For the first time, we obtain chemical evolution models (CEMs) for Tucana and Cetus, two isolated dwarf spheroidal galaxies of the Local Group. The CEMs have been built from the star formation histories (SFHs) and the metallicity histories, both obtained independently by the Local Cosmology from Isolated Dwarfs (LCID) project from deep colour-magnitude diagrams. Based on our models, we find that the chemical histories were complex and can be divided into different epochs and scenarios. In particular, during 75 per cent of the SFH, the galaxies behaved as closed boxes and, during the remaining 25 per cent, either received a lot of primordial gas by accretion or they lost metals through metal-rich winds. In order to discriminate between these two scenarios, abundances ratios in old stars are needed. At t ˜ 4.5 Gyr, the galaxies lost most of their gas due to a short-strong, well-mixed wind. We obtain very similar CEMs for both galaxies, although Cetus is twice as massive as Tucana. We conclude that the star formation in both galaxies began with only 1.5 per cent of the baryonic mass fraction predicted by Λ cold dark matter.