Throughout history, people have dyed their textiles using familiar, locally available materials and archaeologists have discovered evidence of textile dyeing dating as far back as the Neolithic period. Plants, invertebrates and minerals are all sources of natural dyes with the majority derived from plant sources such as roots, berries, bark, leaves, lichen and fungi.
There are a vast number of plants from which you can obtain dye. I have always presumed that most of them would produce decidedly earthy colours compared to the bright synthetic dyes we take for granted in modern life. I could not have been more wrong.
Please note that not all lichens produce a dye so please do your research before you forage for them. Many grow exceptionally slowly, so it is essential to gather responsibly to avoid damaging colonies. We currently have two lichen dye projects on the go.
Ochrolechia Tartarea
Also known as Cudbear, this lichen was traditionally used in the Highlands of Scotland to produce a vivid purple dye. Growing almost exclusively in the far North of Scotland, the sample I used I purchased from a lovely lady at the Wilderness Gathering who is an expert on Natural Dyeing. This lichen needs to be fermented in an ammonia solution to extract the intense colour which can range from bright pinks and purples to maroon.
Evernia Prunastri
More commonly known as Oakmoss this widespread lichen is found growing throughout the northern hemisphere. Used extensively in perfume production it can often be found on the ground beneath oak trees making it an easy lichen to gather. I collected the jar full that I’ve used in the dye below from the ground during my dog walks. I typically find a couple of pieces each day. Utilizing the ammonia method outlined below it yields a lilac/purple dye, alternatively, a yellow colour can be prepared by just boiling the Oakmoss in water.
Preparing lichen dye
Half fill a glass jar with the lichen. Add a mixture of one part ammonia to two parts water. Oxygen is required for the chemical reaction to take place, so the advice is to fill the jar three-quarters full with the solution and to remove the lid to replenish the oxygen every so often. Keep the jar in a warm place and shake vigorously each day. The dye should be left to ferment for at least three months to achieve an intense dye colour.
To use the Lichen Dye
Pour half of the lichen dye liquid through a strainer into a saucepan. Return the strained lichens to the jar and top up with a new ammonia/water mix – you should get another couple of batches before you lichen is ‘spent’.
Add water to your dye pot and submerge the material you are dyeing (having prepared it by soaking in water first). Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about an hour or until you achieve the colour you want. Remove your dyed product and leave to dry. A new wet item can be added to the pot once the dye has cooled and the process repeated.
Each subsequent dye will be lighter as the dye pot becomes exhausted resulting in a colour variation. Our photos show this in the three darkest skeins. The lighter ones were achieved by popping the wool skeins in the bath for a minute or two before removing them. The dye we used for all the skeins, and the unspun fleece came from the Ochrolechia Tartarea lichen. The Evernia Prunastri is still steeping, and we will share our results from that in a future post.
Lichen dye does not need a mordant. The colour will fix and should not fade. Some lichen dyes are photo-sensitive so the dyed item will change colour when exposed to intense sunlight. I hope to experiment with one of these lichens soon.
For more traditional nature craft inspiration check out our How to Make Oak Gall Ink and our How to Make Pine Resin Salve Posts.
38 comments
Hello!
Concerning the question: mordant or not, I’d like to quote for you a short sequence from Finlay J. McDonalds Omnibus, where he delivers the traditional recipe for dyeing with lichens:
‘On the day, a peat fire would be lit in the stones, and the big pot filled. First a layer of washed fleece, then a good thick sprinkling of crotal, another layer of fleece, another layer of crotal and so on, tier upon tier, till the pot was almost full, leaving just room for water. The whole chauldron was then boiled for several hours with the addition of only extra water to keep it from boiling dry and one handful of common sorrel to fasten the dye. At the end of the day the fleeces where a rich dark red …’
What do you say to this? You have a different experience and anyway your colours are wonderful! Greetings from rural Germany,
Thanks for the information Wolfgang. Sorrel grows in the fields where I live so I’ll be experimenting come spring. I’ve never seen it referenced before with regard to dyeing so thank you for sharing the recipe with me 🙂
I’m about to dye
My first piece!! Dye has been stewing since
December. Using Evernia Prunastri.
How exciting, do letter me know how it turns out 🙂
Have you ever tried extracting dye from lichens using an urine vat? I live in Switzerland and can’t find ammonia (I think it’s a banned substance here!), but have collected a jar full of oakmoss and so am researching alternatives.
I haven’t Deborah but it’s how our ancestors used to make dye so no reason why it wouldn’t work. Would love to hear how it works out if you try it 🙂
Hi Sarah, is there a difference with ‘cloudy ammonia’?
Thanks
Donna
I think cloudy ammonia has detergent adding to it. I’ve no idea if that would work but I suspect it would be more dilute than the one I used
Hi, could you help me with some information on ammonia. I’ve no idea what that is or how to find it and I’m desperate to try making a lichen dye! Thanks
Hi Beth Ammonia is a chemical often used as a cleaning product. I used this one on Amazon https://amzn.to/30p1mJt but you should also find it in hardware stores. You want the household strength ones which are around 10-12% ammonia. Good luck with making your dye 🙂
These dyes are absolutely beautiful, but what is ammonia? I’ve googled it and have a few answers but it would be really helpful to have some more details from you. Do you buy the ammonia/mix it yourself? Looking forward to hearing from you.
