How to Tea Dye Paper

Here is a quick tutorial on how to dye paper using tea. I chose tea because it's inexpensive, leaves a lighter color, and I like the smell. You can also use coffee. The process is the same but the results slightly darker and stronger-smelling.

If you really want to get fancy, you can also purchase walnut ink to dye your paper. Just dilute some of it in the water and follow the rest of the directions. I used to do this, but it can get rather expensive so now I save the ink for adding blotchy details.

Which paper should you choose? I suggest using #24 or greater weight copy paper. (The "24" is a measure of the paper's weight. Cheap copy paper is #20, the good stuff's #24-32, and card stock comes in #60 and #110.) I am using a #24 paper intended for laser printers. I find that this type of paper has a coating that prevents liquid from soaking too deeply into the paper. This seems to keep warping and wrinkling to a minimum, although some distortion is always going to happen no matter what paper you use.

You will need:

1 quart of water
6 or more black tea bags
a large plastic dishpan
a smooth, flat surface (a countertop is fine)
cotton rags, paper towels, or a ShamWow
paper
hairdryer (optional)
walnut ink in a spray bottle (optional)

First, boil about a quart of water. Pour the water into your dishpan and add the tea bags. Six bags will give you a lightly aged look. You can experiment to get darker hues - just keep track of how many you use so you can repeat the colors later.

Let the water cool for a few minutes. It doesn't have to be hot (or even warm) for the process to work.

Now, quickly dip a sheet of paper into the brew, coating both sides. Let it drain for a bit, and then lay it on a flat, smooth surface. Your kitchen counter is fine or you can use a tray or whatever's handy.

Gently blot the paper with a cloth. Old t-shirts work perfectly, but my favorite is a ShamWow knock-off that absorbs very well. Smooth out any bubbles in the paper.

Now you can let it dry naturally or speed things up with a hairdryer. If you want to add darker splatters, spray the sheets randomly with walnut ink. When the paper is dry you can weight it down between books to flatten it.

I hope this is helpful. I've gotten great results with this method of artificially aging paper. It's a very satisfying process.