Nature’s Royal Palette: Recipes for Natural Purple Dyes
Before chemical dyes made purple commonplace, extracting a deep, lasting violet was a true craft. Natural purple dyes are typically created by either using sources that contain the pigment naturally or, more commonly, by combining a natural red or pink dye with a natural blue dye.
These recipes are primarily for dyeing natural fibers like wool, cotton, linen, or silk. Mordants (metallic salts) are essential in nearly all natural dyeing to help the colour bind to the fiber and prevent it from washing out. Always use a dedicated, non-food pot for dyeing.
1. Deep Violet from Black Beans (Anthocyanin Dye)
This is a cheap, easy, and reliable way to achieve a soft lavender or a dusty violet on cotton and other cellulose fibers. The colour comes from anthocyanins, the same pigment that colours blueberries.
| Supplies | Quantity | Notes |
| Dried Black Beans | 3 cups | Use dry beans. |
| Water | 8 cups | Enough to cover the beans well. |
| Mordant | Alum or Vinegar | Alum gives a truer purple; vinegar helps set the colour on cotton. |
| Fabric | 4 oz (100g) | Pre-soaked and ready to dye. |
Process:
- Soak: Place the black beans in the pot with the water and let them soak for 12–24 hours. The water will turn a deep purple/blue.
- Strain: Strain the water, reserving the vibrant purple liquid. Discard the beans (or cook them for dinner—they are still edible!).
- Dye Bath: Return the purple liquid to the pot. Gently add your pre-soaked, mordanted fabric.
- Steep: Allow the fabric to soak in the cold dye bath for 12 to 24 hours. Check frequently until you reach the desired shade of lavender or soft violet. Do not boil, as heat will turn the anthocyanins a dull brown.
- Set: Remove the fabric, rinse gently, and hang to dry. Rinsing with a splash of vinegar in the final water can help set the color on cotton.
2. Rich Purple from Logwood (Historical Dye)
Logwood is a traditional dye derived from the heartwood of the Haematoxylum campechianum tree. Logwood is one of the most reliable natural sources for purples, violets, and deep blues, particularly on protein fibers like wool and silk.
| Supplies | Quantity | Notes |
| Logwood Chips or Extract | 1 oz (28g) chips per 4 oz fiber | Chips or powdered extract are readily available online. |
| Water | Enough to cover fabric freely. | |
| Mordant | Alum (Aluminum Potassium Sulfate) | Essential for a deep purple. |
| Fixative | Iron Sulfate (Ferrous Sulfate) | A tiny amount (1/2 tsp) of iron added at the end can darken the purple to a near-black violet or deep grey-purple. |
Process:
- Prepare Dye: Simmer the logwood chips in water for 1–2 hours to extract the colour. Strain out the chips.
- Mordant Fabric: Separately, prepare your fabric by simmering it gently in an alum mordant bath for at least one hour, then allow it to cool and dry (or rinse).
- Dye Bath: Add the alum-mordanted fabric to the strained logwood dye bath.
- Simmer: Gently heat the dye bath (do not boil) and maintain a low simmer for 1 hour. The fabric will begin turning purple.
- Deepen: To achieve a true, dark royal purple, remove the heat and let the fabric soak for several hours or even overnight.
- Shift Hue (Optional): If you desire a muted, almost black-purple (like an antique velvet), remove the fiber and dip it into a separate, very weak iron fixative bath for a few minutes. This process is called “saddening.”
3. Combining Red and Blue: Cochineal and Indigo
The most brilliant purples are often achieved by over-dyeing a blue fiber with a red dye, or vice versa. This technique is more complex but yields superior, deep, and brilliant violets.
| Supplies | Notes |
| Indigo-Dyed Fiber | Fiber should be dyed light blue (or a “sky” blue) with natural indigo. |
| Cochineal | A natural red dye derived from ground beetles. |
| Alum Mordant | For the cochineal step. |
Process:
- Blue Base: First, dye your fabric a light to medium blue using a traditional indigo vat. Indigo is unique in that it requires no metallic mordant.
- Prepare Red Dye: Create a strong red dye bath using cochineal (cochineal should be mordanted with alum). Simmer the cochineal and alum in water for 1 hour. Strain the bath.
- Over-Dye: Add the pre-dyed blue fabric to the red cochineal bath.
- Simmer: Gently simmer the fabric in the red bath for about 30–60 minutes. The blue base will immediately combine with the red dye to produce a rich, brilliant purple or deep violet.
Safety and Best Practice Tips
- Ventilation: Always work in a well-ventilated area, especially when using mordants.
- Dedicated Tools: Never use pots, spoons, or containers for dyeing that you also use for food preparation.
- Testing: Always test your dye and mordant on a small swatch of fabric first to predict the final colour.
- Ph Balance: Natural dyes are highly sensitive to pH. Adding a small amount of an acidic substance (like vinegar or citric acid) will typically result in redder/pinker purples, while adding a small amount of an alkaline substance (like baking soda) will push the colour toward blue/indigo.