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natural dyeing - plants that make yellow dye

 
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Let's compile a list of plants that we can use to dye, wool, cloth, cotton, linen, and other textiles, the colour yellow.  

No need to restrict to region or climate, we're looking for a master list of natural dyes.

a few I know include

Weld
onion skins

sheep's sorrel

queen anne's lace


what else can we add to the list?
 
pollinator
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Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis, makes a kind of saffron yellow.

And, I guess saffron does also? Seems like that would be an expensive way to dye cloth though.
 
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Turmeric can turn fabrics (not just your hands...) a bold yellow colour.
 
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Goldenrod makes a vibrant golden yellow dye.
29ED4F86-1703-43D2-B9CE-AD6D0F3F97EC.jpeg
Goldenrod natural dye cloth
 
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Soursob flowers make quite a nice yellow, and don’t need a mordant to do so. (The pictures are soursob extracting into water, and a polycotton tunic i cold dyed for a month. Next time I’ll stir a bit more often and add more water 😅)

Marigold flowers also make yellow, but need a mordant.
62FAABB2-AC1B-4389-ACB7-F38713E90445.jpeg
soursob extracting into water, and a polycotton tunic
7831AC88-8281-42E7-BB15-55CF95D609B2.jpeg
soursob extracting into water for cold dye
 
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Others that I haven’t tried, but my research says make yellow:

- Yarrow tops
- Saffron crocuses
- turmeric, but it doesn’t stay in the cloth well
- Mallow
- Rosemary leaves, with an alum mordant
- Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) bark
- Carrot tops
- Dahlia flowers
- Dyer’s chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria) flowers
- Dyer’s coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) flowers
- Fustic (Chlorophora tinctoria) flowers
- rhubarb leaves
- Tansy flowers
 
r ranson
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Anyone tried dyeing with dandelion flowers?   Ours are growing like stink this year.
 
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I just massively pruned one of my barberry bushes. Has anyone dyed with that before? I saw it being sold online as a dye.

20230512_182917.jpg
Barberry stump
Barberry stump
 
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Letharia vulpina (a bright yellow lichen) also makes a lovely bright yellow dyes. Just remember to collect your lichens from fallen branches, not directly from the trees! Nice example here
 
r ranson
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Enjoying a healing day in the garden today.   Decided to heat up the dye pots with some volunteer weld and calendula (garden mix, not the dye variety)
Natural-weld-dye-makes-a-bright-yellow-yarn.jpg
Natural weld dye makes a bright yellow yarn
Natural weld dye makes a bright yellow yarn
 
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r ranson wrote:Enjoying a healing day in the garden today.   Decided to heat up the dye pots with some volunteer weld and calendula (garden mix, not the dye variety)



My books say that weld gives a strong yellow. I chopped up 2 pounds of weld plants but one 4 oz. skein (alum mordant) is only giving a very pale color soaking overnight . Does it need heat? Anyone have experience here?
 
r ranson
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S. Ferrel wrote:

r ranson wrote:Enjoying a healing day in the garden today.   Decided to heat up the dye pots with some volunteer weld and calendula (garden mix, not the dye variety)



My books say that weld gives a strong yellow. I chopped up 2 pounds of weld plants but one 4 oz. skein (alum mordant) is only giving a very pale color soaking overnight . Does it need heat? Anyone have experience here?



My method - which most dyers would tell you is incorrect - is to heat the plant matter in some water to just under a boil.  Turn off the heat and wait until the next day.  If the water is colourful (it doesn't need to be yellow, just have some sort of colour), then I strain out the plant matter (keep the water) and then repeat the process with the yarn.  

I've read that weld is very sensitive to PH and temperature, so I think it would be good to treat it like we do madder - trying the lower temp first, then trying higher temperatures later.  
 
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r ranson wrote:Let's compile a list of plants that we can use to dye, wool, cloth, cotton, linen, and other textiles, the colour yellow.  
BEETS

No need to restrict to region or climate, we're looking for a master list of natural dyes.

a few I know include

Weld
onion skins

sheep's sorrel

queen anne's lace


what else can we add to the list?

 
Jesse Dean
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BEETS
 
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Peach leaves
 
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