ART 142 Introduction to Fiber
Natural Dyeing
Natural Dyeing
Natural Dyeing involves plant materials (found or gathered) in combination with a mordant.
Mordants are needed to set the color; different mordants will give different results. Muslin, silk,
cotton and wool work best for natural dyes and the lighter the fabric in color, the better. White or
pastel colors work the best.
Note: It is best to use an old large pot as your dye vessel. Wear rubber gloves to handle the
fabric that has been dyed, the dye can stain your hands. It’s also important to note, some plant
dyes may be toxic. Check with the Poison Control Center if unsure.
Get the fabric/fiber ready for the dye bath
As in MX Fiber Reactive dyes, one must prepare the material to be dyed. This involves
scouring the fabric first with hot water and synthropol (or the like). Then, soak the fabric in the
color fixative (mordant) before the dye process. Ideally, it should be simmering. Add the fabric
and allow to cool together for at least an hour. When using a mordant such as alum, be cautious
not to leave the mordant on/in the fabric (especially wool) it will actually break down the fabric.
The mordant makes the color set in the fabric. Otherwise, your dyes will end up more like
‘stains’.
Color Fixatives:
Salt Fixative (for berry dyes) ½ cup salt to 8 cups cold water
Plant Fixatives (for plant dyes) 4 parts cold water to 1 part vinegar
Alum
Iron
Cream of Tartar
Add fabric to the mordant and simmer for an hour. Rinse the material and squeeze out excess.
Place wet fabric in dye bath. Simmer together until desired color is obtained. The color of the
fabric will be lighter when it’s dry. Also, dyed fabric should be laundered in cold water and
separately.
Prepare the material and the dye bath
1. Chop the plant material into small pieces and place in a pot.
2. Double the amount of water to plant material.
3. Bring to a boil and then simmer (an hour should do).
4. Strain the material.
5. Add fabric to be dyed. For a stronger shad, allow material to soak in the dye overnight.
Woad: makes blue, (taken over by indigo, doesn’t happen in the middle ages, first introduced
around the 12th century) woad grows in colder climates, easily accessible, it’s a fairly common
color (more washed out or paler blue- purse, not hard to do).
Long process of harvesting, drying etc. It’s a vat dye; vat dyes do not need a mordant
Mordant add to dye, can change the color, makes the color more fast (like alum)
Because indigo and woad are vat dyes, they don’t take on their true colors until they hit air
Madder- fairly common, reddish orange color (brown) not a deep wine red
Fairly color-fast
More expensive
Color was not that satisfactory until they combined it with tin
Weld- yellow color (might be saffron) mustard family, little bit fugitive, not a color that was
terrifically loved in the middle ages
Especially luxury people
It’s a good mixer
Yellow associated with Jews and various other groups of people as an identifying badge, that’s
why it wasn’t a super-desirable color
Woad (vat dye done first) + weld (mordant dye done afterwards)= green
Not terrifically expensive dyes
But it’s double dipped, 2 processes and often done by different people
Logwood- black or Woad and some type of brown
Blacks were not terrifically satisfactory
Lichen- purple, most desirable color, most difficult to do
Tended to be light-sensitive and fugitive
Kermes- the female, pregnant shield louse
Knew it was a bug
Thing is so tiny, they thought it was a grain or a seed
Dye is often referred to as grain
Very deep red, depending on what you do with it, you can get a deep wine red
Very expensive because it’s an ‘animal’
Have to crush it, etc
Tyrrean (or Tyrrian)- mollusk shell, purple, shell-fish dye
Discovered by the ancient Greeks, gathered around Tyre and the Turrean sea
You need a lot of them
12,000 mollusks just to get 1.4 grams, enough for the trim for a single garment
(let alone the virgin mary’s Hymation)
restrictions at very times
middle-ages heavily restricted and highly associated with the emperor
could grant people rights to wear purple
it is colorfast all on its own
Gold- made by literally using metal, stretching the filament out almost indefinitely, use a silk or
linen under-thing and wrap it with a gold wire
You don’t sew with that, rather, lay it on top or used as a kind of weft thread in weaving
Thick and heavy
Color
Not as accessible as we have access to now
Cost- dyes may not be costly, but the process is labor-intensive= increase in cost
Europeans would know looking at you the cost, the process, etc
Certain colors would not have been possible (fuscha)
More importance- dark red
Wealthiest- decorated with patterns
Red, in the middle ages and into our period was high status (one of the most high status)
Tricky source- Kermes: dark rich red-wine color
