How to Dye Wool in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Two ways: craft 1 white wool with 1 dye anywhere in the grid for 1 colored wool, or right-click a live sheep with dye to recolor it permanently - sheared dyed sheep regrow their new color forever, giving infinite colored wool.

What you need

White wool (sheared sheep or 4 string)
Dye (any of the 16 colors)
Optional: shears, a sheep farm

Step by step

Get white wool: shear sheep (3 wool per shearing) or craft 4 string into 1 wool.
Make or find dye: flowers, smelting, and combining cover all 16 colors (see our dyes guide).
Dye the wool block: place 1 white wool and 1 dye anywhere in the crafting grid. The recipe is shapeless and dyes exactly 1 block at a time.
Better: dye the sheep. Hold dye and right-click a sheep to recolor it. Shear it, and the wool regrows in the new color forever.
Breed dyed sheep: lambs take the color of a parent, or mix colors (a red and a blue sheep can produce purple), so a dyed flock produces infinite colored wool with zero dye.
Use colored wool for beds (3 wool + 3 planks, wool colors must match), carpets (2 wool = 3 carpet), banners, and building.

Java vs Bedrock

Wool dyeing works the same in Java and Bedrock: shapeless 1 wool + 1 dye, and dyed sheep keep their color through shearing and pass it to lambs in both editions.

Versions: Classic (dyeable wool since Beta)

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to dye wool or dye sheep?

Dye sheep: one dye recolors the sheep permanently, and every shearing after that gives colored wool for free. Dyeing wool blocks costs 1 dye per block forever.

Can you re-dye colored wool?

Yes. Any wool block can be re-dyed another color with 1 new dye, and dyed sheep can also be re-dyed a different color.

Do bred sheep mix colors?

Yes. Lambs usually take one parent's color, but compatible colors can blend: red + blue gives purple, blue + green gives cyan, and so on, following dye-mixing rules.

How do you get brown wool?

Brown dye only comes from cocoa beans (jungle pods). Dye a sheep brown once and breed it for a permanent brown wool supply.