When you pulled a shirt out of your closet this morning, what color shirt was it? Did you wear a vivid red or brilliant blue? The bright colors we have access to today generally weren’t available until the introduction of synthetic (man-made) dyes and the industrial revolution. Before these milestones in chemistry and modern science, humans used natural materials and manual techniques to dye fibers for most of history, and the color options were more limited than what we have today.
As an example, the color royal purple was only available to royalty and the elite for hundreds of years because it was expensive to make. Amazingly, the special ingredient to produce the status symbol of royalty was created from a specific snail. Thousands of snails were boiled to produce a small amount of the precious purple dye. It wasn’t until a chemist, William Henry Perkin, accidentally created the first synthetic dye in the 1850s that there was a way to sell purple fabrics to the general public.
By the way, Perkin was only 18 when he made this groundbreaking discovery. Through his hard work of further refining the purple dye and marketing it to manufacturers and the public, he made a fortune!
Natural dyeing is now an artisan trade, where each color created represents a combination of art and chemistry in the final product. Using common materials, I filmed live videos on my Facebook page that show the process of dyeing yarn with purple carrots that grew in my garden. Here are all the basic stove top dyeing steps written out for easy reference. Now you try!
What You Need:
- 400g Natural Animal Fiber
(wool, silk, etc.)
- Note: Cotton and other plant fibers use another process than the one described here.
- Water
- Alum, 1.9 ounces
- Cream of Tartar, 1/2 ounce
- Natural Dye Material (beets, onion skins, black tea
, coffee
, etc.)
(wool, silk, etc.)
, 
, etc.)Directions
Step 1
Submerge your natural fiber in cool water for 30 minutes. The fiber will absorb the water, and consequently not float on the top of the water during the following steps.
Step 2
Prepare a mordant bath by mixing a gallon of water with the alum and cream of tartar. Gently squeeze the water from the fiber and place it in the mordant bath. Heat the bath to below simmering for 30 minutes. Leave the fiber in the bath to cool for a few hours.
What is mordant? Mordant is a dye fixative that forms a ‘coordination complex’ at the molecular level of fiber. This prepares the fiber to “receive” the dye, so it will hold and keep the dye color better. There are different types of mordants and they all affect the intensity of the final color and the fastness, which keeps the color from fading.
Step 3
Prepare a dye bath by mixing your natural dye material in a two to one ration with water. If you have one cup of chopped up beets, then mix it with two cups of water. Gently squeeze the mordant bath water from the fiber and place the fiber in the dye bath. Raise the temperature to 160 F for 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the bath to cool slowly.
Step 4
Rinse the fiber in clean water. Gently squeeze. Then hang to dry.
How did you color turn out compared to the mine? Post a picture on Tamawi’s Facebook!