How to Tea Dye Muslin

Last Updated: March 4, 2021

Tea dyed muslin gives a great effect to otherwise ordinary cloth. It enables you to instantly create cloth that looks antique without all the problems associated with older fabric. It is best to wash fabric/muslin before tea dyeing, to remove all factory starch.

Steps

1
Place six to eight tea bags per one to two litres of water in a saucepan.
2
Bring the water to the boil.

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3
Turn off the heat and remove it to a cooler spot.
4
Push the muslin into the boiled tea solution and gently move it around to ensure that all the muslin is covered. Use a wooden stick or spoon to do this.
5
Leave the muslin to soak for 20 to 30 minutes.
6
Drain the tea and rinse the muslin in cold water.
7
Hang the muslin up to dry. It will look quite dark when it is wet but it will dry to a much lighter shade.

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Community Q&A

Question

If I wash it afterward, will the tea stains come out?

T. Chinsen

Top Answerer

The fabric will retain a sepia color after washing. Use of bleach, however, will remove the tea dye coloration. After the dyed fabric is air dried, place it in the dryer on high heat to lock in the color. This makes it last longer if fading is a concern.
Question

How do I save this article?

Community Answer

The first option would be to create a WikiHow account and click "Save" at the top of the article. If you don't want to do that, you could bookmark the page in your web browser or email yourself the link.
Question

I want it to turn relatively dark, will it get darker with more teabags?

T. Chinsen

Top Answerer

Use a black tea instead of a mixed tea to get a deeper shade of sepia. Most teas will make more of a beige coloration on cotton. For anything darker, coffee can make browner tones, depending on how dark the coffee beans were roasted.