While there are seven colors in the rainbow, only three colors—red, blue, and yellow—are made by combining two primary colors. The remaining four colors—green, orange, indigo, and violet—can only be made from one pigment each, which need to be collected from natural sources. All seven pigments can be derived from plants and vegetables found in your garden or at your local supermarket, as long as you know what to look for! Read on to learn how to make all seven pigments of the rainbow from plants.
Choose your plants
In order to make all seven pigments of the rainbow from plants, you’ll need a selection from each color family. For a full list of hues found in nature, visit Color Matters, where you can learn which, flowers give rise to which color dyes. To get started in your own experiments with natural dyeing—without having access to a field or garden—search for natural fabric dye on Etsy or at your local craft store.
Collect and Grind
Take your herbs and leaves back inside, where you’ll get to work pulverizing them into a fine powder. Again, using a coffee grinder or something similar will help expedite things; if you don’t have one on hand, put a handful at a time in a ziplock bag and use a large knife to crush everything together. Once it reaches your desired consistency, place it back in your mortar bowl. Repeat until you have enough Pigment Green 7 for what you need! Be sure not grind any stems or stalks; those aren’t edible and can make your paint more yellow than green.
Add a base (to dissolve the powder)
In nature, chlorophyll is bound in a structure that contains magnesium. To make pigment, it must be freed from Pigment Green 7 Manufacturer that bond so it can react with other ingredients. In chemistry terms, it has to be ionized by a base. The most commonly used base for pigments is sodium hydroxide. A soluble alternative is ammonia (NH3). You’ll need about 0.2 percent by weight of your pigment mixture if you use ammonia, or roughly one spoonful per five cups of liquid extract if you use lye. Stir these powders together until they dissolve into an even liquid that looks like weak green tea.
Heat gently until liquid
If you end up with anything but green liquid in your pan after simmering for 20 minutes, you can consider that a failure. At any point during that simmering period, if you notice any kind of orange or red deposits collecting on top of your now-green brew, skim them off and throw them away. Those particulates are undesirable and they’ll throw off your final result. If you don’t have success right away, don’t be discouraged; just try again until you get it right! Practice makes perfect!
Also, Read This: How To Make A Lab Grown Diamonds
Filter out all particulates
Collect your pigment and put it into a centrifuge. In a small, dry bowl or beaker, dissolve 2 grams of magnesium sulfate in 20 milliliters of distilled water and pour that over your pigment (it should turn black). Put that solution into your centrifuge tube. Place a clean piece of muslin over everything and tie it down with a string; now spin that centrifuge at full speed for five minutes. Pour off all excess liquid. You should now have your green pigment crystalized on top. Weigh it, then heat it gently until it melts; next put just enough distilled water in there to dissolve all solids—you’ll need about 1 ml—and then filter out any particulates using muslin as before.
Color, add a preservative, & let cool
As soon as you’ve created your pigment, store it in a dark container that is airtight. Moisture and light can cause pigment to fade, lose its vibrancy or change color. I like to use clean glass jars with lids because they keep light out while being easy to open, but they aren’t absolutely necessary. When you don’t have access to a dark place, consider using brown paper bags or wrapping in aluminum foil. Just make sure your pigment is protected from exposure if possible! In any case, store your jars in a dry place when not in use.
Store in a dark, dry place
While storing pigments in airtight containers in a cool, dark place is always a good idea, it’s particularly important with green pigments. Since so many green pigments are made from plants, they tend to degrade more easily than other pigments. Light will accelerate that process and heat will exacerbate it. To keep your plastic pigments from fading quickly, keep it away from both heat and light sources while preserving its natural vibrancy for as long as possible.