Seeded eucalyptus gave me the most beautiful color. So did regular eucalyptus! But they were more different than I thought they’d be.
Natural dyeing is the best. Don’t miss out on my turmeric powder tutorial and my shibori folds! If you haven’t natural dyed yet, here are my must haves for natural dyeing.
My sister had a beautiful wedding with lots of eucalyptus. She let me take it home and experiment!
This is a super simple way to make use of these beautiful leaves. It also makes your house smell A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
Dyeing with Eucalyptus
Seeded eucalyptus gave me the most beautiful color. So did regular eucalyptus! But they were more different than I thought they'd be.
Materials
- Eucalyptus stems
- Tea Towel or other natural fiber material
Tools
- Large pot
- Something to Stir
- Rubberbands (optional)
Instructions
- Bring your water to a boil
- Place a large amount of eucalyptus into the water.
- Simmer about 20 minutes.
- Place your damp towel in the water and heat low.
- Allow the fabric to sit as long as you need. I let it sit overnight.
- Take it out of the water and rinse.
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How long does seeded eucalyptus last?
Quite a while. It was fresh for about 2 weeks. I suggest dyeing with it within that period for the maximum color. If you have eucalyptus older than that it will still smell great. People preserve eucalyptus all the time! I actually put dried eucalyptus on each of my items that I ship in my Etsy store.
Eucalyptus Dye Compared
Let’s discuss the difference here and take a closer look.
The yellowish color on the right is just the regular eucalyptus. The beautiful mauve pink color is from seeded eucalyptus.
I wondered if this experiment was even worth performing and it totally was. Who would have thought these would be the results?!
Does seeded eucalyptus smell?
Yes it does. Just like regular eucalyptus, and it is delightful. Boiling it in your house will make it smell delicious! I’m not sure if I could tell the difference between the two types but maybe others can.
What Fabric do I need to Natural Dye?
Any natural fiber would do. In this post you can see the tea towels I get from Amazon.
I’ve also used natural bamboo/cotton blends. Poly/cotton blends will dye a bit but you will not get results like this and the color will wash out quicker.
