I’m here to show you my results using rainwater, distilled water, and tap water while using natural dyes. You may be surprised!

Here is easy natural dyeing with black beans! Want to try ice dyeing? I show you how to ice dye with liquid dyes here! See this post for how to fold tie dye.

This experiment was so fun. It was literally pouring buckets in my little desert and I thought, what if I used that to dye instead of my tap water? I had another friend casually ask if I used distilled water when I dyed because it was purer and it had literally never occurred to me to try other water than my tap water.

I know different locations can affect natural dyes because soil and climate all play different roles in color. For reference, I’m in Southern Utah in a hot desert. The winters are about 45 degrees at the coldest. It rains maybe two or three big storms a year with random sprinklings. My tap water is a filtered water system and I use a water softener with salt.

I can’t wait for you to see the results!

So what type of water should you dye with?

Depends on what you like! I prefer the rainwater myself. But your tap water is perfectly sufficient. I don’t see much need for you to spend the money on distilled water.

What Tools Do You Use to Natural Dye?

This is a question I get all the time!! So I put a post together all about it for you. Here are my must-have tools for naturally dyeing.

In this post, I used my method for turmeric as well as cochineal. Here is how I dye with cochineal and here is how I dye with turmeric!

Whether you are new to natural dyes or an expert, you may be wondering what type of water you should use. I’m here to show you my results using rain water, distilled water and tap water.

What Type of Water Should I Use to Naturally Dye?

Active Time: 15 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Whether you are new to natural dyes or an expert, you may be wondering what type of water you should use. I’m here to show you my results using rain water, distilled water and tap water.

Materials

Rain Water
Distilled Water
Tap Water
Natural fabric

Instructions

Put in 1-2 gallons of each type of water in a pot.
Mark your three pieces of cloth so you can tell them all apart after the dyeing process.
Bring pots to a boil.
Add in the type of dye you'd like to use.
Put in your fabric and let it sit for at least 1 hour.