Tea Dying Table Linens!

Hi!



I haven't posted in a while and I have a bit of time on my hands...wait until you hear why lol.



I am dying white table linens in tea water.



You read correctly. I couldn't find any ivory table linens anywhere (at a reasonable price) and I just couldn't bring myself to buy plastic....well, I take that back, I bought plastic and then returned them today lol!


I found a plethora of white but it just wouldn't have matched the "fallish" color scheme for Camille and Jordan's wedding shower tomorrow so I am trying out this crazy method and hoping that they turn out ivory, or ecru...either one..I'm not picky at this point...well...not THAT picky!



I have never done this or even read anything telling me how to do it so I'm just playing it by ear (Yes, I'm sanguine!).

I filled Lorin's tub with hot water and threw a bunch of tea bags in there and let the linens soak for about 15 mins. I plan on putting them on the spin cycle and then drying them on super high heat in the dryer to set the "stain". Here are some before pics...hopefully the after pics will be decent! lol

Ok, I saved this post and actually googled tea dying....turns out I'm not doing it the way any one tells you to do it ROFL! BUT, I just put my first 2 in the dryer and they actually look really good. One encouraging thing I read is that this method is "romantic"...why, I have no idea..maybe it's from the Victorian era....everything was romantic then!

Going to check the dryer.....

Ok, they are a little darker but not much...maybe just 1 shade. Time for a different method.

After reading the little bit that I read I have come to the conclusion that boiling tea is the key to success. The temp sets the stain more effeciently..duh...should have thought of that. I found a relatively easy method online and that is what I'm trying now.

I brought a large pot of water with 10 tea bags to a rolling boil. While this was boiling I turned my washing machine on for a small load and let it fill. I then poured the boiling tea water in the washing machine and let it agitate for a min. Then I added the linens and am now letting them agitate...they are already darker after 3 mins. I'll skip the rinse and go straight to spin and then to the dryer. I'm confident this method will work. It's 3:00 a.m. so if it doesn't then I will just be finding a different solution in the morning! lol

Ok, so far so good. Actually, I am going to let them rinse due to some tea leaves on them. That should take care of that. Ok, I'm going to bed. I'll set these to dry as soon as the rinse and spin are over and I'll post pics in the morning! G'night!