Can you buy Dyes on-line? Are there Eco Dyes? Do they work?

[KatyMac]

I have some Ikea chair covers I want to dye because the childminded children coloured them in

Do I need to strip them first?

They are very faded anyway so they needed dying anyway

I don't know about eco dyes, but you can buy dylon from www.calicolaine.co.uk/ or procion dyes from dt crafts

Thanks I like the look of the procion dyes - but they don't have the right colour

What colours are you looking for?

You can dye shades between sepia to brownish-red with tea-bags if you want to be ultra-eco.

Or some natural dyes here

Sort of muddy line green

LIME

You can use plants to dye, but you would need to test a piece of similar material first.

Apparently if you boil up sage and rosemary, strain it and add salt, you will get a green dye.

If you boil up purple onion skins then add salt, you get a sludgy lime green.

Make it up in the sink, dip in the material, stir it round, soak it for a bit, then wash it. Repeat until you get the right colour.

I haven't tried either of those; dying with tea bags has been my limit so far. But if nothing else you could have great fun doing tye-dying or something, just to test the colours!

That sounds interesting - maybe DD & I will have a go at the weekend (if I can get any purple onions...& think of a way of using them)