Dye Project: Onion Skins

For our next home dyeing project, we're using yellow onion skins. The skins produce beautiful shades of tan and brown. I'm dyeing more of our white cotton dish towels, which have been scoured using Synthrapol and soda ash, as described in Scouring your Fabric. Onions are tannin-rich so do not need a mordant, but I'm adding alum (potassium aluminum sulfate) as a brightener.




I used our patio as an outdoor studio, but this project could be done in the kitchen using the hood fan for ventilation. Still, I prefer working outdoors, and keeping the strong smell of onion from permeating the kitchen!

Outdoor studio

I collected about 150 grams (or 5 ounces) of onion skins over several months. To speed things up, you can ask your family and friends to save onion skins for you, and scavenge for loose skins in the onion bin whenever you buy onions at the market.

Onion skins

I dyed 231 grams (or 8 ounces) of fabric using 150 grams of skins, which is equivalent to 65% Weight of Fabric (WOF):

150g onion skins  = 65% WOF
231g fabric               100% WOF

But this is just one recipe. Other recipes call for 30% WOF, others for 100%, and still others for the skins of 10 onions. Use what you have and experiment!

Soak the fabric in hot water to ensure even dyeing

If you plan to dye right away, soak your prepared fabric in hot water for at least an hour (or overnight). This helps ensure the fiber soaks up the dye evenly.

Simmer onion skins in water to extract the pigment

Strain the dye through cheesecloth

Extracted dye

To extract the dye, I added the onion skins to boiling water, reduced the heat, and simmered for 30 minutes to an hour. I strained the mixture through cheesecloth and returned the dye to the pan.

Return the dye to the pan and add alum

Simmer the fabric in the dye bath for an hour or more

I brought the dye bath back to a boil, and stirred in one tablespoon of alum. I added three dish towels, reduced the heat, and let simmer for a couple of hours. I soaked the towels overnight to deepen the color. 

Rinse the fabric in cold water

Squeeze out excess dye and rinse to water runs clear

Air dry the dish towels

The next day I rinsed the towels until the water ran clear. I hung the towels to air dry, then ran them through the washing machine to set the color, then air dried again. I am really pleased with the rich orangey-brown color, and wonder how colorfast it will be. I'm a little leery after the disappointing results of the cabbage experience (see Dye Project: Red Cabbage)! 

Preserve the dye for future projects

I preserved the excess dye in glass jars to use in future projects, and labeled them so I wouldn't forget. The dye color may be less intense, but it is still usable, either for a lighter shade or mixed with another color. This provides another opportunity to experiment!