Plants and People

Dyes

Dyes make the world more colorful.

When the first man picked the first berry, dyes were discovered.

Dyes have been used, valued, and traded for millennia

Ancient clay tablet with cuneiform characters spellingout a recipe for dyeing wool.

Natural dyes will dye…

cotton

wool

silk

ramieand othernaturalfibers

flax

Fastness

Refers to the tendency of a dye

to resist fading as a result of

washing or exposure tolight

Plant dyes

Rule of thumb:One pound of plantmaterial to one poundof fiber.

Plants are simmered orfermented to release the dye into the dyebath.

Mordants

Mordants are chemicalswhich help the dyemolecules bind to thefibers. Iron, copper,chrome, alum, andurea are often usedwith plant-base dyes.

The dyeing processPrepare dyebath

Wash and thoroughly wet fiberMordant

Simmer, ferment, or solar dye Mordant or additive

RinseDry

Keep good records!

Results will vary from dyelot to dyelot. That’s half the fun!

Indigo BlueIndigofera tinctoria, a memberof the Fabaceae.

Dyed articles are green until thedye is exposed to oxygen.

The process is messy and smelly. You can buy indigo powder orcakes of dye that have alreadybeen fermented and are readyto dye.

BLUE and PURPLEBerries. Often not washfast.

Alkanet—blue-purple

Woad, the blue dye of ancient Britons

PURPLE

Orchil lichens. Beautiful colors, but rare, and require fermentation with urea.

Logwood—bluish purples, or gray-lavender with additives

Pink and Red

Brazilwood—South Americantree whose wood yields red dye.

Madder, Rubia tinctorumRoots yield a red, pink, or reddish-brown dye.

Yellow and OrangeWeld, Reseda, or Mignonette—Shades of yellow and gold

Eggs dyed with onionskins, gold to brown

Yellow and Orange

Turmeric, saffron, and safflower areused as food flavoring and dye, but theywill dye fabric as well.

Goldenrod, common locally,Gives a good yellow dye.

Greens

Many plants will yield a green dye --mostly chlorophyll—but these are oftennot colorfast. More successful greens canbe obtained by dyeing yellow over blue orvice versa. Indigo and weld make a good green.

Tan, Brown, and Black

Many plants will yield tan or brown. The additionof iron makes colors “sadder” or blacker, though it can be damaging to fibers. Oak galls, rich in tannic acid, can be used to darken colors.