How to make natural dye with avocado pits and skins

With this guide you will learn how to make a beautiful range of pinks, apricot, blush and even grey dyes using avocado pits and skins. I will cover how to dye wool, cotton and linen, what mordant is needed to make your colour last as long as possible, the effect of modifiers on colour, and how to store your avocado pits and skins. Using avocados for your dyeing experiments is a great way to learn the art of natural dyeing.

---

Disclosure: This information may contain affiliate links which means if you click and buy, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. See full Disclosure for details.

---

Is there difference in dye colour between avocado pits and skins?

Avocado pits and skins tend to give slightly different colours. I found that the pits give a pinker shade and the skins give a more orange colour.

Note: The end colour will also depend on a number of variables such as water properties, temperature the dye is extracted at, age and variety of the avocados, etc. Consequently, do not expect to get the same result twice, nor to get the same result as the photos in this guide.

How should I store avocado pits and skins?

In order to use avocado skins and pits for dyeing, you will need to collect and store them until you have enough (how much depends on how intense you want the colour to be, and how much fiber you want to dye in one go).  You can either dry avocados, freeze them, or use them fresh. Using fresh dyestuff is always preferred but frozen and dried avocados work well too.

To dry them, give them an exceptional clean so all the flesh has been removed. Then set them to dry somewhere ventilated before storing them in a paper bag. Do not store them in a sealed container or they will go moldy. As an extra precaution, add a silica packet to the paper bag to soak up any excess moisture.

I have stored avocado skins and pits for a year and gotten great colour from them, more orange than pink, but that might have been due to things other than the age of the died skins.

Note: There are no hard and fast rules about the ratio of avocado dyestuffs to fiber, but generally the more dyestuffs the better – especially if it your first time. If in doubt, use the same ratio outlined in the dyeing directions below.

Why is avocado dye pink?

Avocados do not dye green as you might expect, in fact they dye pink! They dye pink because they contain anthocyanins, a pigment that dyes anywhere from red, pink, purple, and even black depending on the pH. According to Wikipedia , food plants high in anthocyanins include blueberries, black rice, raspberries, and black soybeans.

Due to the pH sensitivity of anthocyanins, it is easy to dramatically change the colour of a dye bath using pH modifiers. It is also for this reason, that it is difficult to get the same result twice as anything that can change the pH even just a small amount will affect the end result. This includes the pH of the soil used to grow the avocado, and the tap water you used in the dye bath.

Can I use a modifier to change the dye colour?

Once you have dyed your fiber, you can alter the colour by placing it in a modifier. Modifiers include metallic salt mordants such as iron, copper, tin, and chrome. They also include pH modifiers such as vinegar (acidic), washing soda (aka soda ash is very alkaline), and cream of tartar. An iron mordant ‘saddens’ colours, and copper generally make colours greener. As you can see, both coloured the wool grey after it had been dyed using avocado pits. Washing soda created a darker shade of pink, and vinegar created a light shade.

You can add a modifier to the dye bath before the fiber goes in, or you can dye your fiber then create a new bath with the modifier and add the dyed wool to that. I prefer using the latter method as it allow me to experiment with many modifiers rather than just the one.

Idea: If you would like to learn how to create your own iron and copper mordant, check out What is natural dyeing and how to make natural dye.

If you would prefer to buy a mordant, you can get them here.

Warning: When using mordants always wear personal protective equipment, such as gloves, safety glasses and long sleeves.

Should I use alum to pre-mordant the fiber?

You might have read that you don’t need to mordant your fiber before dyeing it with avocado. You may also have read that you can use soy milk instead of alum to mordant your fiber. While these things aren’t false per se, they can be misleading. Firstly, you don’t need to pre-mordant your fibers, but your dye will fade much faster if you skip this step. The alum mordant forms a chemical bond between the dye and the fiber, that is why it is important in natural dyeing.

Secondly, soy milk is a binder and not a mordant. The soy milk has proteins that are captured in the fiber that adhere to the dye, but there is no chemical bond form. For this reason, soy milk treatment should not replace mordanting your fibers. Also, it is only used for cellulose  based fibers such as cotton and linen which lack protein, unlike wool and silk.

