How to Dye with Avocado: A Beginner Guide

Avocado pits and skins are a free, fun natural dye. They give soft blush pinks, peaches and dusty rose, and browner tones depending on the avocados and your water. This beginner guide covers everything you need to know to dye fabric with avocado.

Before you start

How much avocado do you need?

The amount depends on how deep you want the color and how much fabric you want to dye. As a starting point, collect the pits and skins of 5–10 avocados for about 100 g of fabric. More avocado gives deeper color. Clean pits and skins can be frozen or dried until you have enough.

Every avocado is different

Different varieties, and even how ripe the fruit is, give different shades. Expect some trial and error. That is part of the fun.

Choose a natural fabric

Natural dyes work only on natural fibers such as cotton, linen, hemp, wool and silk. Synthetic fabrics will not take the color. Wool and silk usually give the strongest pinks. Browse our undyed fabric by the yard and dye-ready blanks.

Prepare the fabric

Always scour the fabric first. Avocado contains tannin, so it binds to fibers without a mordant, but a mordant gives deeper, longer-lasting color. For cotton and linen, use a tannin such as oak gall and then alum; for wool and silk, alum alone. See how to prepare fabric for natural dyeing.

Remove all the flesh

Scrape off every bit of avocado flesh with a spoon and wash the pits and skins well. Leftover flesh can turn the dye brown.

Mind your water

Avocado pinks like slightly alkaline water. If your pinks look brown or dull, add a pinch of baking soda to the dye bath. Filtered water or rainwater can also give clearer colors.

How to dye with avocado, step by step

1. Put the clean avocado pits and skins in a stainless steel pot and cover them with cold water.
2. Heat gently and keep the bath hot but below a simmer, around 80 °C (175 °F), with the lid on. Do not boil: high heat turns avocado dye brown.
3. Check the color every half hour. After 1–2 hours the water should be deep pink to red-brown. For deeper color, leave the bath to steep overnight and heat it again.
4. Strain out the pits and skins.
5. Add the wet fabric and keep the bath warm for an hour, then leave the fabric in the bath for several hours or overnight, stirring now and then.
6. Rinse the fabric and wash it with a mild, pH-neutral soap.
7. Dry it in the shade. The color will be a little lighter when dry.

Tips

• Cut or crush the pits to release more color.
• A short iron dip turns avocado pink to mauve or gray. See purple and brown shades from plant dyes.
• Use the exhaust bath for paler pinks on a second batch.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a mordant for avocado dye?

No, because avocado is rich in tannin. A mordant does make the color deeper and more lasting.

Why did my avocado dye turn brown?

Usually because of leftover flesh, too much heat or acidic water. Keep the bath below a simmer and add a little baking soda.

Related: Natural dyes that don't need a mordant · How to dye with onion skins · Natural red and pink dyes