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Well, this article provides you some easy tips of giving an antique look to an otherwise new piece of fabric. We all know that "Old is gold". In the fashion world or in the home decor and furnishings market, there is a great demand for antique or vintage fabrics. But usually they are very expensive and they are also not very easily available. While to keep a new fabric look new and clean for a long time is difficult, it is quite easy to make new clothes and fabrics look antique and aged. How? Well through some easy dyeing tricks which we are discussing below:

How to Make your New Fabric Look Old and Antique?

First of all, always remember when you start the dyeing project, prefer to use fabrics like cotton, silk and linen for dyeing instead of synthetic fabrics like polyester. Once you decide the fabric, you can start your dyeing process and there are various ways to dye your fabric to give an antique look.

The Tea Bag Method

This is considered to be the most popular method for getting an antique look. How do you use tea bags for dyeing? Very simple. Take a large pot of water and put it on a flame. Take 4-5 tea bags and put them in the water. Add 2 tablespoons of salt. Now boil the water at high flames. After some time, the water starts to become reddish brown in color. Now take the fabric that needs to be dyed. Put the fabric inside the water and let it boil for 10 -15 minutes. Once this is done, turn off the flame. If you want a more darker tinge, hang the fabric for drying in direct solar heat. You have your antique fabric ready. Tea gives a warmer beige.

The Coffee Method

Coffee is another good dyeing material like tea. Using coffee can really make your fabric look antique. But the drawback here is that it tends to leave a strong smell along with its stains. So, for this you need to be careful with the quantity of coffee powder you use for dyeing. Like the tea method, use a large pot of water on the flame. Add 2 heaped teaspoons of coffee powder to the water along with 2 tablespoons of salt. The water turns jet black after few minutes of boiling. Now remove it from the heat and dip the fabric in it for about 10 minutes. For a darker tinge, put is directly under the sun. And if you want a lighter shade, dip the dyed fabric in cold water for 1 minute or so and and then set it for spin drying in your washing machine. Coffee gives a brown beige look.

Bleach Method

For dyeing silk fabrics, bleaching is a good method, especially for dark colored fabrics. Don't use it for light colored fabrics as they can turn into white after bleaching. You may use bleaches as a pre-wash before you actually plan to stain and dye the fabrics. Or else, take cold water in a bucket and mix bleaches it it. Add the fabric to the bucket and let it remain for half an hour or so. Once done, let the fabric dry on a clothes line under direct sun. And your will get your antique fabric!

Walnut Shell Method

Do you have any idea that walnuts can safely be used to get one of the best antique look on fabrics? Take few walnuts with their shells still intact. Break the shell a little. Take a large pot of water and put it on a flame. Now put the walnuts in the water and let it boil. The little break in the shell of the walnut will allow boiling water to get inside the walnut during the boiling process. Now dip the entire fabric into the pot of boiling water. Keep on stirring the fabric with a wooden spoon. Let the fabric boil for about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. Once the water cools down, let the fabric float in the mixture for some time. Walnuts are highly effective in staining or yellowing the fabrics. When the fabric is taken out and dries, you will find that the fabric gets a slight coarse or worn feel.

Some Other Methods

Besides the dyeing method, there are some other ways to make your new fabric look old. Follow these tips:

• -Rubbing fabric on the grass: Take the new fabric and rub it on freshly cut grass in your garden and then let it dry. Once dried, dip the fabric in cold water and set it to dry again. The fabric will look discolored or yellowish. In order to retain this, never use strong detergents when you wash these fabrics
• -Using sandpaper: Take few pieces of sand paper and rub then all over the fabric. This will make your fabric look vintage.
• -Heat it Under direct Sunlight: Direct sunlight is one of the best and easy methods for making fabrics look old, specially for white or black cotton fabrics. Wash them in cold water and leave them to dry under direct sunlight. Leave them in the clothesline for the next few days. You will notice that the white fabric starts yellowing and the black fabric starts turning gray.
• -Hot water and detergent: For Indian ethnic fabrics with zardosi or zari work, dip your fabrics with hot water and a strong detergent. Once taken out, you will see that the zardosi work will lose its glittering golden sheen and your fabric looks like a perfect antique fabric.