Transfer the natural colours and shapes of flowers and onion skins onto paper. Discover how to create crisp, vibrant eco-prints using steam and a few simple tools. 

 Materials

• Paper - I've used handmade cotton rag paper. You can use any kind of matt paper (it won't work if it's shiny).
• Alum mordant (potassium aluminium sulphate or aluminium sulphate) — this will help the dyes bind to the paper and is essential for crisp prints. You can buy this from natural dye supply shops e.g. Botanical Colors in the US, and Wild Colours in the UK.
• A large container to soak your paper in the alum mordant solution.
• Rubber gloves to protect your skin from the alum mordant.
• Plants for printing — I've used pressed dyer's coreopsis flowers, marigold petals and onion skins (yellow & red).
• A glass bottle to wrap your paper around (it needs to be larger than the width of your paper).
• Fabric to wrap around the bottle to hold the paper against the glass.
• String or fabric ribbon to tie up the bundle. I ripped up an old sheet to make ribbon.
• A large pot for steaming, with a lid.
• A vegetable steaming insert (or other mesh tray) to hold the bottle out of the water.

The equipment needs to be a set dedicated just to natural dyeing, so you can't use your kitchen pots and tools. Some of these ingredients aren't edible, so it's important to use separate equipment.

Safety Guidelines

Before you do this project, please read through these safety notes. This is not an exhaustive list so please also use your common sense and judgement. Your safety is your responsibility.

• When gathering any plants, take care when identifying them and if you need help, consult a reliable book or a knowledgeable friend. Remember that some plants are toxic, so only dye with plants that you can correctly identify as non toxic.
• Be extra cautious if children are helping with any projects.
• Use a separate set of equipment reserved for dyeing – i.e not your kitchen pot, steaming insert and other items. This is because many dye plants aren't edible, and mordant powders certainly aren't edible. You don't want to introduce these potentially toxic ingredients to your kitchen pots and contaminate them. It's best practice to keep a separate set of equipment. Look for secondhand items in thrift/charity shops.
• When you are heating dye pots, make sure you have good air flow. Keep a window open and don’t stand over a steaming pot and breathe in the vapour.
• Wear gloves to protect your skin from steam, dyes and mordants.
• Wear thick gloves when opening steaming pots, as the steam can scald your wrists very quickly.
• Keep dyes and mordants away from children, pets and food.
• Mordants: Wear a dust mask when working with any fine mordant powders to protect your nasal passages, throat and lungs. Wear rubber gloves to protect your skin. Follow the safety information that is supplied from the shop where you bought your mordant powders.

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