How to Dye Fabric with Beets

Make your own beetroot dye for fabrics!

By: Rebecca George from purpleandlime.com

Beetroot tie dye is easier than you think! Learn how to dye fabric with beets, both fresh and canned, yellow and red, with our tutorial!

From the Designer: "Vegetable dyes are a natural and inexpensive way to add color to your fabrics. Beets are one of the most versatile vegetables to use for this purpose. They are a deep pinkish-red color, though yellow varieties are available as well. Beetroot can even be used instead of traditional fabric dye options for tie dye!"

"The tie dye process using beets is simple and can be completed with supplies that are already in your kitchen. Let’s look at the steps to tie dye using beetroot, both canned and fresh!"

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How to Dye Fabric with Beets

Recommended Materials

Canned beets (they work best; red were used for this post) or canned beets (the color will be less vibrant)
Fabric to dye (lighter colors will show the beet dye more; natural fabrics are recommended rather than synthetic)
Rubber bands
Fabric scissors
Large bowl for dyeing
Disposable gloves
Apron (optional)

Using Canned vs Fresh Beets

Beets that are fresh can be used for tie dye. For this tutorial I focus on dyeing with canned because the color result is much brighter, but I will also show you how to use fresh beetroot. When using fresh beets the color will be less intense, but the smell won’t be as strong as canned.

Preparing Fresh Beets

Prep your beets by cleaning them and breaking off the green leaves on top. Carefully chop them into large chunks and place in a large heat-safe bowl. Slowly fill the bowl with hot water to get the color out of the beets. Allow them to soak.

Preparing Canned Beets

After opening the can, pour the excess beet juice water from the can into a large bowl. Place the beets in a separate container. The liquid will be used to tie dye.

Separate the canned beets from the liquid.

Note: If creating this project with children an adult should perform any steps involving chopping beets, using hot water, and operating a can opener.

Approximate time to complete: 1.5 hours

Step 1

Prepare your fabric to be tie-dyed. Place it on your work surface and fold, bunch, or roll it into bundles.

Need ideas for how to fold and rubber band your fabric? Explore 100+ Tie Dye Patterns and Techniques!

Step 2

Next, wrap the rubber bands tightly around the bundled fabric at intervals (either spaced evenly or randomly). They should be attached securely so they don’t come loose in the dye bath.

Wrap rubber bands tightly around the bundled fabric at intervals.

Step 3

Once the fabric is all banded it is ready to be dyed. Gently place the fabric bundles into the beet dye, making sure to submerge the entire bundle of material.

Submerge the fabric in the canned beet liquid.

Submerge the fabric in the fresh yellow beet dye.

Submerge the fabric in the fresh red beet dye.

Step 4

Keep checking to see how much beet dye has soaked into the fabric. Set a timer for increments of 5-10 minutes until the desired color is achieved.

Check the progress of the fresh yellow beet dye.

Check the progress of the fresh red beet dye.

Check the progress of the canned red beet dye.

The fabric in the canned red beet dye gets darker over time.

Step 5

Lift the bundles of cloth up from the beet water. Allow the excess water and dye to drip off below back into the bowl. Rinse the fabric in clean water, then place on a covered surface (paper towels are recommended).

Allow excess liquid to drip back into the dye bowl.

Step 6

Carefully clip off the rubber bands (using scissors) and dispose of them.

Step 7

Unfold and / or unroll the fabric and spread it out to dry.

Step 8

If the beet smell lingers you may want to hand or machine wash the fabric with a mild detergent. Be careful of any beet dye transfer from the fabric both before and after it is washed and dried.