Tip: It can’t hurt to do both a soy milk treatment and then an alum treatment for cellulose fibers before dyeing them. Wool and silk do not need the soy milk treatment.

Idea: If you would like to learn more about the effect soy milk has on various dyed fibers, check out Jenny Dean’s experiments.

Is avocado dye colourfast?

Yes, avocado dye is wonderfully colourfast if you use a mordant, cure your fiber before rinsing it, and keep it out of direct sunlight for prolonged periods. For instance, if you dyed your curtains with avocado they may turn slightly yellow and fade eventually.

How do I pick a good avocado for dyeing?

According to Rebecca Desnos you can predict whether an avocado will yield a good dye colour. Choosing the blackest looking avocados will give you the best dye. However, this only works for ripe avocados, if you buy your avocados unripened, there is no way to tell.

Why did my avocado dye go brown?

You either boiled your avocado dye, or you didn’t clean the avocado flesh from the skins and pits before using them. NEVER boil avocado dye stuffs, a gentle simmer is all that is needed. As for cleaning the skins and pits, used a spoon to scrape as much of the flesh out as possible, then use a scrubbing brush to give them a good scrub under running water. Not only will the flesh turn your dye brown, but if you plan on drying the dyestuffs they must be clean or they will go moldy.

Is the dyeing process the same for wool and plant-based fibers?

Yes, materials like cotton and linen can also be dyed using the same process. However, I recommend an additional step: linen is often treated with an anti-wrinkle chemicals which inhibits the binding of natural dye and thus should removed first. Given this, it is a good idea to boil the fabric in washing soda before dyeing it to remove these chemicals. If they are not removed, they will impede the take up of the dye by the fabric otherwise. After boiling them, rinse them well so the pH return to neutral. Alternatively, you can avoid these chemicals by using organic cotton and linen.

Tip: Alicia from @botanicalthreads, recommends ironing avocado dyed fabrics after they have cured for a week or so. This will further help to fix the dye.

How to make a natural dye using avocado pits and skins

Tip: If are new to dyeing and would like to know more about natural dyeing terminology, general process of natural dyeing and what mordants are, check out What is natural dyeing and how to make natural dye. You will also learn how to source other natural dyestuff for your next exciting natural dyeing project.

Note: The entire process will take a few days to complete.

For this dyeing method will need

Fiber (I recommend white roving, white yarn)
Alum powder
Avocado skins and/or pits
Weighing scales
Dye pot
White ladle
Colander and bucket
Rubber gloves
Apron
Modifiers (optional)

Supply notes:
Silk, linen, and cotton yarn and fabric will also work
Use an old pot that will be dedicated to dyeing and not used for cooking
A white ladle lets you see the true colour of the dye as it cooks
A colander and bucket is used for filtering the dye bath
Modifiers include vinegar, washing soda, iron mordant, and copper mordant

Directions

Step 1. Determine how much fiber to use

Avocado dye works well for wool, silk, cotton and linen.

The larger the dyestuffs to fiber ratio you use, the deeper the resulting colour. This is to say that there are no rules about how much of anything you should use when it comes to dyeing. I used 5 dried full avocado skins (10 halves) for the avocado skin dye bath, and 5 whole pits for the avocado pits dye bath. I used this for 48 grams of fiber (wool yarn, silk, and roving) for the avocado skin dye, and 32 grams of wool yarn for the avocado pit dye. I was happy with the intensity of colour of my dyed wool.

Step 2. Prepare the yarn

Skip this step if you are not using yarn. To dye yarn, you must wind the yarn into a ‘hank’ or loop of wool to ensure even dyeing while avoiding a knotted mess. This can easily be done by winding the wool around the back of a chair.

The loop of yarn must then be secured by loosely tying short bits of yarn in several places. If you tie it too tightly, the dye won’t be able to penetrate the wool and you will end up with a tie dye effect (which can be quite nice if that is what you are going for).

Step 3. Soak the fiber

The first thing you need to do is soak the fiber over night in fresh water, this will allow the fibers to take up the alum mordant evenly which will then bind the dye pigment to the wool.

Tip: If you’re using raw wool, you will need to clean the dirt and lanolin oil out of the wool before dyeing it.

