Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 293 Comments

How To Tea Stain Pillow Covers

I got into one of my weird rebellious moods (rebellious is a relative term for me) and decided to tea stain two pillow covers that we already have (originally from this cute Etsy shop). Oh yeah, I’m wild and ca-razy like that. I just figured it was an 100% free project and it would (fingers crossed) be an easy way to take two extremely stark-white (as opposed to warm white) pillow covers to a slightly creamier and off-white tone that would help them layer in more naturally with a slew of other off-white, cream, and even super light metallic bronze pillows that are currently living it up on Big Karl (our dark slipcovered sectional from Ikea).

Pillows Before1

I’m pretty keen on switching out pillows at the blink of an eye (so these guys could all end up in another room next month or even next week), but I figured it couldn’t hurt to make them all “compatible” – no matter where they’d end up living someday.

See how they stick out like sore thumbs overly-white squares o’ stuffing? In person they really made the others feel kinda dingy by comparison. Not a good look.

  Before Pillow2

Before Pillow3

So I dipped them into a nice tea bath that I made thanks to three tea bags that I had on hand (one french vanilla and two regular old black tea bags) and some boiling hot water.

Tea Bags

I just soaked the pillow covers with cool water first (a tip to keep the stain from absorbing unevenly) and then stirred them into my boiling hot tea cauldron. Bubble bubble toil & trouble, baby. I didn’t want them to get too yellowed and antique looking, so I just left them in there for about five minutes.

Tea Stained In Pot

Then I gave them a quick run through the washing machine (with cold water to seal in the color and get rid of any excess tea)…

Washing Pillow Covers

… and dried ’em (tumble dry low) until they were almost 100% done (leaving them a little damp is a wrinkle relieving trick, since I’ve heard that allowing cushion covers to dry on the pillow instead of sitting in the dryer getting wrinkled can keep them looking better).

Tea Stained Out Of Wash

They weren’t 100% wrinkle free when they came out, but perfect is so 2010 anyway. Here they are now with their new creamy not-too-white undertones thanks to some free tea. They definitely still read as white, just not as blindingly white (think “normal person tooth colored” instead of “Ryan Seacrest tooth colored”). The whole shebang took me about ten minutes of actively paying attention and an hour or so to wash & dry them.

After Pillows Wide1

Paris Pillow

Bee Pillow After

Other Pillows

Now they “tuck” right in with the rest of their little pillow friends (they’re still some of the lightest tones, but they don’t make the other guys look dirty anymore). Hooray for tea.

After Facing Sofa

Oh yeah, and see those two green zebra print pillow covers? The funny thing is that I’ve been sweating them (mom, that means crushing on them, which is the same thing as saying I really like them) since before we moved. I even stuck them into this just-dreaming mood board about our future living room last fall. So when they went on clearance for $19 (down from $34) with free shipping and an additional 15% off thanks to a coupon code (Take15) I couldn’t resist. Got ’em both for half price ($17 a pop with tax). Not that I needed more pillow covers. Oops. Told you I have a pillow problem.

New We Pillow

The irony of all of this pillow talk is that we spend 85% of our time on our cushy rug with the bean. Three cheers for something cozy underfoot. Or underbutt, as it were. But at night once Clara is asleep, we do sink into Karl, where we usually watch something weirdly morbid that we love (like Dexter, True Blood, or The Walking Dead – what’s wrong with us?) and all those pillows actually come in handy for things like: back support, reclining, keeping our laptops from burning our legs, tossing at each other when someone falls asleep, and squeezing during suspenseful/scary parts. Ah pillows, such useful items. Maybe I need more. Just kidding.

Cushy Rug

What have you guys dyed with tea? Any other West Elm shopping going on (pillow covers or otherwise)? Do you remember making fake tea-stained pirate maps with burned edges as a kid? Just me? Oh man, those were the days.

Psst- I’m a dork for dye. Check out how I dyed my wedding dress here and how I dyed some cheap-o slipcovers for our $25 craigslist chairs here.

Pssst- We announced this week’s random giveaway winner. Click here to see if it’s you.

Comments

  1. Samantha says

    I just bought a king sized yellow squared pintucked duvet cover from west elm last night. Ive been eyeing it in the sale tab..but it just went down even more at $49.99 I couldnt resist n bought it n two shams all for $90 after tax n shipping! Love gettings things I want a great prices!

    Reply

  2. Suzanne says

    SHARON! Can I can you Sharon? I have a friend named Sheri (-rry) and I call her Sharon just for fun…anyways. One time, in eigth grade I begged and begged my mom for highlights (all the cool kids were doing it). She finally gave in. We got the ‘ol box o blonde pull through the cap crap. And it turned my hair a yellow almost white color. I cried, it was hideous (I’m naturally dark brunette). It looked like I had spaghetti in my hair.

