I recently received an abundance of white roses that I really don't have any use for. I am looking to dye them black for a sporting event to match team colors.
I realize with most projects that if you start with a white color, you usually need some type of primer if you want to get a good dark color. Is this the same with rose petals?
I am curious how to dye a white rose or white rose petals to black.
Is it possible to dye white roses a deep black? Would I need a primer for this?
I discovered that by simply cutting the stems and adding black dye to the vase and simply placing the roses in the vase will color them black. I tried this and it works great.
You can dye the flowers by placing the stems in dye-enhanced water
If these are silk rose petals, I might try using some Rit or other fabric dye (the cheap kind you get in the little boxes at some hardware stores). I would put them in a zip-lock bag, pour in enough dissolved dye to get them all damp, squish any air out, and put them in the microwave oven for a minute or less. They need to get hot but not boiling. Don't do more than a handful until you see how this works, and DON'T over-fill the bag. A lot depends on the fiber content of the fabric the petals are made from.
If what you have are actual dried rose petals the only feasible way I can think of would be to powder them with some black pigment (like powdered black tempera paint). If they're going to be sitting about in bowls, not being touched, that could work, but not if they're going to be strewn.
If they're fresh rose petals, you probably just need to use them as they are. White is a great foil for black, so you could mix in some black petals or other light-weight black objects.
As one of the other answers suggests, you can dye fresh flowers by putting concentrated dye (food coloring, probably fabric dye, ink--anything liquid and not too nasty should work) into the water. Fresher flowers are likely to work best.
