Pomegranate Rind is a beautiful natural dye made from the dried rind of the pomegranate fruit, Punica granatum. Naturally high in tannins, Pomegranate Rind is valued both as a natural dye and as a tannin-rich mordanting material for cellulose fibres.

Pomegranate produces lovely soft yellow, golden yellow and green-yellow shades, depending on the fibre, mordant and dyeing conditions. It is particularly useful for natural dyers looking for gentle, earthy yellow tones and is an excellent addition to a natural dye collection.

The high tannin content also makes Pomegranate Rind useful when preparing cellulose fibres such as cotton, linen and hemp for natural dyeing. It can help improve the uptake and fastness of dyes when used as part of a suitable mordanting process.

Key Features

• Natural dye powder made from Pomegranate fruit rind
• Botanical name: Punica granatum
• Naturally high in tannin
• Produces soft yellow, golden yellow and green-yellow shades
• Suitable for cotton, linen, hemp, silk, wool and other natural fibres
• Traditionally used as both a dye and tannin-rich mordant
• Useful for improving the depth and fastness of some natural dye colours
• Can be combined with other natural dyes to modify and enhance colour
• Particularly useful when working with more fugitive yellow natural dyes
• Creates attractive warm cement greys and deep moss greens when modified with Iron
• Excellent for natural dyeing, textile arts, eco printing and natural fibre projects

Dyeing with Pomegranate Rind

For a medium depth of shade, approximately 15–20% WOF (weight of fibre) of Pomegranate Rind powder can be used. The quantity required will vary depending on the desired depth of colour, fibre type and dyeing method.

Pomegranate Rind can be extracted in water before adding the dye liquor to the dyebath. As with all natural dyes, experimentation with concentration, temperature, mordanting and dyeing time can produce a wide range of results.

Pomegranate Rind as a Tannin

Pomegranate Rind is naturally rich in tannins, making it particularly useful when dyeing cellulose fibres such as cotton and linen. Tannin can help bind mordants to cellulose fibres and is commonly used as part of a tannin-and-Alum mordanting process.

It can also be used alongside other natural dyes where the additional tannin content may help improve the overall performance of the dyeing process.

Colour Modifiers and Dye Combinations

Pomegranate Rind is particularly interesting when used with Iron. Iron can modify the soft yellow shades towards beautiful warm grey, cement grey and deep moss green colours.

Pomegranate Rind can also be combined with Turmeric. Turmeric produces wonderfully bright yellow shades but is relatively fugitive to light. Using Pomegranate Rind alongside Turmeric can provide additional tannin and create attractive yellow shades, although the use of Pomegranate does not by itself make Turmeric completely lightfast.

Natural Dyeing

Pomegranate Rind is a versatile natural dye for anyone wanting to explore gentle yellows, earthy greens and naturally modified neutral shades. Its high tannin content makes it particularly useful beyond its role simply as a source of colour.

Natural dye results will vary according to the fibre, mordant, water quality, dye concentration, extraction method and dyeing conditions. We recommend carrying out a small test before dyeing larger quantities.

Botanical Name: Punica granatum
Part Used: Pomegranate rind
WOF: Weight of Fibre

For textile and craft use only. Not intended for consumption.