How to dye linen naturally

Use madder root, calendula, and marigold to make a beautiful naturally dyed linen table runner

Dyeing linen and other fabrics naturally can be so gratifying because you can give new life to a fabric and make it into something entirely new and different. I’ve been intriguted with natural dyes for a while, and I decided to make a two-sided linen table runner to test out two different natural dye recipes: one to make a yellow fabric, and one to make a red(ish) one.

Natural yed linen table runner on wood table with sunflowers

Project snapshot: Total cost $50+, Time to make 5+ hours, Skill level, easy

What materials do you need to dye linen naturally?
How do you measure ingredients for natural dyeing?
- Measuring your mordants (alum and soda ash)
- Measuring your natural dyes (calendula, marigold powder, and madder root)
Step 1: Scouring your linen
Step 2: Applying the mordants
Step 3: Making your dye baths
Step 4: Dyeing your linen
How to care for naturally dyed fabrics
My thoughts on natural dyeing
Natural dyeing resources

What materials do you need to dye linen naturally?

Linen fabric or a finished linen napkin, tablecloth, table runner, etc.
Ph neutral soap, such as Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Liquid Dish Soap
Alum powder (the amount will depend on the weight of your fabric – see below)
Soda ash (the amount will depend on the weight of your fabric – see below)
Dried calendula flowers (the amount will depend on the weight of your fabric – see below)
Marigold powder (Tagetes NOT calendula) (the amount will depend on the weight of your fabric – see below)
Madder root extract (the amount will depend on the weight of your fabric – see below)

How do you measure ingredients for natural dyeing?

Everything depends on the dry weight of your fabric, which is referred to as WOF (weight of fabric). If you’re dyeing something like linen napkins, or a linen table runner, just measure the fabric using a digital scale. You can measure it in ounces, or to be more precise, use grams.

Measuring your mordants (alum and soda ash)

The alum and soda ash are known as mordants. You process the linen with these prior to dyeing to get a better effect.

I used 20% WOF of the alum and 6% of WOF of the soda ash.

My fabric (linen that had been pre-shrunk and then cut to the size I would need for sewing my table runner) weighed 4 ounces.

4 ounces (WOF) X 0.2 (20%) = 0.8 ounces of alum

4 ounces (WOF) X 0.06 (6%) = 0.24 ounces of soda ash

I had two pieces of linen so I knew I needed twice as much.

Measuring your natural dyes (calendula, marigold powder, and madder root)

To create this yellow, I used 30% WOF dried calendula flowers and 30% WOF marigold poswer.

4 ounces (WOF) X .3 (30%) = 1.2 ounces of EACH calendula flowers and marigold powder

As you can see, this made a beautiful shade of yellow.

Natural dyed linen - yellow and dark dusty rose — I made one side of my table runner yellow and the other a dark dusty rose, so I have more options!

For this dark dusty rose color, I used 50% WOF of madder root extract.

4 ounces (WOF) X .5 (50%) = 2 ounces of madder root extract

Step 1: Scouring your linen

Now we have the math out of the way, it’s time to prep your linen to be dyed. The first step is scouring, which is basically just a deep clean to ensure that your material does not have any residue on it. Don’t skip this step!

To scour your linen, first pre-wet your fabric thoroughly in the sink.

Pre-wet the fabic in the sink before you add it to the pot. — Pre-wet your linen thoroughly in the sink before you add it ot hte pot.

Then get a large pot that will fit on your stovetop and that your fabric will fit in. Add enough water to the pot so your fabric will be covered and have room to move around. Then add a few drops of the Ph neutral soup, give it a stir, and turn the heat on to start to bring it to a boil.

Thenn add your fabric to the pot. Add more water if needed to cover the fabric.

Linen in a pot of water with ph neutral soap

Heat the pot to a slow boil and keep it there for one hour. Regularly stir the fabric around with a long spoon and top up with more water as necessary.

After an hour, turn off the heat and let the fabric come to room temperature. Then pour the water out in the sink and rinse the fabric under the faucet.

Step 2: Applying the mordants

If you take a break between steps (I know I did!) just keep the fabric wet by leaving it in the pot until you’re ready for the next step.

Now you’re ready to measure out your mordants: the alum and the soda ash. Using the measurements you calculated above, weigh each out on a digital scale. Be careful not to get these on your skin as they can be irritating. To be safe, wear goggles, gloves, and an apron.

Add them to your now clean and dry pot. Add a small amount of boiling water from a kettle. A chemical reaction will occur. Don’t panic! Just let it do its thing.

