can you dye things with coffee?

[nextqueen]

Considering dyeing a duvet cover beige-ish with coffee. Thinking of putting it in the powder drawer of the washing machine, has anyone tried this? I don't want to do it in the bath as it may come out patchy as the material is so big.

[Prudie]

I dyed some lace once with coffee. The disadvantages were:
It came out patchy
The colour washed out, after all coffee doesn't really stain permanently does it.

[nextqueen]

only carpet! i thought of tea but cant really put that in the washing machine, coffee granules in the drawer, you can.

[DTCwordfan]

With cheap cheese cloth knotted up and washed with coffee in a washing-machine,then dried out and unfurled, you get great blood-like bandaging to wrap a stair-case banister rail in for Halloween........

[woofgang]

The dyed fabric will smell of coffee, also if you sit on it with bare skin, the colour is likely to come off and dye you or dye your clothing. The permanence will depend on what the fabric is made of.
If you do try it run the machine on a long wash afterwards if you dont want coffee coloured clothes.

[Mamyalynne]

Just buy a fabric dye - they are not very costly, make sure the fabric will accept dye though - ie not synthetic.

[Graham-W]

You can use tea if you want. Just put a cupful, without bag or leaves, directly into the washer. No need to go via the powder drawer.

[boxtops]

buy some dye, it'll work much better

[Mosaic]

First, what is the duvet cover made of? If 100% cotton, it will take a deep stain from coffee initially, depending on the quantity of coffee used to the weight of cloth. This will rapidly fade with exposure to light and with washing, and as others have said it will smell of coffee and possibly also feel tacky.
If it is a poly-cotton fabric (as most are) it will only take a on feeble colour change and will just go a weary off-white quite quickly.
As others have said, dyeing a large one-colour item is always prone to a patchy result, as wear patterns that are not normally visible cause the fibres to pick up dyestuff at different rates.
On the other hand, you could have some real fun by dyeing it with a deep Dylon machine dye, and after drying draw on patterns with a metallic fabric pen, making it very original and detracting from any patchiness.
Or buy a new duvet cover.

[rowanwitch]

nothing that big although it will fix with salt on smaller items try Dylon reindeer beige machine dye on a 60degree wash

[Vicasso]

Well, you could 'wake up and smell the coffee',or it might keep you awake at night. :-)

[nextqueen]

I am wanting to dye a black and white duvet cover. We have recently decorated our bedroom with a black and what I thought white wallpaper, but the white is actually a slight beige/cream colour so the duvet doesnt match. The duvet is very similar to the wallpaper but reversed, a white background mainly so thought that coffee would create a light beige colour. I am a little concerned about the smell. A friend told me that vinegar seals the dye but don't want to be kept awake by any smell. I could always wash it with softener though. I am a little wary of tea but shall experiment with both now you have said. The duvet is cotton by the way.

[nextqueen]

I have just remembered the name of the pattern. The wallpaper is a willow pattern with mainly a black background and then cream/beige drawings. The duvet is almost the same pattern/drawings with predominantly a white background.

[rowanwitch]

use the reindeer beige at half strength should give you the right tone

[nextqueen]

I usually get dye from Dunelm but it's not on the doorstep, is there anywhere else that sells it do you know? I have just looked on their website and there isn't a reindeer beige, a few other browns and beiges, pebble beige may be the next best thing. Maybe reindeer beige is now discontinued?