By Lindsey and Rustina, Contributing Writers
The world of natural dyes is so fun and fascinating! From berries, to leaves, to roots, humans have been using the resources around us to bring color to our everyday items. In line with what feels like an ancient tradition, we wanted to try to use these same methods to dye a more modern tradition, Easter Eggs!
We dug into the hows of using food for natural dyes, and wanted to share our experience and results with you!
Why Foods Can Color Eggs
There are many compounds in food that produce colors. These same compounds can be used to make natural dyes. Some of the compounds that produce colors are carotenoids, flavins, melanins, quinines, and tannins. There are other compounds as well. It is great that there are so many possibilities so we do not have to rely on artificial food dyes with their potential side effects.
The colors of each of these compounds can be altered by changing the pH. This is where the use of vinegar and baking soda come in! For example, another compound that provides color pigmentation in foods called anthocyanins has different stability levels in different pH levels. They are more stable at acidic levels bringing out more of the red pigment. The higher levels, or more alkaline levels, create a less stable and therefore more lightened coloring effect, especially for blues (baking soda creates more alkalinity).
Pop or Flop?
Our Dyes:
Cranberry
Blackberry Juice
Purple Cabbage and Turmeric
Paprika
Parsley
Red Onion Skins
Yellow Onion Skins
Spinach
Carrots
Black Beans
Black Tea
Coffee
Grape Juice
Red Zinger Hibiscus Tea
Methods for Extracting Colors
These dyes can be used for coloring eggs, fabric, wool, yarn, paper, or whatever you wish to dye! For more tips and inspirations, check out this video!
Fresh Food Color Extraction:
Step 1: Put 1 cup of chopped up, fresh herb/fruit/vegetable in a small pot on the stove or in an instant pot.
Step 2: Add 1 cup of water and simmer for 1 hour.
Step 3: After cooling, strain and pour into a jar.
To use or store: It can be used right away or put in the refrigerator to store for 1-2 weeks (depends on the properties of the herb/food).
Dried Food Color Extraction:
Step 1: Put ¼ cup of powdered or ½ cup of small, finely chopped herb/fruit/vegetable in a small pot on the stove or in an instant pot.
Step 2: Add 1 cup of water and simmer for 1 hour.
Step 3: After cooling, strain and pour into a jar.
To use or store: It can be used right away or put in the refrigerator to store for 1-2 weeks (depends on the properties of the herb/food).
Multi-Food Color Extraction
If you have multiple that you want to do at once, you can do a makeshift double boiler with multiple jars.
Step 1: Put 1 cup of chopped up, fresh herb/fruit/vegetable in a wide mouth jar.
Step 2: Add 1 cup of water to each jar.
Step 3: Place the jars in a wide pot of water (aiming for water ½ up the outside of the jars deep. Use the rings from the lids on the bottom of the jars to provide a thin spacer between the jar and the pot.
Step 4: After jars are inside the pot, turn on the burner to low-low/med, and let simmer for 1 hour.
Step 5: After cooling, strain and pour each into a new jar. You can use a tea towel with a lid on it as a strainer. Squeeze out excess water from the herbs/food also.
To use or store: It can be used right away or put in the refrigerator to store for 1-2 weeks (depends on the properties of the herb/food).
How To Use the Dyes
You can use the dyes as soon as they cool or place a lid on the jars and store in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. These can be used for eggs, fabric, paper, or any craft that takes water based dyes.
Tips for better coloring:
- Soak the eggs in the dye overnight
- Add vinegar for better results
Other Ideas to Add to Your Eggs
To add some texture or fun to your naturally dyed eggs, try some of these ideas:
- Add enough rice to the dye before adding the egg so the egg is surrounded once submerged
- Wrap the hard boiled eggs in the skins, leaves, or petals as they simmer.
- Press a flower against the egg before placing in the dye or while the egg is still wet
- Draw an image with a beeswax or candelilla wax
- Mix the colors to create a custom color – or a more vibrant color!
Notes:
From Lindsey:
As the way things go for moms, the day I decided to try this experiment was also the day the oven decided to stop working. I turned to my instant pot hoping to be able to deliver similar results to the stovetop options. I cooked my eggs in the instant pot as well as the dyes.
From Rustina:
The dyes worked lovely on fabric, but I was disappointed (or maybe too impatient lol) a bit with the egg coloring. I do have mostly brown eggs here from my chickens so that probably had a role in the coloring also (I aimed for using the lightest shades of tan though).
Conclusion
Pop or flop, dying eggs with food was a total learning experience for everyone! Even though we had done some research prior to dying, we were still surprised by the outcomes. For both of us, the experiment was extremely underwhelming. Almost none of the colors worked, and the ones that did had the potential to wipe off.
But we’ll both say this, kids giggling at the (somewhat putrid) smell of assortment fruits, herbs, seasoning and veggies all mixed together is priceless. We laughed at how disappointing the colorings were, and it feels good to check an experiment off the list.