Step 3. How to make alum mordant

Note: The equipment and chemicals used in this process are non-toxic and safe. However, if you are interested in doing more dyeing, I recommend dedicating a saucepan and some utensils to this activity, which you will not use for cooking with. You may also want to wear rubber gloves to protect your skin from the mordant and dye.

The next day you will need to prepare the mordant. Take 10% the weight of your wool fiber (WOF) and use this measurement as the amount of alum powder you will need (use 15% for linen and cotton). Next, add 2 – 3 cups of boiling water, mix to dissolve.

Then fill the saucepan with cold water until it is three quarters full. You want the temperature of the mordant solution to be the same temperature as the wet wool.

Warning: If the liquid in one was hot and the other was cold, the change in temperature from one to the other would shock the wool fibers, which would then cause them to felt. We really want to avoid felting the wool during the dyeing process, so this is one important rule to follow throughout.

Step 4. Mordant the wool

Place the wet wool into the mordant solution and place on the stove. Very slowly bring to a gently simmer (don’t boil). Do this over the course of half an hour or so, we don’t want to do it too quickly or it will shock the fibers. While the wool it in the pot do not disturb it, and agitation from stirring or prodding with felt the wool.

Simmer gently for an hour. Then turn off the heat and leave the wool to soak over night. Remember, do not touch the wool while it is hot.

Note: There is no need to cure mordanted fiber, so if you have just prepared mordanted fiber, you can add it directly to the dye pot. However, you must not add dry fiber to a dyebath. Soak it for a few hours in water before dyeing.

Step 5. Prepare the dye bath

The dye bath can be prepared the same day as you mordant the fiber, this will speed up the process. Add 5 avocado pits to one pot and 10 shredded half skins to another pot. Then fill the pots about three quarter full with water and slowly heat to about 70 – 85 degrees Celsius.

Warning: Avocado dye is heat sensitive; boiling will cause the dye to turn brown so be very careful not to boil the dye.

Once it gets up to temperature don’t walk away and leave it as the temperature is likely to increase. Turn the heat down and monitor it to make sure it doesn’t boil. Hold at this temperature for an hour or so, then turn off the heat and let the dye bath soak over night with the dyestuffs in it.

Step 6. Strain the dye solution

To avoid bits of avocado in your wool, you must strain the dye bath. To strain, place a colander over a bucket and slowly pour your dye solution into the bucket. If you notice that there are very small particles floating around in the dye bath, you may want to line the colander with gauze to catch them.

Step 7. Dye the wool

Now the avocado dye is ready to use. Take your wet mordanted wool or other fiber and place it in the dye pot. Remember the dye solution and your wool should be the same temperature. Just like the pre-mordant process, bring it very slowly to a gently simmer (do not boil at this stage either).

After simmering for a few hours, turn off the stove and let the dyebath soak over night. Your fiber will take up as much dye as it possibly can. If the dyebath still has colour to it, you can add more fiber and simmer it for a few hours for a second dye bath. The first dye bath will have the deepest colour, compared to subsequent uses.

Idea: If you are looking to create different shades from the same dye pot, leave your fiber in the dye pot for different lengths of time. Try putting a few hanks of wool in and leaving them in for 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and hour and over night. Check out Woods and Wool to see the experiments using this technique.

Step 8. Dry and cure the wool

Tip: Don’t dump your dye solution until the wool has cured and you’ve rinsed it. If you aren’t happy with your results, you can pop the wool back in the dye bath and try again using a modifier such as washing soda.

The next day, take your wool, wring it out and hang it up to dry. Once it is dry, let is cure for a few days before rinsing it. This will help the pigment to bind to the wool fibers before washing it.

Step 9. Rinse the wool

Once it is cured, you need to rinse out in cold water. You may lose some dye but the colour of the wool shouldn’t change much. Rinse until the water runs clear. Then hang it up again to dry.

Now your wool is ready to use!

Other fun dyeing techniques

If you would like to create an ombre pattern to your yarn, follow this methods laid out in Dyeing wool with turmeric: a step by step guide for your avocado dye bath.

Books on natural dyeing

If you’re looking for a book to learn more about the art of natural dyeing, why not pick up one of these great resources. The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing offers many natural dyeing recipes, Wild Color will guide you through the entire dyeing process, and Harvesting Color will teach you how to foraging for plants and make them into natural dyes.

Other tutorials you might like