Name: Evan
Message: I would like to dye a cotton tee shirt with the red earth I dug up in Kuaui.  How and what do I need to do to set the dye and keep it from running and fading?

I think that the most effective way to do this would be to do some 'pigment dyeing'.  'Pigment dyeing' is actually not dyeing at all, but instead fabric painting, which is to say gluing the pigment to the fiber with a special glue made just for this purpose. The modern and more permanent method for pigment dyeing is to mix the earth with clear fabric paint extender, which will glue the pigment to the fabric. Here is a direct link to a source for Versatex Fabric Extender. This appears to be the method used by commercial companies that claim to sell cotton shirts 'dyed' with dirt.

The traditional method for pigment dyeing with earth is to make your own soy milk and use it as the adhesive. The problem with this is that the soy milk is a lot of trouble to make and cannot be saved more than a couple of days, and smells really bad after a while. Instructions may be found at Table Rock Llamas Fiber Art Studio. (Personally, I'd rather use clear extender, but I am grateful to Table Tock Llamas for providing their kits and instructions.)

Actual dyeing, as opposed to pigment dyeing, requires that the coloring material adhere to the fabric chemically, rather than being glued in as fabric paint is. I go into the subject of dirt dyeing in more detail on my page on About Natural Dyes. Quoting from there: Mud dyeing is more satisfactory as a fun idea than as an actual source of intense color. The ultimate color from simple unmordanted dyeing of cotton with a bright red dirt, after a number of washings, will be a pale buff color. 

A good way to make the iron in the earth darker and more permanent is to pre-mordant your shirt with pure tannic acid, or with a natural material that is very high in tannins, such as oak galls. Unfortunately, this would change the color of your dirt completely, producing a blackish rather than reddish brown. There are links to several recipes for mordanting with tannin on my About About Natural Dyes page.

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