Came from a pregnant wood louse (did not know they were bugs, but thought they were grains)
Had to gather thousands of them, squish them, etc
Quite a process
Animal rather than a vegetable dye
Incredible expensive, quite a process and investment
Root, Madder
Vegetable dye- brick red, muddier
Fiddled around with your mordants, could make it brighter
Can’t get a nice purple-red
Mordants can be combined with your pigment to make the dye adhere to your clothing
Could get different colors depending on your mordant
Alum is the most common
Kermes- around since the middle-ages
When the new world is discovered, more dye-stuffs come over
More trade with warmer climates
Discover a new source, almost
Cochineal: insect that grows in warmer regions
Bigger, more juice, and the juice is more powerful
Red is more possible to do in the 17th and 18th century
Would have been just as expensive because you had to import it
Becomes cheaper over time
Great bizarre wonder, at first
Yellow- not the most popular color over time
Prejudice against it
When they use it, they used Weld (Crocus or a Saffron) and weld is just as effective
It’s a mustard and common all over Europe
Wode- not terrifically high-status (blue)
Grows all over Europe
It is a vat dye, and you don’t need a mordant, changes in the oxygen
Fairly color fast and common
Cult of the Virgin Mary- blue takes a great shot upwards in France
Louis IX- attached to the cult of the Virgin
Royal Blue- Blue= Royal color
A desirable color if it’s dark and saturated
Fare amount of wode in the peasant class- paler, grayer, duller, softer, lighter (plunket, in
London)
Blue, too, gets a shot in the arm
Indigo
Stronger, vat dye, warmer climates, new world (India)
So much stronger
More of it
Darker, cheaper
Green- a popular color in the middle-ages
Difficult to do because there isn’t one single dye that will do it
Start with wode, called a wode foot
Then do it in weld, or yellow
Double dye
Mordant dyers are in a different guild than a vat dyer
Green is dyed by two different guilds (two different dyers)
People not allowed to do wode start doing it, tricky
Not expensive dyes, but it’s more labor
Green is a color that you would have seen, but not a good green
Good, consistent, non-murky green= upper class
Black rises in status at
16th-17th century
used in so many different classes
courts, protestant religious groups, everyone is using black, not especially new
starting to do more bold things
doing double dipping
importing more Oak Gall and Walnut
Oak Gall- is an illness on the Oak tree, made ink out of it, later used for dye
Kind of a black dye ended up being more gray
To get a really good black dye
Grade of blacks
More of a fashion for Gray as Black becomes more popular
Range of Browns
Also a lot of Lichens (mosses)- pinks, purples, very pale pastels, not at all bright
Not as big of a player except perhaps in the country
Madder + Alum= a fairly bright red
Madder + Tin= very bright red (redcoats in England) yards and yards of what would have been
impossible and expensive colors
Other Natural Dyes
Alkanet Root: (Alkanna Tinctoria)
This will give colors from bluish grey to soft burgundy. This plant will grow like a weed if one
wants to grow it.
Annato Seed: (Bixa Orellana)
Will give an orange shade, it is a good dye for cotton.
Brazilwood Dust: (Caesalpania Echinata)
This dye will give you reds. Before using the dust, expose it to the air and sprinkle with water
and alcohol.
Cochineal: (Dactylopius Coccus)
The little cochineal bug will give the most color when ground into a fine powder. Obtainable
colors are dark burgundy to bright red to soft lilac and pink.
Cutch Extract: (Acacia Catechu)
Cutch is a very easy dye. It will remain fast even on cottons and silks. It is good for
combinations and produces brown tones if used by itself.
Indigo Natural: (Indigo Tinctotia)
Natural Indigo comes in blocks which, without further preparation, dyeing would not be possible
as it does not dissolve in water. A recipe and reducing agent are needed. The color range that is
produced is blue.
Indigo Solution Natural: (Saxony blue)
Produces a bright blue and is very easy to use, similar to a chemical dye. All of the dye will be
absorbed in the fiber. It is not very good to dye cotton nor other vegetable fibers.
Loqwood Concentrate: (Hematoxylon Campechianum)
Expected colors anywhere from magenta's and brown to purples and pink. A mordant is
absolutely needed. The concentrated powder will give more bluish colors. It dyes cotton well.
Madderroot: (Rubia Tinctorum)
Is available in two forms: root or dust. Colors range anywhere from red to red-brown and
oranges. It dyes cotton well.
Osage Orange Dust: (Maclura Pomifer)
Also available in two colors; bright yellow and gold. Two different colors can be obtained.
Red Sandalwood: (Pterocarpus)
This dye is beautiful for blending. It produces lovely browns, good shade combinations for doll
hair.
