Early last year, around this time to be exact, I starting seeing dry grasses cropping up on daytime talk shows, Pinterest and in magazines. I loved the look and wanted to get my hands on them asap! I was able to source some really night baby pink bunny tails as well as some pampas grass. My sister and I incorporated that into some DIY Eid wreaths we made and then started seeing more options for dry grasses as the summer swung around. That’s also when we started seeing really cute dry grasses on the sides of roads that we sort of just plucked off and took home.
I’ve had these sitting in my vases for some time now and was slowly getting bored of the brown tones. I purchased some more white dry grasses and even incorporated a cotton stem I’ve had for a few years to tie in a nice look but I still want to tone it down a little. That’s where I started to search for ways to dye dry grasses or dye pampas grass white or even any other colour.
My dad does a lot of wood work and I casually mentioned it to him and he said he just used part water and part laundry bleach on his drift wood pieces. I thought to give it a try and loved the result and how easy it was. I shared a video on my Instagram and TikTok earlier this week. Below that you can see the things you need as well as the directions to dye your dry grass stems!
You will need:
- Any dry grass such as pampas grass, foxtails or bunny tails
- 4 cups of water
- 1 cup of laundry bleach
- A deep bucket
- A stick to stir
- Some painters tape
- A hair dryer
Instructions on how to bleach or dye pampas grass or any other dry grasses:
- Fill a bucket with some warm water and add in your laundry bleach. Be careful with this. Wear gloves if you need. If you have a lot of dry grasses, try to gauge if you need more of the water/bleach solution
- Use any stick to give it a bit of a stir and start submerging your grasses. Hold them down with some tape along the edges to ensure they don’t float up
- Leave submerged for about two hours but keep an eye out. Since all grasses are different, some may require more or less time
- Once you achieve the colour that you desire, bring them over to a sink and blow dry them in the direction of growth until they are mostly dry. I hung mine over night as well to ensure they were totally dry.
- At this stage, once they are dry, you can choose to leave them as-is or then get some fabric dyes to play around with some colour. I liked mine the way they were so that’s how I left them!
Hope this helps! I tried searching online but didn’t some across anything that was easily accessible. Be sure to tag me on Instagram if you decide to give this a try!
Tasneem Dasoo 