Black tea dye
Dye Experiment Materials:
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10 bags of Bigelow Constant Comment tea
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2 bags of Bigelow Constant Comment tea
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(pre-washed) cotton, wool, and silk fabric (cut into 9x9" squares)
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pot (not used for cooking)



Left to right: felted wool, silk habotai, and cotton broadcloth
Fabric Preparation​
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Cut fabric into numerous 9x9" squares.
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Pour 8 cups (or 0.5gal) of water into a pot and bring to a boil.
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Mix 0.5 cup of alum with 1/4 cup of hot water.
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Add alum mixture to boiling pot.
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Add fabric to pot and let it simmer for twenty minutes.
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Let fabric in pot cool down.
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Once the pot is cooled down, take fabric out and rinse it under warm water.
Dye bath
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Add 12 cups (or 0.75gal) of water to a pot.
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Put 12 tea bags into pot. (The ratio of tea to water should be one tea bag per cup of water.)
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Bring water to boil.
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Add fabric and simmer for one hour.
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After simmering, turn off heat and let fabric soak overnight. (I soaked mine for a total of 14 hours.)
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Rinse fabric until water runs clear.