FREE DIY Sustainable Crafts

What You’ll Need:

• dry black beans (canned beans will not work)
• large pot/bowl
• water
• Pre-washed 100% cotton fabric, yarn or clothing (scoured materials will dye best)
• Rubber bands/string (if you'd like to bind or tie designs into fabric)

Put your dry beans in a large pot or bowl and cover with cold water to soak at room temperature for 24 hours. As the beans start to soak, check on them the first few hours; you will most likely need to add more water (beans should always be covered with water). 

After 24 hours, remove all of the beans from the water. This soaking water is what you'll be using for the dye, so do not strain the beans out, unless you're collecting the soaking water in another pot/bowl to use for dying.  Don’t throw away the beans: you can now use these beans to cook food, like a delicious black bean chili! *In order to use the beans for food, it’s important that you don’t let the beans soak for longer than 24 hours.

Prepare your material by wetting the fabric, yarn or piece of clothing with cold water.  If you'd like to bind or tie your material, now is the time to do so. Then, put your pieces into the black bean soaking water, using either the cold or hot soak method. Make sure that everything is fully submerged with no air bubbles. Soak the fabric until you like the color, keeping in mind that the color of wet fabric appears darker than when it dries. We let our fabric soak for about 48 hours.

Cold Soak Method: Natural blue dyes are heat-sensitive, so we like to just let the fabric soak in the black bean dye at room temperature. 

Hot Soak Method: If you want to heat the dye from time to time, heat the dye to a maximum of 70°C (160°F). Heating the black bean dye over 70°C (160°F) destroys the blue color. 

When you like the color, remove the fabric from the black bean dye and gently ring out some of the excess dye. Next, I suggest letting your fabric dry for at least 24 hours before washing your items to really fix the dye to the fabric, making it more wash-fast and hopefully preventing the dyed color from fading too quickly.

Please note, freshly dyed fabrics will always bleed during their first wash, so we always recommend hand washing your piece with warm water and soap after dying. After your first wash, you will be able to wash items like everything else, in the washing machine with laundry detergent. However, because we're working with natural dyes, be aware that the colors will fade over time and after excessive washing. 

If you enjoyed this project, please tag us and share your creations! 

@thymetravelersconservatory

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