We found an all-natural, budget-friendly way to tie-dye clothes
Instead of spending money on a pricy tie-dye kit, In The Know’s Phoebe Zaslav decided to opt for a DIY all-natural and creative hack using nothing but fruit.
“This is something I’ve been dying to try,” she said. “It’s a great and creative option if you have fruit that may be going bad soon.”
What you’ll need for a DIY natural tie-dye:
A pair of rubber gloves
A large pot
A towel or tablecloth
Rubber bands
Plastic bags
Squirt bottles
100 percent cotton clothes that you want to dye
Your choice of fruit, depending on what color you want
“Not all fruit can actually turn into dye, but most berries and fruits with thick peels will,” Phoebe said. “I chose raspberries for the color pink, blackberries for the color purple and lemon peels to get a nice yellow.”
To get the dye, first boil the fruit.
“I did 1 cup of fruit for every 3 cups of water,” Phoebe explained.
Once you combine the fruit and water into a pot and bring it to a boil, reduce the pot to a simmer and leave it for 10 minutes. Then, strain out the fruit and transfer the remaining dye into a squirt bottle.
Phoebe went outside to dye her clothes — a tank top, t-shirt and sweatshirt — In case things got messy.
“My favorite dye method is the classic spiral. To do this, you just pinch the center and swirl your clothing in the same direction all the way through, creating a spiral,” Phoebe said. “You’re going to want to take four handy dandy rubber bands and create sort of like pizza pie slices around your clothing.”
Then take your squirt bottles and go crazy! Fill in as much as you want, including the folds, to help give your clothing that clear, classic tie-dye look.
Put your dyed clothes — still wrapped in rubber bands — into separate plastic bags and let them sit for about 24 hours. After that, take off the rubber bands and rinse the clothes with cold water until the water runs clear.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was shocked at how little dye came out when I rinsed it,” Phoebe said. “It actually worked!”
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