Natural Colored Cotton

Wouldn't it be nice if there were natural colored cotton that didn't require any chemical dyes to produce colors? There is! Just like the natural colors in sheep, we have natural colors growing in cotton fiber, too.

Properties

Naturally colored cotton has a short staple, so it requires more patience and skill to spin.

You can deepen color by washing the cotton yarn item in high pH. Try adding some washing soda or baking soda to the laundry, and intensify the color with exposure to heat by using a hot water washer and dryer.

You could also boil the yarn before using it. This also sets the twist. Boil it for 20 to 40 minutes.

Green cotton turns tan with exposure to sunlight over time. A drop of something acidic will make a yellow spot that washes out when a high pH soap is used.

Production

Cotton fiber is harvested from the seed pod of the cotton plant. It requires a long growing season and needs moderate rain or requires irrigation. Cotton pods have sharp edges, so sometimes people receive cuts when harvesting it.

Natural colored cotton is native to the Americas. It's naturally more pest resistant. White cotton became more popular because it could be dyed any color, just as white sheep became more popular than colored sheep. The colored cotton also has a shorter staple so it's harder to spin.

There have been improvements to the fiber properties thanks to the breeding of Sally Fox who owns several patents related to colored cotton. She started Foxfibre® with cotton available in several shades of brown and green. She's also developing flame-resistant properties. See the website from the Smithsonian about women inventors for more info.

Recommended Reading

These books have some great cotton patterns and also focus on using organic cotton.