How do you stain paper with tea?

Dyeing with tea (also known as tea staining) is pretty straight forward.

Cottons, silks, linens and other natural fibers tend to take the colour better than synthetics or synthetic blends. The kind of tea will also very the colour so do a patch test first.

The fabric to be dyed is washed and rinsed (to remove sizing etc.) and placed into a vat of a very strong tea infusion (6-8 tea bags per quart of boiling water, steep 45 minutes) from which the tea bags have been removed. I have always simmered the fabric for 10 to 20 minutes over low heat (Only if the fabric can be laundered in hot water), checking often to see how dark the colour has become (remember the tea stained fabric will look darker when wet).

Once the colour depth has been reached, remove the fabric and rinse with cool water until the rinse water remains clear. Lay flat to dry or tumble dry in a cool drier if the fabric can be machine dried. I tend to iron the fabric (if it can be ironed) once it is dry to "set" the colour a bit more, but that isn't always necessary.