Please see below for information about these natural plant dyes.
To Order Dyes please click HERE.
Also see The Plants in Our Dyes and our
Dye Kits

Turkey Red Blood Red Navy Blue please see note below* Forest Green please see note below* Mango Yellow

Tiger Yellow Eco Orange Hill Brown Desert Black please see note below* Smoke Grey

1 Kg of dye can dye 2 Kg of fiber (4lbs) in deep shades, 10 Kg (22lbs) in medium shades and up to 20 Kg (44lbs) in light shades. Blood Red is very concentrated and can dye about double this amount.

These beautiful natural plant dyes come from India where there is an extremely rich and ancient history in the knowledge and craftsmanship of natural dyes. They are produced using a traditional fermentation method giving outstanding wash, color and lightfastness. The dyes are fair trade and because gathering plant material is so labour intensive, it employs many rural woman who are able to supplement their incomes. They are also easy to use and environmentally friendly, using an herbal mordant in place of mineral mordants considered by some to be toxic - although these can be used with our dyes as well. While Blue Castle Fiber Arts focuses on the handcrafter, these dyes are designed to be used and incorporated into the textile industry as well.

For the home hobbyist or small craft business, the Natural Dye Kit is perfect for trying out the dyes. They work beautifully with natural fibers, particularly wool and silk. Except for the indigo based Navy Blue and Forest Green, these dyes will also work with cellulose fibers like cotton and hemp but will dye in lighter shades. Indigo with cellulose fiber requires the indigo vat method. We will soon be stocking natural indigo as well as a new improved herbal mordant for cellulose fibers.
Go to the Natural Plant Dyes Instruction Page to see what is involved in the dye process as well as what other supplies you might need.

Natural dyers are familiar with plant names like madder & indigo. These dyes are made up of many of the common dye plants but because most of the colors are combinations of various plants they have been given more descriptive names to identify them. For example, Blood Red is a combination of Madder and Soapnut and Mango Yellow is Tumeric and Pomegranate. See the Plants in Our Dyes.

There are many colors and shades that can be created with these ten easy-to-use dye powders depending on the concentration of the dye bath, the type of mordant and the type of fiber being used.
For examples, please see our Shade Charts.

* Note regarding Navy Blue, Forest Green and Desert Black: these three dyes are a little different from the rest. Because they include indigo in a form that does not adhere to cellulose, they unfortunately cannot be used on fibers such as cotton or hemp which do require the regular indigo vat method.