If you've been curious about dyeing paper with natural materials but want to try something beyond tea or coffee, onion skins are a wonderful place to start. In this tutorial I run three separate experiments — yellow onion skins, red onion skins, and a combined red-and-yellow bath — and share everything I observed along the way, including the results that genuinely surprised me.
What we cover
Three onion-skin dye experiments using the same basic process: boiling the skins into a concentrated solution, submerging a range of papers and other materials, and comparing the results side by side. I also share what variables seem to affect the final color — and why the same solution can produce dramatically different shades on the same stack of paper.
What you'll learn
How to make an onion skin dye solution from scratch — no measuring required. I use approximately the dry skins from three large onions per litre of water, boiled with the lid off so the water evaporates and the solution concentrates. The lid-off detail matters more than most people expect.
The difference between yellow onion skin and red onion skin results — and why my hypothesis was completely wrong. I expected yellow skins to produce yellow paper and red skins to produce red paper. What I actually got was far more nuanced: the yellow solution produced papers with strong red and orange tones, while the red solution gave a surprising amount of grey. The combined bath produced the darkest, most complex results of the three.
What materials you can put into the dye bath, including:
- Standard 80 gsm copy paper
- Watercolour paper offcuts
- Cardstock (which absorbs significantly more colour than copy paper)
- Doilies
- Envelopes
- Coloring book pages
- Fabric
- Business card stock
Why the first batch always comes out darkest — and how to use that to your advantage. Every time you pull a batch of papers out and add more, the solution weakens. By the time you're on your third or fourth round, the results are noticeably lighter. That gradient isn't a flaw; it gives you a natural range of tones from a single pot.
How different papers take the colour differently — even within the same dye bath. Cardstock grabs the colour much more intensely than copy paper. Envelopes come out a completely different shade than the pages sitting right beside them. Kids' scrapbook paper from one batch turned out deeply yellow while every other paper in the same solution didn't. The paper type is one of the most significant variables, and it's one you can play with deliberately.
Why you don't need to add bicarb soda — unlike with coffee or tea dyeing, onion skin solution isn't particularly acidic, so there's no need to neutralize it before putting your papers in.
How to read the variables that shape your results, including: how old your onion skins are, how long you simmer, how much water you use relative to the skins, how many papers go in at once, how long they stay in, and how they dry. Any one of these can shift the outcome significantly — which is part of what makes the process so interesting to experiment with.
Tips & gotchas
Use only the dry outer skins — the papery layers that come loose on their own. The white inner layers will make your paper smell like onion, and that smell is not subtle. If in doubt, leave it out of the pot.
Don't cover the pot while it's simmering. You want evaporation to happen — it's what concentrates the solution and deepens the colour. This was one of the things that made the biggest difference for me.
Wear gloves. Onion skin dye stains hands very effectively. I learned this the straightforward way during the filming of this video — my hands were yellow for the rest of the day.
Be extremely gentle when removing wet paper. Keep each sheet as straight as possible as you lift it out. Wet paper, especially doilies and lighter-weight papers, tears very easily if you pull unevenly or let it fold back on itself.
If you're dyeing envelopes, put them in opened and take them out opened. Dry them that way too. A wet envelope that gets to close while drying will seal itself shut and won't open cleanly afterward.
Dry everything flat and under something heavy. I didn't do this with some of the papers in this batch and they dried with a noticeable wave in them. A flat weight — even just a cutting board or a stack of books — makes a real difference.
Two hours can be enough. I've left papers in overnight and I've pulled them out after two hours. If the solution is well-concentrated and the paper is already darkening nicely, there's no need to leave it longer. Trust your eyes more than the clock.
Some of the most interesting effects happen accidentally. One sheet dried near a heater and the concentrated moisture pulled into a marbling pattern I couldn't have planned if I'd tried. Don't be too precious about controlling the process — the variables that feel like chaos often produce the best results.
The tonal range you get from a single pot of onion skins, from deep rust-red to soft parchment gold, layers beautifully with other natural dyes. I've also got avocado skins sitting in a jar on the counter, so that experiment is coming next.