Hi Beth Ammonia is a chemical often used as a cleaning product. I used this one on Amazon https://amzn.to/30p1mJt but you should also find it in hardware stores. You want the household strength ones which are around 10-12% ammonia. Good luck with making your dye
I will Sarah. We had some rough weather last night and we managed to walk our whippet earlier. I picked a bread bag full of lichen off windfall branches.
I’m finding loads as well atm David. I always seem to have pockets full of it 🙂
Hello. What a wonderful article. There are a lot of lichens in our local parks and woods and a lot of it is on windfall branches so it is sustainable to gather them. I like to dye feathers and furs ( recycled fur coats etc, i have a conscience ) for fly tying. I wondered if you have tried using lichen dyes in the microwave oven as some people do with kool aid
Thank you David, no I haven’t. I’d love to hear how you get on if you do try it 🙂
Isn’t vinegar a mordant in some cases?
Yes it’s one of the more common mordants 🙂
Hi, glad I found your page, I have some Cudbear, which I also got from the Wilderness Gathering. I haven’t started it yet as I was unsure when’s it said an ammonia liquid. Can I ask what you use and where you get it?
Thank you!
Hi Sarah-Jayne. It’s a fab festival isn’t it – we loved it. I got this one off Amazon https://amzn.to/2CwVy5c and followed the instructions that came with the lichen although I was a bit rubbish at remembering to take the lid off the jar ever so often and to shake the jar regularly – as you can see it still worked beautifully. I think I still have the printed instructions somewhere, so if you need them just shout 🙂
Thanks for posting about this. I THINK I have a tree with the oakmoss lichen growing on it. Bits keep falling off. I often used to save bits but had no idea you could dye with them. I’ve been dyeing with Alum, iron and vinegar and trying every plant left in my garden, leaves are falling fast from trees though.
Can I get prints from leaves with using lichen to dye with instead of fruit teas and alum, iron and vinegar? Might be next year before I’ve collected enough lichen though.
I often find oak moss lichen on the ground Fran when it has come out of trees so it sounds like that is what you are finding Fran. I never thought to try eco printing with it. I have tried sticking it in alcohol as technically its edible – it didn’t colour it particularly so I think you need the ammonia to release the colour but I’d love to hear how you get on if you do try it and I’ll let you know if I come up with anything too 🙂
Your colors are amazing! I am on vacation and just collected some moss to try dyeing some yarn. I won’t be home for a couple of days. How do you recommend me keeping it till I get home? Right now it’s in plastic zip lock bags.
We were delighted with the colours Kelly. I should think the moss will be fine in the zip lock bags for a couple of days. If you think its very moist inside the bag you could leave them open to allow air to circulate a little. Good luck with your dyeing – I’d love to hear how it goes 🙂
Hi Sarah. Having woven an item with lichen-dyed wool, l need to full it.
What can you suggest to add the hot water to prevent colour loss. Salt? Vinegar?
Lichen dyes usually don’t need a mordant Marion so I’d hope your wool would be colourfast. What lichen did you use?
Hi Sarah. I am a research scholor interested in lichen dyes and its fastness properties. Can we have a personal discussion about this.
Waiting for your reply
Hi Pavithra. Drop me an email at sarah@craftinvaders.co.uk and let me know what you need 🙂
Hi Sarah, do you just simmer the wool without stirring – I’m worried that my wool will felt otherwise. Would you recommend dying the wool in the raw state or skeins -which produced the most consistent colour?
Fabulous post by the way, I’m inspired! Would love to see more posts on natural dyes.
Hi Diane. No I didn’t stir mine although I did use a wooden spoon to push everything right into the dye to start. I think the raw wool did show a slightly more consistent colour but I’d say that there wasn’t much in it. Thank you for your questions and feedback, I will do some more posts – I have some oakmoss dye which should be ready and am also growing dyers camomile to try out 🙂
Thanks Sarah, I just started 2 batches today, one oak moss and the other is (I think) a flavoparmelia strain, can’t wait to see how they turn out! How long did it take for the colour to change -they are both a murky green at the moment I’ve grown a double red sweetcorn this year and the cobs, husks and stalks are a deep burgundy colour which runs when boiled, I’m going to attemp to dye a small amount of wool with it. Thanks again for getting me started on this
It took at least 2 or 3 weeks for them to look more like dye and less like pond water. I was a bit rubbish at remembering to take the lids off to let oxygen in but I did think that they started to change a day or so after I did that on one occasion. The sweetcorn sounds gorgeous – please do let me know how it works out!
This is so cool! One would never have thought that something that color could produces such a pretty colored dye.
It’s an amazing colour isn’t it Linda. My daughter and I were delighted when it started changing colour in the jar:)
What’s a “mordant”? This is such fascinating info! I’m so totally surprised that those rather blah-looking lichens produce such vibrant colors! Berries yielding dye I can understand, but lichens! Fascinating! What color were the skeins to start with? Is this what is meant by “organic” yarns?
A mordant is a chemical that fixes dye Florence. The skeins were off white so straight from white sheep without having been bleached or anything and organic means grown or produced without the use of any artificial chemicals such as pesticides (organic food is big over here in the UK)
You always do the coolest projects! I knew that you make dyes from plants, but I had no idea that you could get such beautiful colors!
Thanks Jess, it is a beautiful colour – I’ve definitely got the natural dye bug now !