Our natural dyes can be used to dye any natural fibres. You can use garments, fabric, yarn, unspun fleece, housewares such as napkins or tea towels and more. It should be 100% natural fibre, but can be cotton, linen, hemp, silk, wool, alpaca, mohair, etc. If your fibre has a very small amount of synthetic fibre, such as a t-shirt that is 95% cotton 5% elastine, or a sock yarn that is 95% wool, 5% nylon, it will still dye without much noticeable difference. However, if it has a higher synthetic content, such as a 50/50 cotton/polyester blend, it will greatly affect the colour. Only the cotton, or natural fibres, will dye, and the synthetic won't. In general, this will result in significantly paler shades.
Most commercially produced fibres, whether fabric, garment or housewares, are treated with a chemical sizing to help resist staining. Unfortunately this sizing may also repel the dyes themselves. This is why it is very important to wash all your fibres before dyeing them, and this is especially true for cotton, which may also contain natural waxes and pectins.
Heavier fabrics such as canvas tend to be very tightly woven and contain a lot of sizing. We don't recommend these for dyeing, at least not as a beginner.
We often get asked if It is possible to dye very large items, such as a sheet set or a duvet cover. It is indeed possible, but as a beginner this may present challenges. If you are aiming to dye the sheets all one colour, solid, with no variegations, it will be especially challenging as you will need vessels that are large enough that there is enough room for the fabric to move around freely in the vessel. For the Natural Dye Kit, these vessels will need to be something in which you can heat or cook the dyes. For the Indigo Kit, it may be simpler, as you can use a large plastic bucket, but again, if you would like it to be evenly dyed, it will be a challenge. If you are planning to do some kind of tie dye, it will be more possible, but keep in mind that you will likely only be able to acheive quite pale shades.