Dye

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v53.16 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Dye can be used at the dyer's shop to change the color of clothing materials.

Production

Dyes can be produced by milling a number of plants at a millstone or quern using Miller (which also produces seeds) as well as from other sources at a dyer's shop using Thresher (which does not produce seeds). Usually, all caravans will bring dye for trade too. Importing dye, however, is only useful if you have a somewhat-skilled dyer, otherwise, little value is added and the work wasted. It is better to buy or grow the 'source' plants if available, and mill them yourself. Of course, the nice colors are a value in themselves, if you don't stuff it all in bins.

Dyes can be applied either to woven cloth, raw thread, or leather^v52.03. Dyed items have their value increased by the value of the dye (see table below), multiplied by the quality with which the dye was applied. There is not known to be any difference in the end product based on when the dye was applied during the production process. Dyes can't be applied to finished goods made from cloth, such as clothing, bags, or crafts.

Dyes can be mixed to create additional colors. The desired color can be chosen at the dyer's shop with the "dye cloth (color)" job, blending dyes with each other, or the material's natural color, to produce the chosen color. If the "display worn clothing dyes" option is enabled (which have two variants for both fortress mode and adventurer mode), any clothing wearing creatures will be seen in clothing colors as they truly appear. If this option is disabled, the clothing color will resemble their closest occupation instead.

Storage

On the stocks screen, dyes are listed under powder. Dyes are stockpiled as "Food/Milled Plants", along with flours. Barrels that contain only powders are called 'Mill barrel'. Each barrel can contain up to 60 dye bags, each bag containing one stack of dye items.

Work Order Conditions

Bag contents are not recognized in the manager's work order conditions. As such, item type (powder) and material (e.g. 'Dimple dye', 'Redroot dye', 'potato skin dye', etc) will not work (despite being the recommended condition on create dye jobs). As a workaround, reference all items/materials and use adjectives.

Examples:

• Count all stacks of dye: Item type 'items', material type 'no material', adjective 'dye item'
• Count all stacks of midnight blue (dimple cup) dye: Item type 'items', material type 'no material', adjective 'dye item', adjective 'Color midnight blue'

List of dyes

Plant	Dye	Color	Value	Crop type	Production
Dimple cup	Dimple dye	Midnight blue	20☼	Underground	Milled
Blade weed	Emerald dye	Emerald	20☼	Aboveground	Milled
Hide root	Redroot dye	Red	10☼	Aboveground	Milled
Sliver barb	Sliver dye	Black	20☼	Aboveground	Milled
Sorghum	Sorghum leaf dye	Rust	20☼	Aboveground	Plant
Rice	Rice husk dye	Buff	20☼	Aboveground	Plant
Red spinach	Red spinach leaf dye	Fuchsia	20☼	Aboveground	Plant
Cabbage	Cabbage leaf dye	Pink	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Wild carrot	Carrot dye	Pale brown	20☼	Aboveground	Plant
Eggplant	Eggplant dye	Lilac	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Onion	Onion skin dye	Orange	20☼	Aboveground	Bulb
Peanut	Peanut shell dye	Dark brown	20☼	Aboveground	Pod
Potato	Potato skin dye	Beige	20☼	Aboveground	Plant
Radish	Radish dye	Pale pink	20☼	Aboveground	Plant
Rhubarb	Rhubarb leaf dye	Tan	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Spinach	Spinach leaf dye	Leaf green	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Sweet potato	Sweet potato skin dye	Beige	20☼	Aboveground	Plant
Tomato	Tomato skin dye	Amber	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Turnip	Turnip skin dye	Beige	20☼	Aboveground	Plant
Watermelon	Watermelon dye	Orchid pink	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Grape	Grape dye	Lavender	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Cranberry	Cranberry dye	Red	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Bilberry	Bilberry dye	Violet	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Blueberry	Blueberry dye	Lavender	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Blackberry	Blackberry dye	Lavender	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Raspberry	Raspberry dye	Raspberry pink	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Pineapple	Pineapple leaf dye	Golden yellow	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Mangrove	Mangrove bark dye	Burnt umber	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
	Mangrove leaf dye	Burnt umber	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Pine	Pine bark dye	Beige	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Oak	Oak bark dye	Brown	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Mahogany	Mahogany bark dye	Mahogany	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Acacia	Acacia bark dye	Chocolate	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Maple	Maple bark dye	Light brown	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Willow	Willow bark dye	Yellow	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
	Willow leaf dye	Yellow	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Larch	Larch bark dye	Golden yellow	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Chestnut	Chestnut bark dye	Dark brown	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
	Chestnut leaf dye	Dark brown	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
	Chestnut hull dye	Dark brown	20☼	Aboveground	Nuts
Alder	Alder bark dye	Russet	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
	Alder cone dye	Sepia	20☼	Aboveground	Cones
Birch	Birch bark dye	Beige	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Ash	Ash bark dye	Goldenrod	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Banana	Banana leaf dye	Ochre	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
	Banana peel dye	Ochre	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Coffee	Coffee bean dye	Brown	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Guava	Guava bark dye	Yellow	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
	Guava leaf dye	Yellow	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Tea	Tea leaf dye	Tan	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Avocado	Avocado skin dye	Peach	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Olive	Olive bark dye	Woodland green	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
	Olive leaf dye	Woodland green	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Pomegranate	Pomegranate leaf dye	Yellow	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
	Pomegranate rind dye	Green-yellow	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
	Pomegranate bark dye	Gray	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Almond	Almond shell dye	Light brown	20☼	Aboveground	Nuts
Apple	Apple bark dye	Rose	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
	Apple leaf dye	Yellow	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Apricot	Apricot bark dye	Pink	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Bayberry	Bayberry leaf dye	Yellow	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
	Bayberry dye	Blue	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Cherry	Cherry bark dye	Pale pink	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
	Cherry leaf dye	Light brown	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Ginkgo	Ginkgo leaf dye	Lemon	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Hazel	Hazel bark dye	Gold	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
	Hazel leaf dye	Gold	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Peach	Peach bark dye	Amber	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
Pear	Pear bark dye	Ecru	20☼	Aboveground	Logs
	Pear leaf dye	Ecru	20☼	Aboveground	Leaves
Persimmon	Persimmon dye	Slate gray	20☼	Aboveground	Fruit
Plum	Plum bark dye	Mauve taupe	20☼	Aboveground	Logs