The alum and soda ash fizzing in the pot after the boiling water has been added.

When it’s done, add room temperature water until you have enough water to cover your fabric. Add your wet fabric and turn the heat on and bring to a slow boil. Boil it for one hour, stirring occasionally to be sure the mordant gets into all the folds of the fabric. After one hour, turn the heat off and wait for the mixture to cool down to room temperature.

Again, mordants can be irritating to skin, so put your gloves and eye protection back on and drain the pot in the sink. To remove the mordant from the fabic, gently wash the linen in the sink with your Mrs. Meyer’s soap, then rinse.

Step 3: Making your dye baths

Whew! We’re getting there, I promise! Now it’s time to make your dye bath. Since I used two different colors, I had to make two, but the process is the same for both.

Using the measurements you calculated above based on your weight of fabric (WOF), measure out your botanicals/extracts and place them in the pot (the same pot can be used for all of these steps, just be sure to keep your fabric wet in between each step.

Calendula flowers being weighed on a digital scale.

Just as we did before, add a small amount of boiling water from your kettle – about an inch deep in the pot. Give it a stir and let it sit for about an hour. This loosens up the plant material, which will create a richer dye.

Calendula steeping — Making calendula tea! Look how brililant the color is after steeping.

After one hour, add more room temperature water to create enough liquid for your fabric to fit into freely. Bring the mixture to simmer and keep it there for another hour. Do NOT add your fabric yet. Then, let it cool off a bit.

We’re almost there, really! The next step is to get another pot, and a strainer and strain out the botanicals. For the calendula, I used a strainer with larger holes (like a pasta strainer) first to get the big stuff out.

Strained calendula — This can be composted.

Then, I restrained the liquid through a finer mesh strainer. The goal is to have sediment free liquid dye. You can compost any of the leftoever botanicals. Put your dye liquid back into a pot big enough for your fabric to fit in (such as the original pot).

Step 4: Dyeing your linen

Last step! Add your damp fabric to the dye pot. If you don’t have enough liquid, just add more water. Bring the mixture to a slow boil and boil for yet another hour, stirring and rearranging your fabric to be sure that the dye is getting into folds and everywhere evenlly.

Linen in yellow dye pot — The yellow dye pot

Dye pot with madder root extract — The red dye pot with madder root extract

This is the exciting part because you can start to see how beautiful your fabric is going to look. Just remember that it will look a lot darker when it’s wet, so the color isn’t really accurate. Plus, once you rinse it, it will lighten up a bit.

After the hour, turn the heat off and let the mixture cool down. You can drain it and rinse it immediately, or you can let it sit overnight to get a richer color. That’s what I did and I’m glad I did! In the morning, drain it carefully in the sink, wash it thoroughly with your Mrs. Meyer’s and then rinse until the water runs clear. Gently ring it dry and hang it out to dry somewhere shady and warm (preferably). I dried mine on my screened-in porch.

Wet naturally dyed fabric air drying on a patio table. — I was so impatient for them to dry so I could see how the colors would look!

AND YOU’RE DONE! I end most of my posts with, “See, wasn’t that easy?!” Well, maybe not this time. It wasn’t hard, but it was definitely time consuming. But the results were well worth it.

Yellow natural dyed linen table runner with flowers on a wood table.

I created this table runner for a fall themed dinner party that Jill hosted and it added a lot to the tablescape. See the full Autumn Dinner Party tablescape here, and be sure to check out the painted autmumn leaf napkins that Jill made here.

How to care for naturally dyed fabrics

You will want to hand wash your naturally dyed fabrics gently, using Ph neutral soap, like Mrs. Meyer’s, and air dry them. This will help keep your fabric rich with color.

My thoughts on natural dyeing

Well, you may have noticed by now that this is kind of a lot of work! I did mine over the course of an entire week. I scoured it over the weekend, then just left it in the pot unitl I had more time. Another day, I applied the mordant, rinsed it off and then added more clean water and left it in the pot. The next weekend, I made the dye baths and actually dyed them. I have to say, though, despite the effort, I’m completely in love with the result. The colors are so lovely and I know I’d never get that affect with synthetic dyes.

If you’re interested, there are so many different types of natural dyes you can experiment with, even things like tea and avocado pits! It can be a little hard to find comprehensive resources abotu exactly how to create a certain color, but with a little research, it’s certainly possible. Here are some resources that I’ve found helpful in learning how to dye linen naturally.