🌱Kat Webb🌱