Red Cabbage

background:

The Cabbage plant as we know today has been traced to have most likely originated from Western Europe, and is in the family brassicas. These dense leafy plants were initially brought to the Americas by Jacques Cartier, a French explorer. These vegetables can be utilized a number of ways, but certainly one of the more interesting is as a naturally occurring dye/pigment. In the case of Red Cabbage, these colors are significantly more apparent, as when properly prepared it will result in a pleasing purple/indigo hue.

The color from the Red Cabbage comes from certain pigment molecules known as anthocyanins. According to an article in How Stuff Works, “Anthocyanins are plant pigments known as flavonoids and produce red, pink, violet and magenta colors in the various plant parts.”

These molecules are found in the flowers and leaves of many plants are generally responsible for the color changes in the trees during the fall. Given the availability of this vegetable, whether it’s from your local organic farmers market, a community garden, or your own backyard.

Its vibrant colors make for a great sustainable natural coloring agent that can add new life to old clothing.

This dye will work best on natural fibers such as cotton, linen, wool, and on light colored and undyed fabric.
Soak your fabric in a pot of warm water.
Chop up half of a red cabbage into small pieces.
Boil enough water to cover all of the cabbage in a stainless steel pot.
Add your cabbage to the boiling water and keep the pot simmering. Stir it occasionally and make sure that it doesn't boil over.
Let the cabbage boil for about 60 minutes.
Let the cabbage cool slightly.
Using a strainer, drain your colored cabbage water into a separate dyeing pot and submerge your fabric. Add a tablespoon of salt to act as a mordant and stir the mixture.
Let your fabric soak in the dye for a minimum of 4 hours, mixing it occasionally. Letting the fabric soak overnight will achieve a darker purple. Red cabbage dye can come out anywhere from a blue to purple tone.
Variations: If you want a more pink tone you can add an acidic substance such as vinegar to the dye. If you want a more blue tone, add baking soda. Red cabbage dye alone usually creates a full purple, but this can be improved by soaking the fabric for longer.
Drain your cabbage dye and rinse your fabrics in cold water then hang to dry. The dyes typically lighten after washing so keep in mind that the tone of your fabric will lighten.
Hand-wash or wash alone in cold water to preserve the color.

Instructions: