I’ve done a fair bit of eco-printing (or should it be dyeing?) on both paper and fabrics over the years, but nothing recently. A couple of friends and I got together to experiment using whatever foliage we could forage during this chilly Australian winter.

I’ve read a lot about eco-printing but never fully come to grips with many of the available instructions. Some indicate it is better to harvest leaves after rainfall as they will be plump and juicy, having sucked up all the moisture, whilst others state it’s best to wait for a dry spell as the leaves will be thirsty and suck up the dye bath liquid better and release their tannin more easily. Completely opposing views, so how do you make a decision?

We simply chose a time when the three of us were available but, to give some weather context, we had decent rainfall up until about 7 days before our printing day and nothing since. In addition, winter is a low or no growth period for many of our native plants and trees although the mix of sun and rain has kept everything fairly lush. And, luckily, people around my area are pruning so I was able to pick up quite a variety of leaves and fallen flower heads, as well as a few weeds.

I also mixed a mordant using a mild copper sulphate + water solution as this helps the tannin to ‘set’ or adhere to the strata (paper). Each leaf, petal, etc. was dipped for a few seconds, lightly blotted and placed onto the paper underside down.

There are 2 main methods of eco-printing: steaming or dipping. In both cases the flora needs to be sandwiched tightly between layers of paper, and greaseproof if desired, in preparation for boiling/steaming.

The Steaming Method

I chose to wrap my bundle around a tin can and secure it with string. It sat atop a brick placed in the base of my pot with boiling water. Obviously the can should not touch the water.

The bundle was removed, plants discarded, paper well rinsed and hung to dry. The paper abutting the tin can picked up some of the rust from the can. This method often produces a soft look to the plant material and, of course, only slight discoloration of the background.

The Dipping Method

The boiling pot had plant material (in my case Rosemary leaves) in the water, along with a little copper sulphate mordant. The sandwiches were created between tiles and tightly clamped. The bundles were submerged into the water and left to boil.

Above left to right: dipping in the mordant & blotting the plant material, creating the bundle, lowering the clamped bundle into the boiling pot.

Once complete, the bundles were removed and left until the following morning before unwrapping, removing the plant material, rinsing and drying. Here are a few completed pieces.

Once fully dry the pieces were ironed.

There are many lessons to be learned when eco-printing:

• The process is always experimental and results vary each time.
• Robust paper should be used or it will fall apart during the steaming or dipping process. 250-300gsm cotton rag printing paper or watercolour paper works well and holds up to being damp over a long period.
• Time of year, humidity, rainfall, drought, fresh or not so fresh leaves and other variables will all dictate the result. What was achieved a month ago may not be the same second time round.
• Whilst firm leaves from plants, trees and weeds often work well, floppy flora generally doesn’t give colour or much of a resist.
• In Australia, native plants seem to produce fairly crisp imagery, so consider what is endemic to your own locality.
• Leaves that are very matte on their underside, with good veins, seem to give reasonable results. Avoid any waxy shiny leaves, such as from fruit trees. Some leaves, such as Geranium, can print purple.
• Consider flower heads: pink or red Rose petals and pink Camellia will discharge a pale blue. Dandelions tend to be undefined in shape but add bright yellow to the surface. Other bright yellow weed types can give a strong orange.
• Tannin leaches from the WRONG side of leaves and petals so always place that side against your paper.
• Explore other natural items such as crumbled bark, thin twigs, herbs and whatever you can clamp into a tightly held bundle.

And finally; is it printing or dyeing? I’ve written printing throughout but my sense is probably dyeing. My reasoning is that printing generally sits atop the paper surface, even when going through an etching press ink rarely, if ever, migrates through 250-300gsm paper. Yes, it can become ingrained and part of the surface but never really penetrates fully. Eco-printing, on the other hand, fully penetrates the paper, affecting both sides, just like chemical dyes do. I’ll leave the terminology to the reader to decide.