Internet version [Naruhodo no Mori] Vol.38

by Yumiko Mori

Vol. 38 March 15th, 1998

Dyeing with onion skin soup

Home science experiments for mothers of elementary school children

Tae: "What is tonight's dinner?"
Mom: "Curry"
Tae: "Very good!"
Mom: "I need to use a lot of onions."
Tae: "Why?"
Mom: "We can make dye from onion skin."
Tae: "I like dyeing. I have done before."
Mom: "How about dyeing papers with color?"
Tae: "Yes, that sounds interesting."

Mom boiled onion skins in a pot.
Mom: "Look! We've got pretty red soup!"
Tae: "So can we make red papers?"
Mom: "Next, we put alum into boiled water and then dip this same paper into the solution."
As soon as we dip the paper into it, it turns to yellow.

Tae: "Amazing! It's like magic!"
Mom: "Really amazing! It has changed to pretty yellow."
Tae: "This is interesting. I want to dye all sorts of things."
Mom: "How about dyeing a handkerchief?"
Tae: "Yes, I'll try. But why did the red color change to yellow? It's very interesting."
Tae: "Mom, can I dye this dishcloth?"
Mom: "That one? (reluctantly) Well, you can."
Tae: "Look! Very pretty, isn't it?"
Mom: "Don't dye the towel you are holding, Tae!"
Tae: "Oh, no! My hands got all yellow!"

Materials

A small drawing paper (post card size)
or
Handkerchief

Onion skins	6 onions (approximately 20 grams)
Alum	Two tablespoonfuls (approximately 10 grams)
A pot
A sieve
Boiled water	1 liter
2 Trays or 2 Bowls
Chop sticks (or something to hold a sheet of paper)

Things to be dyed
White drawing paper White handkerchiefs	(Cut papers into proper sizes so that they fit into the tray. (If handkerchiefs are new, wash them prior to the dyeing)

Materials
* When you dye cloth, your hands get also stained during squeezing. I recommend you to wear rubber gloves.

How to dye

Required time: 30 min (Not including time for drying)

Place onion skins into a pot and pour water just enough to cover onion skins, Boil for about 15 minutes until the water becomes dark red-brown color.	At the same time, you boil another 1 liter of water. Place 2 tablespoonfuls of alum in the tray B
Sieve the boiled onion skin soup to remove skins and receive the soup in the tray A.	Pour 1 liter of boiled water into the tray B and dissolve alum in it.
While water in both trays are hot, dip paper or cloth into tray A and B in its order and dry them.

First do drawing on a paper with a brush, using the dye in tray A. Then dip the paper into the tray B, and you will have drawing in very contrast background.
Wet paper can be easily torn off. Don't keep paper under water for a long time.

Unnecessary Prejudgment

I had never tried dyeing until this experiment. I was convinced dyeing would take too much time. But it turned out to be quite easy and didn't need much time. Once you are caught on prejudgment, it is difficult to overcome it and think differently. You are constantly exposed to the other people's opinions on many subjects. Listening to these opinions, you start feeling you are knowledgeable about something that in reality you don't know at all. If you caught on such prejudgment, you'll be limiting yourself from other possibilities.

Author	Yumiko Mori (Zushi, Kanagawa, Japan)
Illustration	Mitsue Ogata
Translator	Akira Ishihara
HTML format	Muneo Kume