Did you know that you can make your own fabric printing inks with things you’ll find in the nature? 😀
Learn how to make your own DIY natural fabric printing ink with fruits, such as sloe berries and bilberries, and vegetables, such as red cabbage and onions.
How To Prepare Fabric For Printing
I used cotton fabric for the print samples. But you can also use other types of fabric, such as silk fabric. However, keep in mind that the homemade natural fabric printing inks are ph-sensitive and will turn out a different color on different types of fabric. For example, DIY natural blue fabric printing inks will turn out more purple on silk fabric.
Related: How To Dye Cotton Blue With Red Cabbage (No Mordant)
Prewash and iron the fabrics before printing with the natural DIY fabric printing inks. I didn’t use mordant – except for the iron tannin print – because I wanted to show you the natural print colors.
Natural Ink Colors With Fruits & Vegetables
Blue
- red cabbage
- bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus)
- sloe berries (Prunus spinosa)
Teal
- red cabbage + baking soda (turns gray after a few months)
Related: Homemade Natural Blue Food Coloring With Red Cabbage
Brown
- onion skins
- walnut hulls
- sloe berries (with ironing)
- blackthorn bark (Prunus spinosa)
- horse chestnut leaves
Related: How To Make Medieval Blackthorn Ink
Gray
- bilberries (ironed before washing)
Dark Brown or Black
- iron + tannin
How To Make DIY Natural Fabric Printing Ink

Bring berries (bark, leaves, onion skins etc.) with some water to a boil. Simmer it for about 10 minutes (berries & red cabbage) to one hour (bark & onion skins). It takes longer to extract the dye from barks and onion skins.
Then strain the dye solution through a sieve. Bring it to a boil again and simmer it until the consistency is thick and syrupy.
How To Print With Natural Fabric Printing Ink
Now use your DIY natural fabric printing ink just like ordinary fabric printing ink.
I used a fork and a heart-shaped cookie cutter as stamps. But you can also use other stamps such as wood block stamps.

Thicken Watery Ink With Gum Arabic
Optional: If the fabric printing ink is too watery, you can thicken it with gum arabic. Stir in some gum arabic while the ink is still warm.
Related: How To Make India Ink Or Edwardian Mascara With Gum Arabic
How To Wash Naturally Printed Fabric
Let the fabric dry overnight after printing. Then wash the printed fabric with soap and water.

Washing and ironing might change the color, because some natural printing inks are ph-sensitive and heat-sensitive.
Related: Red cabbage – Dye Samples


I washed all the natural printed fabrics with castille soap and 60°C hot water.

Don’t worry, natural fabric printing inks will bleed during the first wash, just like synthetic fabric dyes.
How To Care For Naturally Printed Fabric
After the first wash, you can wash your natural printed fabrics with similar colored clothes in the washing machine.
Use the lowest heat setting when ironing your natural printed fabrics – especially the blue printing inks are heat-sensitive.
Natural Printmaking Inks After Washing

Because I love blue, my favorite natural printing inks are bilberry and red cabbage (without baking soda).


While sugar hearts colored with bilberry juice are pink, fabric printed with bilberry is blue after washing. This happens because berries are ph-sensitive and sugar is more acidic than cotton fabric.
Related: How To Make Naturally Colored Sugar Hearts & Sugar Sprinkles

Red cabbage (without baking soda) works as DIY natural fabric printing ink: It’s pale blue after washing. However, red cabbage with added baking soda isn’t very lightfast, after washing and some month exposure to sunlight, the teal turns to gray.

If the bilberry print is ironed before washing, it stays gray even after washing. Otherwise bilberry printing ink stays blue, even if ironed after washing.

Coffee print is very pale after washing.


By the way, I also tried to print with curcuma. However, curcuma doesn’t work as DIY fabric printing ink because the whole fabric is yellow after washing.

If you try out natural fabric printing inks, I’d love to hear about your experiments and results. And if you have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments below.
This is so fun ~ Thanks for sharing @Vintage Charm!
Thank you! 🙂 I’m glad you liked it!
Did you ever figure out a way to make these more colorfast? I want to do this on some of my daughter’s clothes but since they need regular washing I want to be sure it won’t fade too quickly.
You can mordant the fabric with iron liquor but natural dyes always fade over time.
Great work! Love it 🙂
Thank you! 🙂