Dyeing Eggs

[WaturMama]

I'm not sure what thread to put this in. So feel free to direct me if someone has a better idea.

I'm planning to dye eggs for the first time in about 20 years with ds. Are those store-bought dyes toxic? I'm a bit suspicious of them, but they sure would make things easier for this first year (I may get more ambitious with natural dyes in later years)--plus I'd get some of those nifty wire egg dippers.

[alegna]

They're basically your standard food colorings.

Personally I'm comfortable with them.

-Angela

[7kiddosmom]

I am comfortable with them as well. The eggs come out brighter using regular food coloring and vinegar (the recipe is on the box), you just don't get the egg dippers. You can use a white crayon to decorate before dipping as well.

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by alegna

They're basically your standard food colorings.

Personally I'm comfortable with them.

-Angela

Yeah, I don't worry about using them. I don't think I've missed dying eggs in my whole 28 years. It's my favorite part about Easter!

ETA: The white wax-y crayon is essential!! We have way too much fun writing notes for each other and drawing silly pictures on our eggs.

[One_Girl]

I have used them yearly since I was very little and for the last three years with my daughter and we haven't gotten sick so I think they are okay. They have been around for a long time so I think if they were dangerous they would have recalled them long ago.

[llamalluv]

Well, you aren't eating the part of the egg that is dyed - unless you leave the egg in the dye for so long that it penetrates the shell and dyes the egg inside.

I just use food coloring and don't worry too much about dying my hands - even with the dipper I always got dye on my fingers. It fades after a few days of handwashing and showering. YK?

[CarrieMF]

spoons work better than the dippers, especially for younger kids.

we've never worried about it, even if the dye ends up on the edible part of the eggs. It will happen if the eggs are cracked before or during dying & if a kid gets ambitious about eating the egg while dying them.lol

any wax crayon will work, it doesn't have to be a white one. The coloured crayons don't keep their colour well after dying.

[rosebuds]

This is good to know. I have always wondered about them myself. Heck, we never even ate the eggs after dyeing because I wasn't sure. So you can eat them right?

We also like to use the crayon.

[A&A]

Originally Posted by rosebuds

This is good to know. I have always wondered about them myself. Heck, we never even ate the eggs after dyeing because I wasn't sure. So you can eat them right?
.

We don't eat them. The box I bought this year said that the dye is non-toxic but not food grade, so they shouldn't be eaten.

The colors are made in China. Lead is highly probable.

[WaturMama]

Thanks so much for the reassurance and ideas. I bought the storebought stuff today. Sadly it did not come with the crayon. I didn't even notice that until I got home. But I got the dipper! (I appreciate the spoon idea too.) The ingredients are "food grade" (good!) with things like red dye #whatever (not so good!), but I realized since very little gets on the egg and we don't eat stuff like this often I'm not going to worry.

[A&A]

Originally Posted by WaturMama

Thanks so much for the reassurance and ideas. I bought the storebought stuff today. Sadly it did not come with the crayon.

A regular white crayon will work.

[3boobykins]

Here is a site that has instructions for dyeing eggs with natural colors (onion skins, etc. ). I think we're going to give it a try!:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/EasterEggDye.htm

[annettemarie]

Moving to arts and crafts

[asaunders]

I came across this article while I was just researching the same thing that mentions many egg dye kits are made with coal and petroleum products...

http://hubpages.com/hub/Dye-Your-Easter-Eggs-Green

[eepster]

Originally Posted by asaunders

I came across this article while I was just researching the same thing that mentions many egg dye kits are made with coal and petroleum products...

http://hubpages.com/hub/Dye-Your-Easter-Eggs-Green

Saddly, so are the colors in much of the food sold. Easter egg dyes are the made of the same stuff as the coloring for things like Koolaid and colored icecream sprinkles.

[lilsparrow]

I used the crayon and the food coloring. The eggs turned out so pretty, and the colors were very bright. We dyed all the eggs we could find and would have dyed more if we hadn't run out of eggs. We got a lot of compliments on them.

[danieliausmama]

My eggs came rather plain, so that's what I did

http://www.flickr.com/photos/feltingme/2355142074/
As you can see I am into Law of Attraction stuff these days

[flapjack]

I love this

[WaturMama]

Those are gorgeous danielausmama. How did you do it?