Black Dye from Charcoal

• A bowl, a bone and some charcoal make black dye. Animal-friendly.

Brown Dye from mixing

• Add red, yellow and blue dye together in a crafting bench to get brown dye (instead of searching for cocoa for a thousand years)

Bleach

• You need Salt, a bottle, and some redstone to get the bleach.

Salt

• Put a bottle of water in a furnace, burn the water away and keep the salt!

White banners from bleaching

• Add any colored banner with some bleach to a crafting table to get the white version.

White beds from bleaching

• Add any colored bed with some bleach to a crafting table to get the white version

White carpets from bleaching

• Add any colored... yeah, you get it.

White wool from bleaching

• .... needs explanation?