Years ago, I stumbled across an article by Rebecca Desnos, “Dyeing with nettles,” in which she shares how she achieved a beautiful green-blue hue from the stinging nettle plant. Knowing this plant is native to my area and could be found in forests and by waterways close to home, the idea of dyeing with them was very enticing. Thus, I headed into to woods in early spring to find some stinging nettle. I was completely unaware of how long of a process this would end up becoming.

The dye pot I have been using for years is a large stainless steel one, using it was my first mistake. Although Desnos mentions in her article that she uses an aluminum pot, “I find this is the key for getting the brightest colours. I get muddier/browner shades when using stainless steel,” I skipped over that comment and first tried using my stainless steel one. Unsurprisingly, this resulted in a beige colour. Aluminum is a reactive metal, as are copper and iron, and works to brighten the dye. Since my goal was to achieve green, it was very important to use an aluminum pot over my stainless steel one. Of course, I did not have one, so I took to Facebook Marketplace to try to find something affordable.

Once I got my hands on an aluminum pot, I headed back to the woods for more nettle. Doing the exact same process as before but with a different pot, I expected to find the results I was looking for. It was the exact same process as the one in the article I read so what could go wrong? Well, when extracting dye from nettle, you must be very mindful of not cooking the leaves so that you pull the green colour from them. If the water heats too much, the iron will dissolve out of the plant and into the water, introducing the darker colour as the iron oxidizes. Heating the plant over a shorter period at a temperature below a simmer ensures the chlorophyll (the photosynthetic cell in plants – provides the green colour) doesn’t break down. Consequently, the second attempt yielded the same results as the first attempt as I cooked the colour right out of the plant and allowed the iron to oxidize.

So, I began with my third attempt, heading back into the woods to find that the nettle had grown quite a bit since I started this experiment. I remembered reading somewhere that young leaves always yield the brightest colours, so I was unsure if it was too late in the season to achieve the green colour I wanted. Of course, I had to try anyway, the nettle was just about to begin flowering so I was able to pick it right at the last minute. My job with the third attempt was to keep the water at a temperature below simmer for less than 24 hours. Unfortunately, I immediately ruined this batch as I accidentally let it simmer. Determined to get this done, I rushed back to the woods for more nettle to try one more time this season. Amazingly, it worked, barely.

As you may have gathered, stinging nettle is very tricky to dye with. Even as it dyes the fabric green, the water looks very brown. For that reason, I only left the fabric in for about 10 minutes before pulling it out because I saw that it looked green, and it wasn’t worth letting it turn brown at this stage in the process. As a result, the fabric is only slightly dyed and especially through photos, the colour is barely noticeable.

 Although this experiment didn’t result in any crazy deep colours, I gained a stronger understanding of how to dye with this plant. I am looking forward to next spring when I can try again for a longer period, and even try with a copper mordant as well. Overall, this was a very successful experience and I hope that this finds another dyer who can learn from my mistakes!

Reference: Desnos, R. (April 30, 2018), Dyeing with nettles. https://rebeccadesnos.com/blogs/journal/dyeing-with-nettles