Black Bean Dye Samples – Purple, Grey Green, And Blue

Black Bean Dye Samples - Purple, Grey Green, And Blue

Here are some dye samples I’ve made using black beans.

For column A, I soaked the beans 24 hours. It produced a light purple on silk, and light purple-blue on cotton. The colors aren’t lightfast.

For column B, I soaked the beans for 48 hours. It produced a light sage on silk, and light grey-blue on cotton. The colors aren’t lightfast.

For column C, I’ve used the same dye solution as at A but mordanted the fabric with iron liquor. It gave a dark blue on silk, and a bit lighter blue on cotton. After some weeks exposure to the sun, the colors seem to be lightfast.

I let all the fabric soak for about the same amount of time.

I’ve posted a tutorial how to dye cotton blue with black beans and iron mordant.

6 thoughts on “Black Bean Dye Samples – Purple, Grey Green, And Blue

  1. This was very helpful! Thanks! Without you, I wouldn’t have used the iron!!! 🙂 I will finally be able to use again our stained tablecloth that had been a wedding gift! Now it is lovely and speckled and random because I applied the iron randomly, which will hide the stain splendidly! 🙂

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