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 spelling
out a recipe for
dyeing wool.
Natural dyes will dye…
silk
cotton
flax
wool
ramie
and other
natural
fibers
Fastness
Refers to the tendency of a dye
to resist fading as a result of
washing or exposure to
light
Plant dyes
Rule of thumb:
One pound of plant
material to one pound
of fiber.
Plants are simmered or
fermented to release
the dye into the
dyebath.
Mordants
Mordants are chemicals
which help the dye
molecules bind to the
fibers. Iron, copper,
chrome, alum, and
urea are often used
with plant-base dyes.
The dyeing process
Prepare dyebath
Wash and thoroughly wet fiber
Mordant
Simmer, ferment, or solar dye
Mordant or additive
Rinse
Dry
Keep good records!
Results will vary from dyelot to dyelot.
That’s half the fun!
Indigo Blue
Indigofera tinctoria, a member
of the Fabaceae.
Dyed articles are green until the
dye is exposed to oxygen.
The process is messy and smelly.
You can buy indigo powder or
cakes of dye that have already
been fermented and are ready
to dye.
BLUE and PURPLE
Berries. 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 American
tree whose wood yields red dye.
Madder, Rubia tinctorum
Roots yield a red, pink, or
reddish-brown dye.
Yellow and Orange
Weld, Reseda, or Mignonette—
Shades of yellow and gold
Eggs dyed with onion
skins, gold to brown
Yellow and Orange
Turmeric, saffron, and safflower are
used as food flavoring and dye, but they
will 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 often
not colorfast. More successful greens can
be obtained by dyeing yellow over blue or
vice versa. Indigo and weld make a good
green.
Tan, Brown, and Black
Many plants will yield tan
or brown. The addition
of 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.