Why are there different colours and patterns in tea-dyed textiles?
Dyeing — or, more accurately, staining — with tea is not an exact science. Tea is a botanical product. Unlike manufactured dyes, a tea’s colouring qualities vary based on the tea’s source, processing, and form. Dyeing with certain teas produces a rosier result, with others a more golden or honey shade, and with still others you may get a browner “cocoa with milk” colour. Variations may occur from tea garden to tea garden, or from year to year within the same garden. We don’t add commercial dyes to “enhance” our tea dyeing so there is some randomness in the finished product. Additional factors that affect the final result are the fabric content and absorption factors of the textile being dyed; the piece’s position in the dye pot; and the original whiteness or coloration of the article. Even the weather can affect the finished product: On a sunny, warm day everything dries relatively quickly and more evenly, while a cooler or overcast day often results in slower and less even drying fo
