Dyeing With Curly Dock Seeds

The seeds of CURLY DOCK provide a warm rose-brown color when used as dye. This post walks you through dyeing with dock seeds, step by step.

It's August, and right now it seems there's not a single square foot of my backyard that doesn't boast some plant I can either tincture, or dye things with.

They call to me, these potent plants, like a kid eager to show off their latest new skill - "Look at meeeee!"

My biggest problem in August is just not having enough to time dye all the stuff and tincture all the things...along with enjoying the exploits of my actual children, and putting up food from the garden for winter, of course!

Thankfully, many dye plants are very forgiving about being gathered while dry and then shoved in a big bag for later in the season when we all have more time. Curly Dock is one of those easy, obliging plants, and I love her for it.

Identifying curly dock

Curly dock (Rumex Crispus, also called Yellow Dock) plants are quite easy to spot at any time of the year, because of their long leaves with a ruffled or curly look to the edge. Pull one of the plants out of the ground, and you'll find that their roots are quite yellow, which is why it's also known by the name of "Yellow Dock" (it actually shares this name with Broad Leaved Dock, Rumex obtusifolius).

While named for its leaves, I actually think the most outstanding feature possessed by this member of the dock family, is the large, tall spikes of almost fluffy-looking brown seeds that stand high above the ground from the end of summer until next spring. It's not uncommon to go for a winter walk, and see fluttering brown stalks of dock seeds poking bravely up out of the snow, like flags. These are sturdy, sturdy plants.

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Preparing a dye bath from curly dock seeds

To turn these beautiful brown seeds into dye is easy. The trickiest part of the whole project is having patience while the dye steeps, and then while the fabric absorbs the color.

Start by gathering enough dock seeds so that the volume is about equal to that of the fabric you wish to dye. Thankfully, curly dock plants are very prolific, so you can often get a huge amount of seeds from even a few plants.

Unless you want to, there's really no need to de-stem the dock seeds. I've dyed with them both totally de-stemmed, and also with the stems still on, and have not noticed a difference in the quality or color of my dye bath. Since the stems don't provide a strong color like the seeds though, you'll want to use a little extra if you're leaving stems on - aim for having the seeds equal nearly the volume of your fabric, and any stems just get plopped in as extra.

Add curly dock seeds to the dye pot, then fill with enough non-chlorinated water to cover the dock seeds by about an inch or two. Over medium heat, warm the dye pot until it's lightly simmering. Gently simmer for 10 minutes.

Cover the dye pot (this is really just to keep flies out and odors in), and allow the dye pot to sit for at least 12 hours (I always aim for 24). I know. This isn't what most natural dye sites tell you, and it's probably not what you want to hear. BUT - after working with dock seeds quite a bit, I really feel the best dye baths are created with a long steep following a brief simmer, rather just simmering the seeds for an hour. I feel the difference in the quality of the final dyed material is noticeable enough that it's more than worth the extra time that goes into this method.

While your seeds are steeping, give them a stir every now and again, being sure to keep plant material well submerged. After 12-24 hours, when the dye bath is looking good and strong, drain off the dye bath to remove all plant material.

If you're working with a large volume, I find it works well to drain the whole bath through a thin floursack tea towel into a clean 5-gallon bucket. (Keep in mind whatever fabric you strain this through will get dyed!)

Gather up the edges of the tea towel to contain all the wet plant material, and use the towel to squeeze any remaining liquid from the plants into the dye bath. Discard the plant material.

Rinse the dye pot to remove any lingering seeds, then pour the finished dye bath back into the pot.

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Dyeing the fabric

Start by re-heating the dye pot just to a light simmer, then turn off the heat. Now add your fabric to the dye bath. (If there's not enough liquid to fully cover the fabric, you may need to add some water so that the fabric is fully covered and can move freely when stirred.)

If you're working with cotton or linen fabric, I've found the best results when letting the fabric sit in the dye bath for a full 24 hours, stirring occasionally. (I have actually at times allowed some articles to go for 48 hours, resulting in a brown that looks very much like acorn dye. I very slightly prefer the stronger rose tones that shine through and seem to peak with a soak of about 24 hours.)

Wool materials will take the color more quickly, and may be ready after only a few hours. Check your fabric periodically, and when it seems as dark and vivid as you'd like, it's ok to go ahead and remove it. Keep in mind that fabric will look lighter once it's dried.

Very lightly squeeze out excess liquid from your fabric, then lay it to dry. If you have old rags that you don't mind being permanently colored, you can lay down a layer of rags and allow your fabric to dye flat. I generally hang my damp fabric to dry on my clothes line.

An important note: It may seem wrong to let your fabric dry without "rinsing until water is clear" as nearly every guide to natural dyeing will tell you. However, I find that fabric allowed to dry and cure without being rinsed, and then washed later, is drastically more likely to remain colorfast for long amounts of time, even when worn and used daily, and even when tossed in the regular wash with all the other household laundry.

Curing naturally dyed fabric

Once the fabric is dry, let it sit somewhere out of the sun, to "cure" for at least a day. (Two or three is honestly even better, if only you can force yourself to wait! Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't...)

Now, you can go ahead and wash your fabric. I generally put my dyed fabrics right in the washing machine and wash them in a short cold/cold cycle. If you really want to be gentle with your fiber, there's no harm in gently washing it by hand. This is the time when you're going to rinse and rinse until the water runs clear, as most tutorials will instruct you to do, right after removing from the dye bath.

The washed fabric can then be dried on the line or even right in the dryer. Dyed fabric can now be worn or worked with, and really requires very little special care. To preserve colors as long as possible, wash only when necessary, in cold or cool water, with a gentle detergent.

Frequently Asked Questions about dyeing with dock seeds

How light-fast is dye made from dock seeds?

I've found this to be quite a long-lasting dye. It holds up very well to being washed in the regular household laundry, using a hot/cold cycle. Even when dried on a clothesline, in bright sunshine, I have not found dock-seed dye to be prone to bleaching out or lightening. For comparison, this is a much longer lasting dye than goldenrod, but not quite as colorfast as devil's beggartick.

Do you need to put a mordant in this dye bath?

No, you really don't need to include alum, or any other mordant in with the dock seeds and water. This dye bath works well alone.

Should fabric be pre-mordanted?

It's never a bad idea to pre-mortant your fabric. However, as long as the fabric you're using is 100% natural (cotton, linen, or wool), I have not found it necessary to pre-mordant my fabrics. I have used fabric that was mordanted in alum, as well as un-mordanted fabric, and have not found a very significant difference in the results. If you are trying this with a fabric that has man-made materials in it (like a cotton/polyester blend), I would suggest the taking the time to mordant the fabric before dyeing it. You can read my tutorial on dyeing with goldenrod to learn how.

Do you have any questions I haven't answer here? Ask away in the comments below!

Happy dyeing!!

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy:
✦ Dyeing with Peach Leaves
✦ Dyeing With Goldenrod
✦ Dyeing With Devil's Beggartick
✦ How to Dye Paper With Plants
✦ Dye Plants to Forage in Fall