Tea Dyed Tablecloth

Posted by Lori:

This isn't a recipe post, but an idea that might interest you:  How to dye a tablecloth with tea.

Tonight was an annual ladies' salad supper that I host each spring.  (You can read about the gathering here.)  This morning, as I began getting ready for the event, I realized that I didn't have a tablecloth that would go with the brown/cream paper plates I had bought.  However, I did have a white tablecloth.

I thought about my wedding....22 plus years ago.  I didn't want anything white - only ivory (because I don't think I look good in white and "ivory" was the "in" color....along with country blue and mauve :).  SOOOO, mom and I dyed some of the white things we had for the wedding with tea.

Place tea bags in water and microwave until it boils. 

Allow it to sit for a few minutes to get more concentrated. (I did this process three times adding it to the washing machine as described below.)

Start washer and fill to desired water level.  Add tea...as much as needed depending on color needed. It smelled so good!  Different than the typical laundry load, but good, still!

Place fabric/cloth in tea/water.  Close lid or do what needs to be done to cause washer to begin to spin....but only for a few seconds....just to get the tea/water dispersed and the fabric/cloth immersed.

Allow to soak for an hour or more, until desired color shade is reached.  (Mine could have been a little darker, but I was impatient and in a hurry!)

Dry fabric/cloth and use as desired.

Now, suppose you want to dye it back white or you want it darker.  To make it white, you could bleach it, but you can also use Cascade dishwashing powder!  I remember we did that when working on the wedding items.  And, if you want it darker, just repeat the steps listed above.