I wanted a small, soft cushion in warm, muted pinks to sit on my living-room armchair — something that felt lived-in and gentle, not fussy. I had a pile of avocado pits on the windowsill from a week of breakfasts and a skein of undyed British wool leftover from a thrifted jumper makeover. It felt like an obvious test: could avocado pits dye wool quickly enough for a small cushion project, and would the colour live up to the cosy, sustainable look I aim for on Take Root Design?

Why avocado pits?

Avocado pits are a lovely little natural dye source: available, free, and rich in tannins that can give soft pinks, peach, or browned shades depending on how they’re treated. They’re one of those pantry-scrap dyes that fit my ethos — low waste, cheap, and pleasant to experiment with. But they do have limitations: they’re not the most lightfast, and results can vary a lot depending on mordant, time, and water.

What I tested

I tested three recipes for a small cushion front (approximately 30 x 30 cm), using 100 g of undyed British wool (DK weight). I wanted options that would fit into a weekend project as well as a slightly slower overnight method. I used alum as a mordant (common, relatively mild) and an iron modifier for one sample to see how it shifted the tone.

Recipe Pit quantity Mordant Method Expected tone
Quick stovetop (2 hours) 6–8 pits (chopped) 10% alum (by weight of fiber) Simmer 90–120 min Warm peachy-pink
Overnight soak + simmer 8–10 pits (chopped) 10% alum Soak 12–16 hrs, simmer 60 min Slightly deeper rose
Overnight + iron modifier 10 pits 10% alum + 1% iron (as ferrous sulfate) Soak overnight, simmer 60 min, add iron bath Warm grey / muted mauve

Materials and prep notes

Supplies I used:

  • Undyed wool yarn, 100 g
  • Alum powder (potassium aluminium sulfate) for mordanting — 10% of fiber weight = 10 g
  • Ferrous sulfate for iron modifier — used at 1% when testing darkening
  • Fresh avocado pits (the fresher the better) — chopped and roughly crushed
  • Large stainless-steel pan (dedicated for dyeing) and wooden spoon
  • Mild soap for rinsing

    • Important safety/housekeeping: aluminium and iron salts are common in natural dyeing, but I wear gloves, don’t breathe powders, and keep dye pans off cooking equipment I’ll use for food later. I also test on a small swatch first.

    Step-by-step: my quick stovetop recipe

    This is the fastest route if you want a cushion made within a day.

  • Mordant the wool: dissolve 10 g alum in warm water, soak the yarn in enough water to cover, keep at a gentle simmer for 30–45 minutes. Rinse gently.
  • Prepare pit bath: chop 6–8 pits and simmer in 2 litres of water for 45 minutes, then let cool slightly.
  • Strain the pits, return liquid to the pan and add wet, mordanted wool. Keep the bath just below a simmer (no rolling boil) for 90–120 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Turn off heat, leave to cool in the bath for another hour for deeper uptake, then rinse gently and dry flat.

    • Result: soft peachy-pink, slightly uneven (which I like). Yield was warm and muted; perfect for a raw, natural-looking cushion front.

    Overnight soak method (deeper colour)

    My overnight method involves soaking the pits with the yarn so tannins can extract slowly. I soaked 8–10 chopped pits with the washed, mordanted yarn in cool water for 12–16 hours, then brought everything to a simmer for 60 minutes. This gave a slightly deeper, more consistent rose than the quick method, with less mottling.

    Iron-modified sample (muted, vintage grey)

    Avocado plus iron gives a beautiful vintage grey-mauve. I added ferrous sulfate at a low concentration (1% of fiber weight) to the cooled dye bath and left it for 30 minutes before rinsing. The result was a delicate, dusty grey with mauve undertones — great if you prefer a more neutral cushion that still has warmth.

    Lightfastness and wear — what I found

    I keep things real: avocado pinks are not the most lightfast natural dyes. I tested samples on a window seat that gets morning sun and on a cushion placed under a lamp indoors.

  • Indoor, indirect light: good. Colour stayed warm and stable for months with normal use and occasional gentle vacuuming.
  • Bright window sun: moderate fading after a few weeks. The pink shifts towards a paler beige if exposed continuously.
  • Rubbing and washing: resisted gentle hand-washing reasonably well thanks to the alum mordant. I washed one cushion cover once in cool water with a wool wash — minimal bleeding but a slight softening of tone.

    • So the practical takeaway: avocado-dyed items are best used in lower light, or as accents that won’t live in direct sun. If you want better lightfastness, consider overdying with a more stable natural dye (e.g., indigo for blue tones, walnut for warm browns) or using the avocado piece inside a cushion with a protective outer fabric.

    How I turned the yarn into a small cushion

    I knitted a simple 30 x 30 cm cushion front using the dyed skein, lined it with an offcut of cotton to protect the inner filler from dye transfer, and sewed a plain backing from a thrifted linen shirt. For daily life I recommend:

  • Using a removable cover so the dyed piece can be washed gently or kept out of direct sunlight.
  • Lining the cushion with natural fabric to reduce wear on the dyed yarn.
  • Positioning cushions away from windows or rotating them to ensure even fading.

    • Final practical tips

  • Use more pits for deeper colour; roughly 6–10 pits per 100 g is a good rule of thumb.
  • Chop pits and, if you can, grate them — more surface area gives a stronger bath.
  • Alum mordant improves uptake and wash fastness; use 10% of fiber weight for wool.
  • Iron modifiers change pinks to greys or muted tones — start low (0.5–1%) and test.
  • Expect some variation — small-batch natural dyeing is beautiful because of its imperfections.

    • If you try this, I’d love to see your results — send a photo or a note via the contact page on takerootdesign.co.uk. I find joy in small, imperfect makeovers, and avocado-dyed cushions are one of those quiet, sustainable projects that bring subtle colour and personality to a room.