Wood beads are a great choice for jewelry making, because they are an incredibly versatile piece of equipment. This type of bead is both strong, and light, meaning that they are an excellent choice for people who want to look stylish even when they are out and about, or those who want something which is suitable to wear, even when they are doing sports. One of the great things about wooden items is that they are a natural choice for those who do not want synthetic products. However, sometimes plain beads are not quite right for the jewelry which you may want to make. Thankfully, it is very easy to stain wood beads using natural dyes, to help you to get the color of beads which you need to complete your project. Here is a quick guide to how to stain your own beads using natural dye:
For this project, you will need to begin by assembling boiling water, wooden beads, natural dye (for some projects you may be able to use food coloring, but in these cases you should avoid wearing your jewelry in any circumstance where you may get very wet), rubber gloves, an old glass bowl, a metal slotted spoon and some paper towels.
Begin by filling the bowl with boiling water, and adding the wood beads which you want to dye. Leave the beads in the water for about 20 minutes, as this will help to make them more porous and will allow them to take on the dye better. Remove the beads from the water and pour the water away.
Fill the bowl back up with fresh boiling water and add the dye as required. Different dyes will require different amounts to be used, so it is best to consult the instructions of the product you are using, however, as a general rule, the more dye that you use, the more vivid the resulting color will be. Remember that you are only staining the wood beads, so the final results will never be tremendously bright beads. You should probably use about 2 teaspoons of dye in a bowl of water.
Add the water softened wood beads to the bowl and allow them to sit in the dyed water for a further 20 minutes. Once 20 minutes is up, lift the beads out of the water with the slotted spoon (or a strainer), and gently shake them to allow any excess water or dye to drain back into the bowl. Place the wood beads onto a thick layer of paper towels to help to absorb any excess water which remains and to prevent the wet beads from coming into contact with any other surfaces which could absorb the dye. Make sure that you leave the newly stained beads to dry for at least 24 hours before you use them. If the beads are still damp at the end of the 24 hours, then you should wait a little longer or the dye may still stain your fingers.