How to Dye Fabric With Avocado Pits (5-Steps With Pictures)
Did you know you can dye your clothes with avocado pits? Natural dye is not only better for you and the environment, but the colors are also beautiful and earthy!
While there are dozens of fruits and vegetables you can use, this guide is all about how to dye clothes with avocado pits!
What You’ll Need
2-3 pieces of fabric or clothing
10-15 avocado pits
1 large pot
1 large wooden spoon
Liquid laundry detergent
Rubber bands or string (if you want to tie-dye)
Important Notes
Storage: I store my avocado pits in a plastic freezer bag in the freezer until I am ready to use them! Just add to the bag as you eat avocados.
Cleaning: Ensure your avocado pits are fully clean before you store them. There should not be any avocado flesh (the green, edible part) on them.
Color: Different varieties of avocado can produce different dye colors. Other variables that can contribute to color differences are pH, length of time in the pot, type of mordant, and water temperature.
1. Prepare the Fabric
Your fabric must be 100% natural fiber like cotton, linen, or hemp. Otherwise, the dye will not adhere to the fibers.
2024 Update: This post originally recommended simmering the fabric in a pot of water with laundry detergent for a few hours before dyeing it.
While this does not hinder the dyeing process and is exactly what I did, I now recommend “mordanting” your fabric instead of this step.
Mordanting is the process of soaking the fabric in a solution of water and mordant (types of mordant vary) to prepare the fabric fibers so they can receive the natural dye.
I’m not an expert in Mordant, but Botanical Colors has a great guide on different types of Mordants and Suzanne Dekel has an in-depth guide on Aluminum-based mordants!
2. Create the Dye Bath
Put your clean avocado pits in a second pot and fill the pot about 2/3 of the way with water.
If you don’t have a second pot, you can wait until the fabric is done simmering and rise out that pot to use for the avocado pits.
Simmer the pits for 2-3 hours with the lid on. If you boil them on high heat, the color may go brown instead of pink.
After the pits have been simmering on low for a few hours, check on the dye and give it a good stir with your spoon. It will look dark pink.
Remove the avocado pits once the dye bath has reached your desired color.
3. Tie the Fabric (Optional)
If you do not want to tie-dye your fabric, skip to the next step!
If you do want to tie-dye your fabric, use rubber bands or string to tie your fabric in the desired design.
Note: Keep in mind that the entire piece of fabric/clothing will be submerged in the dye. You will not be able to do multiple colors or dye just part of the fabric.
3. Add Your Fabric to the Dye
Add your prepared fabric to the pot with the pits once your avocado pit dye bath looks like a deep pinkish hue.
Completely submerge and soak the fabric with a spoon or spatula.
Simmer for 2-3 hours, covered, on low heat OR turn off the heat and leave the fabric in the pot, covered, for 1-3 days.
The longer you leave it, the darker and more intense the color will be!
4. Remove and Dry Fabric
When ready, carefully remove the fabric from the dye bath and put it into the sink or a clean bin.
Cut off the string/rubber bands (if you used any) and unfurl all the fabric. Do not rinse.
Dry the fabric flat on a towel or hang it dry. I recommend putting it in a shady spot to avoid any sun bleaching.
5. Wash the Dyed Fabric
Let your dyed fabric dry completely before washing. To preserve the dye, wash with mild detergent (again, I use Seventh Generation) on the gentle cycle.
I washed mine on the normal cycle in warm-hot water and it did not have any noticeable fading, but I recommend you stick to a cold wash on the gentle cycle!
2024 Update
FIVE years since I dyed my clothes with avocado pits, they have been worn and washed dozens and dozens of times.
The color has almost completely faded, likely because I did not use a mordant to prepare my fabric. The color first faded to a brownish-pink before fading to an off-white.