Archive for category: Dyeing Tips & Recipes

January is not the best month for harvesting plants for dyeing but it always seems to be possible to find something with dye potential, no matter what the time of year may be. During my recent walk in the woods, I collected some fallen fir branches & some brown oak leaves & birch bark from the woodland floor. The birch bark is waiting for me to strip off the useful sections & soak them in water, but the fir leaves & oak leaves have already found their way into my dye pots. Although they didn’t produce remarkable colours, they make a pleasant reminder of a delightful afternoon spent foraging at leisure for woodland treasures. 

This shows an alum-mordanted skein dyed in a dye bath made from the fir leaves on which the skein is sitting.

 

 

                                                                                                                                            This shows the results of a dye bath made from the fallen oak leaves on the left of the picture. From top to bottom the skeins are: alum mordant, no mordant, no mordant plus iron modifier.

Although these brown & grey shades may not have the “wow” factor of more brilliant colours, they provide useful contrasts to set off brighter, more vivid shades.

This image shows some colours from Eucalyptus gunnii leaves. The wool on the left has been mordanted with alum, the wool on the right was unmordanted. From top to bottom, the samples are: no modifier, plus alkaline modifier, plus iron modifier.

NOTE: As it’s usually the alkaline & iron modifiers that give the most interesting results, I limited these tests to these 2 modifiers only. However, I have just read that some eucalyptus dyes react better in an acidic solution, so I may have made the wrong choices. 

NOTE TO SELF: Do not try to take short cuts by not testing samples across the full range of modifiers. The modifiers omitted might be the ones that give the most interesting results.

 

 This image shows the results of a dyebath of Eucalyptus gunnii bark on alum-mordanted wool (left) & unmordanted wool (right) From top to bottom the samples are: no modifier, plus alkaline modifier, plus iron modifier.

 The same comments on not missing out modifiers apply here.

 

                                                                            

This image shows all the skeins dyed as in the photos above. Any variations in shade between the photos is because this last photo was taken outdoors, while the other 2 photos were taken indoors. I think the colours in this photo, rather than in the photos taken indoors, are closer to the actual colours of the skeins

I’m afraid I’m still working on my skills as a photographer!

This photo shows the results of my most recent tests using sorghum extract, this time on unmordanted wool. Unfortunately, the telephone called me away from the dyebath, which boiled too vigorously for too long, resulting in much darker shades than I had intended. However, I think it’s just about possible to see the results of the colour modifiers.

From top to bottom: No modifier, acidic modifer (clear vinegar), alkaline modifier (washing soda), copper modifer, iron modifier.

I think sorghum could prove an interesting dye source & I must try it again – but next time without boiling the dyebath to within an inch of its life!

This photo shows some shades, on alum mordanted wool, from Lac Red on the left & from Lac Purple on the right. (Both available from Pure Tinctoria). I was interested to see how separating the red & purple pigments would influence the resulting shades.

Colour modifiers resulted in pleasing variations in shade. Both copper & iron made the colours more purple in tone &, as usual with Lac dye, an acid modifier intensified the colour & an alkaline modifier made it considerably paler. This is interesting, as with most other dyes the results are reversed & the alkali intensifies the colour. In fact, the only other dye I can recall where this effect is noticeable is walnut hulls. Here, too, a vinegar after-bath deepens the shade.

This photo shows the results of another test I carried out on the Lac dyes. This time, before adding the alum-mordanted fibres,  I added clear vinegar to the prepared dyebath to bring it to pH 4. I then added the fibres & simmered the dyebath for about 30 minutes as usual.

The top 2 skeins are from Lac Red (dyebath & exhaust dyebath) & the lower 2 skeins are from Lac Purple (dyebath & exhaust dyebath).

The addition of an acid, either citric acid granules or clear vinegar, is a useful way of extracting the maximum dye pigment from insect dyes & works with Cochineal as well as with Lac. However, it tends to produce shades that are redder or more orange in tone, rather than pinker or more purple & if too much acid is added the colour can easily become too orange in tone.

With the exception of the pale pink skein (dyed in cochineal on an alum mordant) & the pale blue skein (dyed in indigo), this photo shows some colours achieved from various dyes, using rhubarb leaves as a base or alternative mordant. The reddish colours are from madder, the pinker shades are from cochineal, the brown & tan colours are from cutch & the greeny-blue shades are from indigo. The wool skeins were first treated in the rhubarb leaf solution, then dyed. No other mordant was used.

Following a comment on my latest entry on Rhubarb Root, I thought it might be useful to clarify the difference between rhubarb leaves & rhubarb root. Rhubarb root is a very useful dyestuff, more suitable for animal, rather than vegetable, fibres, & it can be used both with or without a mordant. Used with colour modifiers, it gives shades ranging from yellow & rust to pink, red-brown & green. It doesn’t seem to matter what species of rhubarb you use. I use the roots from the edible rhubarb I grow in my garden for pies etc. Some people use the roots of ornamental rhubarbs. The rhubarb root sold commercially often comes from China & is used as an ingredient in laxatives or purgatives.

Rhubarb leaves, which contain poisonous oxalic acid so should be handled with care, can also be used as a dye on mordanted or unmordanted fibres, but they tend to give only a pale yellow colour. Their main use is as an alternative mordant or base for other colours. They work well on animal fibres but are not really recommended for vegetable fibres. Rhubarb leaves are widely used as a base for other colours by Tibetan carpet weavers, working in Himalayan regions where chemical mordants are often difficult to obtain. They are also used to assist fermentation in indigo vats.

Full details for using rhubarb root & leaves can be found in my books. (See under “My Books”)

At last I’ve managed to find time to try out the colour modifiers on the rhubarb root extract dye that I wrote about earlier. The samples are on unmordanted wool.

The photo shows from top to bottom: No modifier, acidic modifier (clear vinegar), alkaline modifier (washing soda), copper modifier & iron modifier. (Note: I always put the modified samples in alphabetical order – acid, alkali, copper, iron). The last sample is from a different dyebath, made by adding an acid (this time citric acid granules, but clear vinegar would have been equally good) to the dyebath before dyeing. I added enough to turn the dyebath yellow, rather than rust, in colour. However, take care not to add too much or the colour may be too pale, so add it gradually.The unmordanted sample was then added & simmered for about 20 minutes. This latter method is a useful way of getting a clear yellow from rhubarb root, in either extract or plant form, without having to use an acidic modifer afterwards. If you dye several skeins in the acidified dyebath, they can be modified as usual, although little change occurs from an acidic modifier.

I was delighted with these results, as rhubarb root is such a useful, versatile dye, especially as it can be used without a mordant. It was good to know that the modifiers are effective when used with the dye in extract form.