Mordants for Natural Dyeing
Alum: (Aluminum Potassium Sulfate)
This is the most widely used mordant. Be careful not to use too much with wool, otherwise you
will get a sticky feeling that doesn't come out.
Copper: (Copper Sulfate)
This mordant is used to bring out the greens in dyes. It will also darken the dye colors, similar to
using tin, but is less harsh.
*Chrome: (Potassium Dichromate)
Chrome brightens dye colors and is more commonly used with wool and mohair than with any
other fiber.
Extremely toxic. Chrome should not be inhaled and gloves should be worn while working with
chrome. Left over mordant water should be disposed of at a chemical waste disposal site and
treated as hazardous waste.
Iron: (Ferrous Sulfate)
Dulls and darkens dye colours. Using too much will make the fiber brittle.
Glaubersalt: (Sodium Sulfate)
Used in natural dyes to level out the bath. Also use in chemical dye.
Spectralite: (Thiourea Dioxide)
This is a reducing agent for indigo dyeing.
Tara Powder: (Caesalpinia Spinosa)
Tara Powder is a natural tannin product. It is needed for darker colors on cotton, linen and hemp.
Tartaric Acid: A must for cochineal. This mordant will expand the cochineal colors.
Tin: (Stannous Chloride)
Tin will give extra bright colors to reds, oranges and yellows on protein fibers. Using too much
will make wool and silk brittle. To avoid this you can add a pinch of tin at the end of the dying
time with fiber that was premordanted with alum. Tin is not commonly used with cellulose
fibers.
Calcium Carbonate:
Is to be used with indigo powder for the saxon blue color. It can also be used to lower the acidity
of a dyebath.
Shades of Orange
- Bloodroot will give a good orange to reddish orange color.
- Sassafras (leaves)
- Onion skin
- Lichen (gold)
- Carrot - (roots) orange
- Lilac (twigs) - yellow/orange
- Barberry (mahonia sp.) yellow orange (with alum) very strong & permanent. Any part of the
plant will work.
- Giant Coreopsis (Coreopsis gigantea) Yields bright permanent orange with alum.
- Turmeric dyed cloth will turn orange or red if it is dipped in lye.
- Pomagrante – with alum anywhere from orange to khaki green.
- Butternut - (seed husks) - orange
Shades of Brown
- Wild plum root will give a reddish or rusty brown.
- Oak bark will give a tan or oak color.
- Sumac (leaves)
- Dandelion (roots) brown
- Broom - (bark) yellow/brown
- Walnut (hulls) (deep brown)(wear gloves)
- Tea Bags (light brown)
- White Birch - (inner bark) - brown
- Juniper Berries
- Fennel - (flowers, leaves) - yellow/brown
- Coffee Grinds
- Acorns (boiled)
- Hollyhock (petals)
- Colorado Fir - (bark) tan shade
- Yellow dock (produces shades of brown on wool)
- Beetroot (Dark Brown With FeSO4)
- Red Leaf Buds (of many maple trees )- red-brown color when dried. Found on branches before
new leaves appear only present during early spring and throughout fall.
- Amur Maple ( Acer Ginnala) - black, blue, bown from dried leaves.
- Ivy - (twigs) - yellow/brown
Shades of Pink
- Strawberries
- Cherries
- Raspberries (red)
- Roses and Lavender, with a little mint and some lemon juice to activate the alkaloids can
make both a brilliant pink dye and a very tasty pink lemonade.
- Lichens - A pink, brown, or wine colored dye can be produced from a lichen known as British
soldiers.
- Camilla -It's a nice pink-magenta. With lemon and salt.
- Grand Fir -(bark) pink
Shades of Blue-Purple
-Red Cabbage
-Woad(first year leaves). Woad gives a pale to mid blue colour depending on the type of fabric
and the amount of woad used.
- Mulberries (royal purple)
- Elderberries (lavender)
- Saffron - (petals) blue/green
- Grapes (purple)
- Blueberries
- Cornflower - (petals) blue dye with alum, water
- Cherry (roots)
- Blackberry (fruit) strong purple
- Hyacinth - (flowers) - blue
- Japanese indigo (deep blue)
- Red Cedar Root (purple)
- Raspberry -(fruit) purple/blue
- Red Maple Tree (purple)(inner bark)
- Nearly Black Iris - (dark bluish purple) alum mordant
- Dogwood - (fruit) greenish-blue
- Oregon Grape -(fruit) blue/purple
Shades of Red
- Red leaves will give a reddish brown color I use salt to set the dye.
