Natural Dyes for Easter Eggs using Food Scraps

With all this free time on my hands during this Covid-19 social distancing, I decided it was the perfect time to play around with natural dies. It’s a great way to put food scraps to use. While I used my dyes for eggs, you can also use these dyes for clothing.

I went through my kitchen and found anything I thought could be used to create a dye. I started by bringing 3 cups of water, the natural ingredient and 2 T of white vinegar to a boil. I let each one boil for 20-30 minutes and added more water to any mixtures that needed it at the end. You just need enough to cover however many eggs you have.

For each color you will need…

natural ingredients (see list below for ideas)
3 c water
2 T white vinegar
1t baking soda (only for turning purple dyes blue)

Directions

Bring your natural ingredients, 3 c water and 2 T white vinegar to a boil. Let boil for 20-30 minutes or until the water reaches a vibrant color.
Strain the dye through a strainer to get rid of any large pieces or particles.
Add water to any dye that needs it (some evaporate more than others). You want enough to cover however many eggs you want to dye. Add baking soda to purple mixtures to get blue.
Drop your egg in so that they are fully covered by the dye. Let sit for anywhere between 20 minutes to several hours depending on how vibrant you want your egg to be.
Remove your egg and let dry before putting in the fridge or displaying on the table.

Notes

Natural Ingredient: See the chart below for color ideas and note that the more you use, the more vibrant the color will be.

Vinegar: You can use apple cider vinegar, but it may make the dye a darker color.

Refrigeration: Refrigerate your eggs as you dye them if you plan on eating them. If they are just for decoration you can leave them out.

Dying Clothing: Use a large pot and a lot more water. You’ll also want to use a lot more natural ingredients to get your dye as vibrant as you want. I also recommend soaking clothing items for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Dye Colors

Red: Beets, hibiscus, red onion, crab apple, red berries, chili powder

Orange: yellow onion, carrot, paprika

Yellow: yellow onion, turmeric, saffron, yellow flowers

Green: herbs, lime zest, matcha, spinach

Blue: red cabbage, any purple item mixed with baking soda

Purple: purple sweet potatoes, purple carrots, blueberries, blackberries

Brown: expresso beans, cocoa powder, cinnamon, clove

Black: black cocoas powder, activated charcoal, squid ink

Keep in mind that there’s go guarantee what color will come from your natural ingredients. It makes a difference how much of the ingredients you use, how much water you use, how long you boil your water and how long you let your egg sit in the dye. The whole point is to have fun with it and experiment.

Some of mine turned out so different than I thought! It’s so interesting how the red onion dye turned out more yellow, my blue turned out more grey, and that even though blueberries usually make amore purple dye, mine turned out a dark blue.

I think my favorite is the yellow onion and carrot dye!