dyeing items using black tea

Popular items to dye with tea: lighter clothing, paper for art projects, or even lace. Great for antiquing.

Fill a container with enough water to fully submerge the item you are dyeing. It is best to select a container that you don't mind staining. It is also better to use a container that is lighter rather than darker in color so you can get a better feel for how dark your tea is. Boil water and add several tea bags in your chosen container. Allow tea bags to steep until water becomes appropriate darkness for you.

You can also cut a swatch of fabric and test dye for color depth and consistency so you can determine if you will need to leave your item in the dye longer or pull it sooner to get the shade you want.

Saturate your item with clear water and shake it out so that there are no folds or creases that might cause the tea dye to absorb unevenly and submerge the item in the tea dye. Then, remove the item from the tea dye when you have achieved your desired depth of color and rinse it in clear water until the water runs clean and hang your item out to dry.