- Sumac (fruit) (light red)
- Dandelion (root)
- Beets (deep red)
- Crab Apple - (bark) - red/yellow
- Rose (hips)
- Chokecherries
- Madder
- Hibiscus Flowers (dried)
- Kool-aid
- Canadian Hemlock - (bark) reddish brown
- Japanese Yew - (heartwood) - brown dye
- Wild ripe Blackberries
- Brazilwood
- St. John's Wort - (whole plant) soaked in alcohol - red
Shades of Gray- Black
- Iris (roots)
- Sumac (leaves) (Black)
- Carob pod (boiled) will give a gray to cotton
- Oak galls - makes a good black dye.
- Sawthorn Oak - (seed cups) - black
Shades of Red-Purple
- Pokeweed (berries)
- Hibiscus (flowers)(dark red or purple ones) make a red-purple dye.
- Daylilies (old blooms)
- Safflower - (flowers, soaked in alcohol) - red
- Logwood (is a good purple but you have to watch it as it dyes quick when the pot is fresh. Also
it exhausts fast. We use alum to mordant and using iron can give you logwood gray.)
- Huckleberry gives a good lavender color and I have used it not only for a dye but also for ink.
Shades of Green
- Artemisia species provide a range of greens from baby's breath to nettle green.
- Artichokes
- Tea Tree - (flowers) green/black
- Spinach (leaves)
- Sorrel (roots) - dark green
- Foxglove - (flowers) apple green
- Lilac - (flowers) - green
- Camellia - (pink, red petals) - green
- Snapdragon - (flowers) - green
- Black-Eyed Susans
- Grass (yellow green)
- Pigsweed (entire plant) yellow green
- Red Pine (needles) green
- Nettle
- Broom - (stem) green
- Larkspur - green - alum
- Plantain Roots
- White Ash - (bark) - yellow
- Purple Milkweed - (flowers & leaves) - green
- Lily-of-the-valley (light green) be careful what you do with the spent dye bath. The plant is
toxic so try to avoid pouring it down the drain into the water supply.
- Barberry root (wool was dyed a greenish bronze-gold)
- Red onion (skin) (a medium green, lighter than
forest green)
- Yarrow - (flowers) yellow & green shades
- Mulga Acacia - (seed pods) - green
- Peach - (leaves) yellow/green
- Coneflower (flowers) - green
Shades of Peach/Salmon
- Broom Flower
- Virginia Creeper (all parts); alum mordant; Peach.
- Achiote powder (annatto seed
- Plum tree (roots) (salmon color on wool with alum)
- Weeping Willow (wood & bark) makes a peachy brown (the tannin
acts as a mordant)
- Virgina Creeper - (fruit) - pink
Shades of Yellow/Wheat
- Saffron (stigmas) - yellow
- Safflower (flowers, soaked in water) - yellow
- Syrian Rue (glows under black light)
- Red Clover (whole blossom, leaves and stem); alum mordant; Gold.
- Yellow cone flower (whole flower head); chrome mordant; Brass to Greeney-Brass.
- Onion (skins)
- Alfalfa (seeds) - yellow
- Marigold (blossoms)
- Willow (leaves)
- Queen Anne's Lace
- Heather - (plant) - yellow
- St. John's Wort - (flowers & leaves) - gold/yellow
- Celery (leaves)
- Golden Rod (flowers)
- Sumac (bark) - The inner pith of Sumac branches can produce a super bright yellow color.
- Weld (bright yellow)
- Cameleon plant (golden)
- Mimosa - (flowers) yellow
- Dandelion flower
- Osage Orange also known as Bois d'arc or hedgeapple (heartwood, inner bark, wood, shavings
or sawdust) (pale yellow)
- Daffodil flower heads (after they have died); alum mordant
- Mullen (leaf and root) pale yellow. *careful, because the little fuzzy hairs can make one itchy!
- Hickory leaves (yellow) if plenty of leaves are boiled and salt added.
- Tea ( ecru color)
- Yellow, Curly, Bitter, or Butter Dock (despite various leaf shapes, all have a bright yellow
taproot) gives you a yellow/flesh color.
- White mulberry tree (bark) Cream color onto white or off-white wool. Alum mordant.
- Paprika ( shade of pale yellow - light orange)
- Beetroot (yellow) (alum & K2Cr2O7)
- Turmeric (spice) --bright yellow
- Oxallis - the one with the yellow flowers. Use the flower heads, some stem ok. It is nearly
fluorescent yellow, and quite colorfast on alum mordanted wool.
- Dahlia Flowers (Red, yellow, orange flowers) make a lovely yellow to orange dye for wool.
- Mulga Acacia -(flowers) - yellow
- Sunflowers - (flowers) - yellow