Hey all, I want to dye some cotton rope and wooden beads to use in some toys I am making and I am planning to use some home made food dyes(beetroot juice) but for blue, etc I was wondering if food dye would be okay? I plan to dye it and then wash thouroughly until the water runs clear and then dry before using it to make the toys...

I would say food dye is safe. Many bird toys bought from shops are coloured from food dye or non-toxic paints....

 

Blue is one of the hardest colours to get from natural sources. Blue berries maybe??

I have always done mine with food dye and never had an issue (unless left out in the rain) also mix a little vinillia essence into the food dye, they seem to be attracted to this and destroy and play witht eh toys more.

I go by a rule of thumb

 

If it's safe for kids it's safe for the birds .....

 

I make my playdough and use food colouring it is safe ...

 

If you were to stain items using certain foods. You need to be careful as some berries that people use for staining like black berries and etc can cause and create a mold or fungus on items if they aren't dried thoroughly enough

Anything I stained used food I had planned to put in a low oven to dry out