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NON-TOXIC CLEANING 101
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FEATURED
YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS
ExPLORE
NON-TOXIC CLEANING 101
When you’re DIYing Easter egg dye, there are a few key supplies you need to have on hand—glass containers being one. The glass containers you use don’t need to be fancy; feel free to reuse spaghetti jars, jam jars, or old mason jars. Just be sure to avoid plastic. You’ll be using hot water for the egg dye recipes, and heat can cause plastic to leech microplastics into the dye.
You’ll also need a saucepan, a fine-mesh strainer, distilled white vinegar, and your dye ingredients (more on that below).
Here’s where you get to experiment. Ingredients you’ll find in your pantry, your spice cabinet, and even your garden make the best natural egg dyes. I’ve laid out common natural egg dye recipes by color, but don’t feel like you need to follow these exactly. Get the kids to choose a few new ingredients to test out as dyes and have fun with it!
Red onion skins: red
Chopped beets: pink (white eggs), maroon (brown eggs)
Purple cabbage: blue
Yellow onion skins: gold
Turmeric: yellow
Turmeric and purple cabbage: green
Blueberries: lavender
Hibiscus flowers: navy
Black tea: off-white
Leftover coffee: light brown
Once you have your supplies and ingredients, making the dye is easy and only takes about 30 minutes. Here’s what to do:
Step 1: Add your chosen ingredient, 2 cups of water, and 2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar to a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
Step 2: Reduce heat and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer it simmers, the more vibrant the colors will be.
Step 3: After 30 minutes, remove the saucepan from heat and allow the water and dye mixture to cool completely.
Step 4: Using your fine-mesh strainer, strain the cooled liquid into your glass container.
Step 5: Add the eggs! Let the eggs sit in the dye until they’ve reached your desired color. For pastel colors, leave for 30 minutes; for deeper hues, let the eggs soak for longer.
Step 6: Gently remove the eggs with a spoon, lay them on paper towels to dry, or gently buff them with the paper towel to remove excess dye. Hard-boiled eggs can be refrigerated for up to a week.
Dyeing Easter eggs is fun, but so is creating fun patterns. So before you drop your eggs into the dye, here are a few ways to add some flair to your designs.
Rubber bands: Wrap a rubber band or two around your eggs, criss-crossing them to make different shapes and patterns. You can even try using rubber bands with different widths to push your creativity further.
Nylon stockings and flowers: Create botanical prints on your eggs by securing a pressed flower or small leaf onto the eggshells by wrapping them in a nylon stocking and securing it with a knot. After you dye your egg, remove the stocking and flower and reveal your print.
Crayon: This old-school method still works great. Simply use a white crayon to draw a pattern, design, character, or shape onto your egg. The natural dye won’t penetrate any crayon marking. After dyeing, wipe the crayon off, and your design will appear.
You swapped the harmful artificial dyes in your Easter egg dyeing recipes—do the same with your post-dyeing cleaning supplies.
Between the vinegar splashes, beet juice streaks, and turmeric (which stains everything it touches), Easter egg dyeing clean up is no joke. The last thing you want is to trade one set of harsh chemicals for another.
That's where a plant-based everyday cleaner comes in. Truly Free Home Everyday Cleaner cuts through beet stains on countertops, lifts turmeric residue off surfaces, and handles the general mess of a dye session without harsh fragrances, artificial dyes, or toxic chemicals.
Spray it on your counters, wipe down the stovetop from simmering your dye batches, and clean up any drips before they set. The whole point of going natural this Easter is to protect your family, not just during the fun part, but all the way through clean up.