    We called a salon and they said I’d have to wait at least 2 weeks before coloring my hair again or it would all fall out. Le crying sigh. BEST PART* My brilliant mother filled the bathtub with tea bags and I bent over, dunked my hair in the tub for almost an hour and my hair turned a shade or two darker. It was still jacked up but the tea made it more subtle. Quick fix for a bad hair dye. Yay!
    Love your alls blog, Suz

    Reply

  3. Melody says

    I’m loving the tea idea! so great! I’m starting to relate in the too-many pillow department. I get more thinking I’ll replace some of the ones I have, and then they all end up staying there!

    Reply

  4. colleen says

    Excellent work on the pillows. Love ’em. I used tea (and a little soy sauce) to dye manila tags that I use at the antique shop where I sell my vintage finds. I was surprised when they turned out with a polka-dot pattern because I let them dry on my outdoor dining table in the sun. I linked to the post in case you want to see.

    Reply

  6. Jenn says

    My students and I did a project last semester where we painted with tea of different strengths and then worked in white and black charcoal on top of the tea; it was pretty fun!

    I love all the pillows. My husband would murder me if there were more than 2 pillows on the sofa ESPECIALLY if said pillows were not completely functional (I tend to like “uncomfortable” pillows, like ones covered in sequins :-)).

    Reply

  7. Meghan says

    I had some big success at West Elm over the weekend. Hooray for sales! I made a pillow out of two of these fishbone napkins, http://www.westelm.com/products/fishbone-napkins-e596/ At $4 each, that’s a pretty cheap designer looking pillow!

    I also scored two buffet cabinets for $159 and $199 respectively (one was a floor model). Down from $400 each. You can’t even craigslist a deal that good (at least in DC you can’t)!!

    Of course I also had to pick up one of their ceramic owls, which weren’t on sale but soo necessary.

    Reply

  10. kristin blake says

    I have been watching for awhile now the West Elm Organic Seedling Duvet but didn’t want to spend $99. So last week when it finally went on sale for $39 I bought it faster than you can say “Young House Love rules!!!”. Also, I searched for a coupon code and found the take15 code for 15% off! It came in the mail today and I’m in love!

    Reply

  12. Charlene says

    I haven’t stained anything with tea, (okay not intentionally) but I just wanted to say I soooo have a crush on your entire living room/tv room. I love it! Can you come and fix my house please? ;-) lol!

    Reply

  15. Brenda says

    Hi youngsters! Were do you guys get your pillow inserts? I’m trying to find some inexpensive ones.

    Reply

  16. Gloria says

    My cousin tea dyed all the men’s shirts for her wedding. She wanted a more cream color, but the tux shop delivered white on accident, so she tea dyed all the rented shirts! You couldn’t even tell, they looked perfect.

    (And she returned them and even got her money back since the shop had messed up her order!)

    Reply

  17. Jenny says

    Okay, so I totally just saw ya’ll at Mongrel! I wanted to say hi, but chickened out, and didn’t want to bother ya’ll. I got really excited though, and just had to tell you guys!! Hope you had fun in Carytown. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw so sorry you didn’t say hi! Clara was overdue for a nap so we couldn’t stay long. Alas, momma can’t shop when baby’s not happy. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  18. Naomi S says

    I love all the wedding dye stories. I used coffee to dye my stark white wedding shoes to go better with my ivory dress. They were dyeables anyway, worked great and was a lot cheaper and faster than getting them dyed.

    Reply

  19. Stephanie B says

    I envy your bravery!!! I am currently trying the quilt out… following your directions step-by-step. As of now, i’m being made fun of because the cuts aren’t completely even (boooo hooooooo!) Anyways, i’m waiting on my sewing machine but it’s all pinned and ready to go. WISH ME LUCK! (I’ll need it ;) )

    Reply

  20. Laura says

    Sherry – not sure where to ask this BUT I’ve been searching your blog and pinterest page to find a quote I know is there somewhere about choosing things that are either functional or beautiful. Does that ring a bell? Am I crazy? I swear somewhere on here was a short and sweet quote about that decorating/design principle. If you can recall it and point me in the right direction, I’d be much obliged! -Laura

    Reply

  21. Lauren says

    I love how easy this process is! If you guys like tv that leans toward the morbid you really need to heck out the show (only on DVD now), Dead Like Me, if you haven’t already. It’s so good I’m jealous of people who are about to watch it for the first time, if that makes any sense.
    Also I just want to throw out there that I think my home and office spaces have definitely improved a lot thanks to the last couple of years of following your blog, so thanks! I’m hoping to take on some YHL inspired DYI projects this weekend so here’s hoping it’s not a total disaster!

