Dye Your Clothes the Perfect Shade of Millennial Pink Using—Wait for It—Avocado Seeds

Photo: Stocksy/Matt and Tish
A closet full of millennial pink clothing is basically a dream come true, and thanks to all-natural dye derived from another Gen Y staple, it's totally possible. One of the easiest ways to dye fabric is to upcycle your avocado waste for a great use.

Instead of tossing out the seeds and skins after devouring the fruit's fibrous green mash, Rebecca Desnos, a United Kingdom–based natural dyer and author of Botanical Colour at Your Fingertips—says they can give you the prettiest shades of pink to dye everything from shirts and scarves to dish towels and reusable totes for your groceries. The natural and totally pretty alternative can also keep your skin happy and irritation-free.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFORVqfkaZq/?taken-by=rebeccadesnos

To get started, wash all the green remnants from the skin and seed, put them in a pot with water, and use light heat to coax the color from the fruit discards. Watch the pot rather than the clock, as every batch will be different, and steep the fabrics in accordance with how pigmented you want the garment to emerge. According to Desnos, the process doesn't require a truckload of avocados to do a dye job, either. If you want a lighter, paler hue, your batch might only require a few seeds, and for something deeper, count on adding in around eight avocado skins. "I dye with avocados quite regularly, so I either freeze the skins and stones or simply collect them on a plate in the kitchen for a couple of weeks until I have enough," Desnos writes in a blog post. She further notes the type of water you use can impact the results, so if you don't love how your pink tee turns out, try swapping your tap water with filtered or even rainwater next time around.

Avocados may have long had their superfood-status on lockdown, but now, with the power to turn garments pink, they're bona fide superheroes.

If your avocados are about to go bad, here's how to save them for future use. Or get the details on the seedless avocados that have edible skin.

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