Dying Fabrics with Coffee

Not only do I love drinking coffee, but I also enjoy using my left over coffee in various crafts. Coffee makes a great dye, it has been used over the centuries as a way to dye fabric, textiles, clothing, and hair. Dying with coffee works best with fabrics that are natural, such as cottons. 

The first step to take when dying with coffee is to crack out your coffee maker and make a pot of coffee to dye with. 

Dying Clothes, Fabric, & Textiles With Coffee:

At this point your coffee should be brewed and cooled. The other materials you will need for this craft are:

• A  washtub or other container big enough for the fabric that you are dying, your fabric needs to be able to float, not be crammed into a tiny bowl. (I bought my washtub from http://www.bucket-outlet.com/Galvanized-Tubs.htm )
• Water to fill your washtub with.
• Fabric you are dying. If the fabric is new you will want to wash it prior to dying as the sizing that is in most fabrics may cause the fabric to either not dye at all or dye unevenly.

Fill the washtub with water. Mix your coffee into the water. Test a small area of fabric so that you will know how quickly the coffee will dye it and if it will soak into it properly. To test the fabric follow the directions below for dying the fabric.

Instructions for dying fabric:
Use clear water to get your fabric damp. Then submerse it into the coffee water mixture. Be sure that you keep your fabric moving so that no folds sit for too long, this can cause uneven dying. You will also want to keep an eye on your dying so that you can see when the color is dark enough for your project.

Once the fabric looks like it has achieved the shade that you need, take it out of the container and rinse it with clear water until the water running out of the fabric is clear.

Wring out your excess water and allow fabric to dry.

When washing your coffee stained fabrics you will want to avoid detergents that remove natural stains or your dye job might just disappear.