Trivia

• A number of plants have comments in their raw files suggesting they should produce dye, dating from before more dyes were added in 52.03. Wild carrot and rhubarb produce dyes from different parts than their comment suggests: flowers and roots in the respective comments. Pendant amaranth flowers are noted to produce dye, but do not have any in-game dye materials.
• Sliver barbs are only found in evil areas, therefore, elves, dwarves, and humans won't bring sliver barbs to trade. To obtain it, you must embark in an evil area and pull it from the ground yourself.
• Redroot dye is the only dye priced at 10☼.

This article or section has been rated D for Dwarf. It may include witty humour, not-so-witty humour, bad humour, in-jokes, pop culture references, and references to the Bay12 forums. Don't believe everything you read, and if you miss some of the references, don't worry. It was inevitable.

In some dwarven civilizations, a common battle cry is ‘ESHON ALOD ATÍR!’, which translates as ‘TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO DYE!’ Dwarven historians have been unable to determine why this should be.

See also

• Decoration
• Textile industry

"Dye" in other Languages Dwarven: atír Elven: afithi Goblin: osmu Human: asseg

V · T · E Materials
More: Gems • Metals • Stones
Creature	Blood • Bone • Cartilage • Cheese • Chitin • Egg • Fat • Feather • Hair (Wool • Yarn) • Hoof • Horn • Ichor • Leather • Milk • Meat • Nail • Nervous tissue • Organs • Parchment • Pearl • Scale • Shell • Silk • Skin • Spit • Sweat • Tallow • Tears • Teeth • Wax
Plant	Fiber (Paper • Slurry) • Flower • Fruit • Leaf • Oil • Plant powders (Dye • Flour • Sugar) • Seed (Press cake) • Wood
Creature/Plant	Alcohol • Cloth/Thread • Extract (Golden salve • Gnomeblight • Honey • Royal jelly • Syrup • Venom) • Glob • Liquids • Soap
Inorganic	Metal • Milk of lime • Soil (Clay • Sand) • Stone (Ash glaze • Earthenware • Gem • Gypsum plaster • Porcelain • Quicklime • Stoneware • Tin glaze)
Hardcoded	Amber • Ash • Coral • Filth • Fuel • Glass • Grime • Ice • Lye • Magma • Mud • Pearlash • Potash • Salt • Unknown substance • Vomit • Water
Glitch	Unknown material • Unknown frozen creature substance • Unknown frozen plant substance
See also: Material science