I’m not a dyer. I don’t like dye. I don’t like the accidental stains, the bleeding, the quasi-chemistry that is more art than science. But I thought I would try to dye some dried iris leaves. I pinged my wild basket group, and one person said she dyes iris leaves with regular dye meant for cotton. I bought some Rit dye for cotton and natural fibers, followed the instructions for the hot water dye, thinking that had the most chance for success. I added salt and dish soap as instructed, and about a quarter of the bottle of dye. I put in the rewetted leaves. I stirred. The dye and leaves refused to connect. I added a cup of vinegar. I stirred. I added the rest of the bottle of dye. I stirred. I checked that the temperature was staying at 140 degrees Fahrenheit on the stove. I stirred for 40 minutes. The leaves should have been absolutely black for the amount of dye that was in the bath. They were stubbornly the same original color. I drained the dye bath outside and rinsed the leaves, and rinsed, and rinsed (have I mentioned how much I detest dyeing?) and rinsed some more. There were faint purple streaks in the iris leaves, but not even close to the color I was hoping for. I thought I rinsed it enough, but when I handled the leaves, my fingers turned purple. The dye liked my skin better than the iris leaves. Arg.

I went back to my post in my basket group to report the failure. I noticed another person said they soaked iris leaf pulp in mordant before dying. When I feel less vitriolic toward dyeing, I will research mordant, and maybe look for a book on dyeing that has the actual chemistry explained. Right now I would rather stick with natural colors that don’t stain my fingers.