    Reply

  22. Kim says

    Btw, the tea treatment for pirate-y paper works for a princess theme as well. We did that for our daughter’s 4th birthday party (she’ll soon be 12!). We wrote “hear ye, hear ye,etc. It was a great invitation. Might want to keep that in mind in case Clara becomes princess obsessed! Or pirate obsessed!

    Reply

  23. Leanne says

    My daughter tea dyed 2 first pages of Beethoven piano music (I am a piano teacher) a few years ago. She then cut black mats and framed them and they are gorgeous. They’re sort of blotchy in places which just adds to the antique look. She’s also the one who got me reading your blog!

    Reply

  24. Carly says

    Ha! You weren’t making that up when you said you had a pillow problem! ;-) My favorite line: “Now they “tuck” right in with the rest of their little pillow friends” — so cute! I love it.

    Also, love those green zebra pillows you’d been “sweatin.”

    -Carly
    http://www.createliveblog.com

    Reply

  25. Alyssa says

    I asked for suggestions a while back on your FB page for where I could look for a comforter to match a painting my late aunt made. It had teals/blues/blacks in it and I was thinking black and white paisley. Then you (Sherry) suggested checking West Elm. Once summer finally hit here in WI (which was a few weeks ago!! LOL) I continued my search and found a their really pretty Island Ikat Duvet Cover in all the perfect tones so I snatched it up. My hubby wasn’t too happy about the price and it actually went on sale a few weeks after I got it, so I called and they honered the sale price even thought it was past their normal 14 day time frame for price adjustments. Woohoo for great customer service, and thanks for suggesting a company I had never even thought to check! Anyway my next objective was to find pillow covers and acent pillows on the cheap, to please the hubby. After reading your 4 Color Process post, I went for it! Got cheap cases and yellow dye and it worked. They were a little too yellow, so I ended up finding some that worked on sale anyway. (I kept the yellow and plan to make them into accents pillows some day!) With my first attempt behind me, I tried a white bed skirt last night with teal Rit Dye from JoAnn Fabrics (I checked for that iDye first, but no teal available at my store) and it turned out great! So, long story…long thanks for all your help, suggestions, and courage to dye stuff…it’s fun!! LOL I do have one question, can you re-dye something? The bed skirt turned out a little lighter than I hoped for, although it’s just fine the way it is, but I think I should have used two boxes of dye instead of just one. So, can I buy another box and dye it again? Let me know if you have ever done it and how it worked for you!! Thanks again for your great blog!!

    PS: I’m the one with the son who was born the same day as Clara! Tell her Dallas says hi!! :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yeah – you should totally be able to redye it! And so glad they provided such awesome customer service at WE. Love them. Off to tell Clara that Dallas says hi…

      xo,
      s

  26. angela B. says

    I used to dye my wedding veil from blindingly white to a nice soft cream. It matched my dress perfectly and didn’t look like a pirate map:)

    Reply

  27. Samantha Deitch says

    Love it! Easy, free DIYs are awesome.

    Random question – have you ever thought about switching out your white lampshades on the console lamps for some black ones? I myself am a sucker for a clean white drum shade, but pictures like this (http://www.decorpad.com/photos/2010/11/09/t_ebe8d3bcef2c.jpg)
    and this
    (http://www.decorpad.com/photos/2010/05/03/ff769f5557ca.jpg)
    and this
    http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTLIxHb1P-YZgg6tHRbe9DwHUmMKiJt4CqwD2hTTaQGpxeAg_RU)
    have me thinking about switching over to “the dark side”, so to speak. They’d really pop against your lighter wall color. Maybe it could be another easy, temporary DIY to wrap your current shades with some black fabric. Just a thought.

    Love everything you guys do!

    Reply

  28. Jaya says

    Our taste in tv is So Sympatico! Dexter True Blood and Flipping out!! Oo I wish you were also watching Million Dollar Designers and I need to get on the Walking Dead!!

    Reply

  30. Alisa says

    When I was in high school I was finishing up a project where we were supposed to tea-dye the paper. It was the night before it was due before I realized no one in my family drank tea so I figured I’d use Diet Coke instead (hey, it was brown too!). Yeah, it didn’t work.

    Now, I’m in love with dying stuff with strawberries. Not only does it turn out a nice pale pink, but it smells delicious too! Well, until you wash it of course..

