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Using tea to stain fabrics can change the look of a project, is all natural, and is safe and easier to use then dye. Tea staining can give a warm look to fabrics, or antique them. However, that isn't it. Certain types of tea can add purple, pink, yellow, or green colors to your fabrics.

1. Wash your fabrics.
This is an important step. It will remove and dust, dirt, or other stuff in the fabric. It will also wash away loose fibers from the fabric and drying it will shrink the fabric how much it is going to shrink.

2. Choose your tea and prepare it.
Choosing your tea is often an experimentation process. Most teas will leave fabrics a shade of brown or brownish green, however you can control color a lot buy trying things like hibiscus tea which will leave fabrics pink or chamomile which will leave fabrics greener. You can prepare the tea in hot water using a large pail, pan, or dish pan. If you have a large piece of fabric or more pieces of fabric you can also make it in the washer by filling the washer with the hot water setting. Add tea bags (about 4-6 for a pan or 6-10 for the washer, more can be used to make stronger tea). Let the tea steep for about ten to fifteen minutes, then remove all bags.

3. Soak your fabric.
Soak your fabric till desired color is achieved. This could be for twenty minutes or even over night. The longer you soak it the more prominent the color will be. If you want a lighter color it is best to check every ten or fifteen minutes after the initial twenty have passed. Once color has been achieved move on to the next step right away.

4. Rinsing the fabric.
Rinsing the fabric will help keep the color uniform and also remove the tea. The tea is acidic and can weaken the fabric over time if it isn't rinsed out. If you are doing this in a pan or similar container you can dump the tea water and add fresh. If you are doing it in the washer you can move the washer to the rinse cycle, the fabrics will be drained, and rinsed with little work for you.

5. Wash your fabric.
At this point you can wash your fabric with a small amount of detergent and then dry it as you normally would. It is recommended that you hang it out to dry, but this isn't necessary. You should set your dryer to low heat if you are drying it in the dryer though.

Now you can enjoy your naturally dyed fabrics. It is as simple as that and can make beautiful, natural fabrics. At this point you can take this dyed fabric and make anything you want!

Learn more about this author, Danelle Karth.
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