Rejuvenate With Natural Dye
2 Materials
$15
2 Days
Easy
I bought two cute Ikea ottomans second hand for very cheap and obviously they had many stains on the covers. I've had them for maybe two years (I hate to admit) and I have tried just about everything to get them clean. Bleach, scrubbing, vinegar, all of the tricks and nothing has worked. Finally I caved and decided to straight up dye them.
This is what I was working with. They look great in my space, but they were just so dirty.
The close up, so you can really tell what I was working with. After searching the internet, I saw a gorgeous photo of a white pillow dyed a beautiful orange/yellow with Turmeric. I had a whole jar full and I must admit its not my go to spice, so I decided to give it a try!
First I mixed the dye. This part was really simple; I dumped a ton of turmeric in a pot, added some water and gave it a good mix. I wasn't so keen on how yellow it was looking, so I added a little bit of curry and a bit of a Yemenite soup mix that was of a similar color. I gave it a good mix and was happy with the color. I let this sit on the flame for about an hour and a half.
I took the covers off and let them sit in cold water for about 10 minutes. I was trying to go for an ombre look, so I divided the cover in three parts, dipping each section for a different amount of time in five minute intervals while the dye was still warm. So the bottom sat for 5 minutes, the middle sat for 10 and the top sat for 15 minutes. I used a large mixing spoon balanced on the edge to help keep a little bit of a white section between each section to give it a cool look.
I put the covers to dry on my porch overnight to make sure the dye really set in before rinsing.
After a rinse and another dry, the covers look great! Don't mind my sleepy dog 
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 28 comments
-
Im definitely going to try this, I wonder if the covers we're light blue what color it will be? If anyone tried it on a colored material first let me know.
-
your sleeping dog is adorable! i appreciate idea to use spices. i have read about doing that but you made it seem less complicated. thanks.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Beautiful! Do you smell the turmeric and curry?
You didn't use a mordant to make sure the color stays?
Did you do the table also? It's very nice.