    Reply

  31. Rebecca says

    what a difference!
    i have an 80 year old doily that my G’ma coffee stained back in the day. on purpose she didn’t accidentally spill her coffee on it or anything! ;)

    Reply

  33. Ashlee says

    I like that the pillows ended up a general off-white color instead of looking like they had tea spilled all over them (which is what happened when I tried to tea stain paper once). Only a subtle difference but it really does make them blend in so much better! Props to both of you.

    Also – I already think you guys rock…but noticing that you mentioned that you love TRUE BLOOD…makes you rock that much more :).

    P.S. – Random question – What’s the “eco heavy duty” cycle on your washer?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s an Energy Star washer so it generally uses less water and energy during all settings, but the “eco heavy duty” one uses even less water, but still spins things super fast (so they come out almost dry, and therefore don’t need to be tossed in the dryer, they can air or line dry). Love it.

      xo,
      s

  34. Kate says

    I’ve never stained anything using tea, but when I was a kid I had to come up with a deer costume for a school play so my mom stained white tights/leggings and a white leotard with tea and it turned out great! She let everything soak longer than you did and the costume was right the right shade of light brown. I remember thinking she was so creative to do that. :)

    Reply

  35. Michele says

    I love those pillows and the tea dying idea. I’m also pillow obsessed I can’t get enough. For pillow inserts do you buy 2″ bigger? So for the 16″ x 16″ cover do you get an 18″ x 18″ insert? Probably a stupid question but the site I was looking at said to do so but I thought I’d talk to the pillow expert ;)

    Thanks :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I don’t really pay attention to that. Is that weird? I figure my inserts (all from Ikea) are pretty standard and they seem to work with all of my covers (which range from 16 x 16 to 18 x 18 I think). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  36. Hillary says

    I was JUST going to say that the last thing I dyed with tea was a fake diary entry with burned edges in middle school. Great minds think alike, eh?

    Reply

  37. designchic says

    Love the color after the tea was used. You’ll never believe this, but my Mother used tea to dye my wedding veil to the color of my gown…it was perfect!!

    Reply

  39. Heather says

    I actually took a cheap USA map from Rand McNally and tea stained it to make it look old, then Modge Podged it onto a painted piece of wood. It looks awesome as a giant piece of art in my 4 yr old son’s room. And he is learning his states from it!

    Reply

  40. cassie {hi sugarplum} says

    GAH!!! Why did you have to mention Dexter!!! I’d finally forgotten that I was stalking itunes for Season 5!! Even though I’m still recovering from the John Lithgow season…yikes!

    Oh yeah, and your pillow look fab.

    Reply

  41. Andy says

    My hubby color corrected 3 of your photos for me as an anniversary gift for you. If you send me your work email I will be happy to give them to you.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks so much! See the box on the sidebar with our faces on it? It has our contact info (including a link to click for our email addy).

      xo,
      s

  42. Madeline says

    I looooove that you have a “pillow thing”, because I have an intense “lamp thing”. Cannot resist them; when I find one I love I have to buy it…despite the fact that I recently moved home (after graduating college) and so really only have to decorate one room. And yet still…lamps!

    Reply

  44. Dusa says

    Sherry – just remember “dye is the paint of the fabric world”. And my TV addiction is ‘The Closer’, but if we are talking supernatural stuff, it’s ‘The Vampire Diaries’. Yeah, my emotional age is 14.

    Reply

  45. Ana Silva says

    Man I love your pillows! I need to update mine bad. What a difference some tea can make. Thanks for the tip!

    Reply

  46. Sarah says

    I am pillow obsessed too! Love the tea stain…and even though we are so many states away I am so glad to hear that other couples do the same things we do and watch the same crazy shows we do. We have had difficulty in meeting other couples our own age in our area that are as crazy as we are! :) Good crazy, not bad crazy!

    Reply

  47. Tara Wilhelmsen says

    I love seeing all of your different pillows! I noticed that you have a large sliding glass door in your living room. Have you done anything to renovate them beside hanging curtains? We have a large single pain sliding glass door that we will hopefully replace someday when we’re rolling in the dough! Until then though…do you know if it’s okay to paint the metal frame of the window white??

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yeah- metal takes really well to paint! I would just apply thin and even coats of paint and it should look great (you can tape off around it with Frog Tape for a clean line). We have just hung curtains on ours, but we’re planning to update the hardware someday too!

      xo,
      s

  48. JennyRed says

    Yes, love this method! I had a hell of a time finding non-bright-white netting to make a birdcage veil for my wedding. Luckily tea-staining worked like a charm for me as well! It was subtle, but couldn’t be more perfect.

    Reply

  49. Alphabet says

    I dyed my wedding shoes with tea! No one thought it could be done, but it worked like a charm. Free – and ended up matching the dress perfectly. I am a true believer in tea dying :)
    -ABC

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *