Using Plants to Make Pretty Colors

I love trying new things with plants!  I wanted a hands-on project that was lots fun and part science. Thoughts of combining a cool project with a unique souvenir (T-shirts scream vacation souvenir, right?!) using natural, non-toxic ingredients that are gentle on the planet. Using plant materials to create natural dyes - win/win!

The rest of the train of thought leading to my newest idea was a bit winding so I won’t confuse (or bore) you with the  entire stream of thought that inspired using plants to create natural fabric dyes.

The shopping list was super simple - colorful fruits and veggies from the market, loose dried flower petals (in bulk tea isles), plants growing in abundance in your yard (think blueberries when they are in season), etc. Next, grab those not so white shirts from the closet that should really be on the ‘throw me away list’ or grab some white undershirts the next time you head to the store. FYI - white towels, cloth, scarves, etc. are also great options. Stick with white or cream colored natural fabrics like cotton, muslin, wool or linen.

Here are some blogs I found during my late night research:

List of plants and the colors of dyes

Where I got the idea to use  Turmeric -  side note - really like this blog, might have to start following it on a regular basis

Another source of info

DISCLAIMER - This was a fun project and our first try so you might not want to follow this verbatim without doing your own research.

Due to other planned activities and short attention spans of at least one participant, this was a multi-day project for us. Day 1 was creating the dyes and Day 2 was prepping the fabric and then dying it.

Again, I repeat, this was all new and we had no real idea how everything would turn out so we tried a few things at once in the hopes that at least one thing would look good at the end.

Pull out the different supplies (vinegar or salt, rubber gloves and pots)  and ingredients. We tried beets (1-2 lbs cut into small chunks), dried Hibiscus flowers, (1-2 cups) carrots,  spinach  and kale, dried lavender flowers (1/2 cup) and dried turmeric powder (1/2-1 cup). *If you are picking materials from the wild, please be careful. The point is to be gentle on the planet, not to strip an area of a plant.

MAKING DYE

-Plant material to water ratio will depend on what you  are using. My measurements  are above. The spinach & carrots were a last minute addition after finding them in the fridge and I used small pots with twice as much water as plant material.

-Bring water and plant material to low boil and then simmer for 1 hour. I left everything  in their pots to cool, then stored in large baggies over-night.

-Before dying, strain the plant material and add it to your compost bin.

PREPARING FABRIC

-The fabric needs help holding on to the dye - why my favorite shirts do not need help holding on to the random other stains that I dribble here and there just doesn’t seem fair though.

-You need to make a ‘fabric fixative’ using vinegar or salt. For  berries use salt  (1/2 cup of salt to 8 cups of cold water) and vinegar for plant materials (1 part vinegar to 4 parts cold water).

-Simmer your cloth in the fixative for an hour then drain and rinse until the  water runs clear and/or their is no longer a vinegar smell to it. Remember, the water is hot and  the cloth will be too until you run water on it for a while.

-New fabric/clothing should be washed and dried before  starting this process.

DYING FABRIC

-If tie-dying your fabric, now is the time to tie it up or rubber band it.

-Add your fabric to the dye (we had to reheat our dyes since they  sat over night) and  let it simmer/sit for 15 minutes to 1 hr depending on the color that you want to achieve. Remember that it will dry 1-2 shades lighter

-Ring out your cloth and lay it out to dry

-Wash separately, then it is ready to wear. Or if you are impatient like us, just put it on and show it off after you are all done!

RESULTS - Success!!!

The turmeric and hibiscus were awesome! The beets were not as deep as expected, but that could be because I had too much water and not enough beets. The carrots and spinach need more experimenting to see if I can get a darker dye. I can’t wait to try this again with other plant materials - cinnamon and blueberries  are top on my list.

Definitely something to do again! It is a fun project with or without kids. It is a neat way to give white cloths a second chance, but I am not sure it will be a  foolproof way to cover stained material.

HAVE FUN!!! Try something new, take a new path, plan on making mistakes and deviating from your original plan, then at the end celebrate the mess that you made. There is beauty in the learning and creating - especially if it is a memory.

Distracted by Herbs

I have always loved plants - watching my Gram garden, helping my mom plant flowers, trying to keep houseplants alive while living in apartments and finally planting my own garden. Now my herbs love their spots so the trick has now changed from how to keep them alive to how to use all of them.

Lots of sunlight and lots of rain means that my herbs are bursting at the seams. As much as I cook from scratch, this time of year we always have more than I can use. Then I am sad later when I need to buy dried herbs to supplement during slow growing times of the year.

While picking some herbs for dinner a couple of weeks ago, my mind was wandering (which it does often) from topic to topic. Topics such as: How to use the herbs -give them away to family and friends and How to have herbs all of the time -freeze them in olive oil cubes like I have seen on Pinterest or dry them.

As thoughts kept circling around, I remembered reading that herbs were hung in homes & castles as a way of freshening the air. Next came the image of herbs hanging in quaint European villages. Then it was a hmmm, let’s try something. Who cares that friends were on the way over for dinner and prep & cooking still needed to be done? I had a fun idea so I ran with it.

Friends arrived and we wandered back out to the garden to harvest some bunches. (Note to self, next time remember the scissors and a basket). Next I needed to round up some string and a place to hang them. Scored some string when I remembered about the kitchen twine used when we roast things, but I am sure other things around would have worked like yarn, ribbon or twine from hay bales.

I have seen herbs hung from rustic old boards and it looks awesome, but before I could go on the hunt for a board or a fallen tree branch, I realized that a curtain rod is perfect. This spot also happens to get some air flow when the AC turns on so it helped with the drying. And this spot just happens to be in the kitchen and looked great (almost like I planned it).

Took a week or so for everything to dry - the herbs will be crinkly when you touch them. Since I liked the way everything looked it was almost hard to take it down to chop everything up and store them away. Guess that means I just need to do another round. When I did chop everything up, the aroma was as strong as when they were fresh! I was so excited to cook with these ‘freshly dried’ herbs!!

Suggestions:

Pick herbs when they are dry, but not in the heat of the afternoon

Shake them out to detract any critters from coming in with them.

Sort through them to ensure that there are not any critters or dirt

Bunch them up and hang them

Once dry, remove the leaves from the stems and chop them into small pieces

Store in airtight containers (small herb jars are great)

Should keep 6 months to year depending on the herb and storage methods

Enjoy your herbs and your summer!

What is an Essential Oil?

I sometimes get a blank stare when I tell people that I create blends, clean and heal various injuries using essential oils. Many nod their heads and know the term essential oil, but a sentence or two into the conversation, it is clear most do not understand what they are.

What most people know about essential oils is that they smell good. That's a great place to start, but for something considered so "simple," I do not have a quick answer (when do I ever?). I was able to narrow down what essential oils are to a few key points though.

Essential oils are highly concentrated volatile chemical compounds found in various plant parts. Each essential oil is unique. They are not found in every plant, but hundreds of essential oils have been found in plants around the globe. Small sacs of essential oil are undetectable to the naked eye and are found in all types of plant material (each plant is different) including leaves, flowers, grasses, roots, rhizomes, resins and trunks.

Essential oils are not really oils. While they are not water soluble (hydrophobic), they do not have fatty acids so they are not like the vegetable or plant oils that we consider oil. If rubbed between the fingers, they will not feel slick or ‘oily.'

At a molecular level, essential oils are tiny (see pictures below). A plant's distinct aroma comes from the essential oils found within the plant. Each essential oil has its own unique composition of molecules and chemical components.

(Magnified photo of leaf surface taken from Secretory Structures of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants, by Svoboda & Syred, 2000.)

When these small sacs are broken, the aroma is released. Try it yourself. The next time you are holding an herb, rub it between your fingers and smell. Even better, if you have access to a lavender field, run your hands over the plants as you walk through and take note of how the aroma intensifies.

Essential oils are described in Gabriel Mojay’s book Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit as “…the unique combination of the plant’s chemical constituents that determine both its synergy of therapeutic effects and its aroma. These can not be imitated by a chemical mixture that is produced in the laboratory.”   

The chemical structure and components of an essential oil dictate its therapeutic effects (antibacterial, antiseptic, analgesic, etc.). Essential oils were used first and foremost by the plants that created them to protect the plant from pests, other invasive plants, disease, fungi, to heal it and/or to attract pollinators. It's not surprising that after extracting them (usually using steam distillation), these same therapeutic or healing effects can be used by humans.

Recently, essential oils and aromatherapy have been getting a lot of attention.  Many are wondering if there is validity to the therapeutic claims or if the statements are part of a marketing ploy to capitalize on the swing toward ‘green’ and ‘sustainability.’ I think it is important to understand some of the basics. Knowledge is a powerful thing and at a minimum helps you be a wiser consumer.

Feel free to send any questions my way. You can reach me at http://www.kristajean.com/contact/. I'd also be happy to point you to other resources to answer your question(s).

Resources:

http://www.naha.org/

Davis, Patricia. Aromatherapy an A-Z. 3rd. London, UK: Vermilion, 2005. Print.

Keville, Kathi, and Mindy Green. Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Random House, 2009. Print.

Mojay, Gabriel. Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit: Restoring Emotional and Mental Balance with Essential Oils. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 1999. Print.