Fun With Natural Plant Dyes! Q: Are natural dyes only made from plants? A: No, historically Tyrian purple is produced in the mucous gland within some species of shellfish. The shells were crushed to re-move this fluid, which only turns purple once it has been applied to fabric and ex-posed to light and air. The clothes dyed with Tyrian purple were so expensive that only royalty could afford them. Cochineal is a traditional red dye of historic Mexico. This precious dyestuff was

obtained from a female cochi-neal insect that lives its life sucking on the flattened stems

of certain prickly pear cacti. It creates a red pigment and stores this pigment in body fluids and tissues. This dye was used to rank social status in Mayan society.

2600 BC Earliest written record of using dyes in China 715 BC Wool dyeing considered as a craft in Rome 327 BC Alexander the Great mentions "beautiful

printed cottons" in India during his conquests 55 BC Romans found painted people in Gaul dyeing

themselves with Woad—a natural blue dye 700's a Chinese manuscript mentions dyeing with wax

resist technique which is now called Batik 1212 the city of Florence, Italy had over 200 dyers

1290 The 3 major dyes were: woad, madder and weld. 1507 France, Holland and Germany begin the

cultivation of dye plants as an industry 1727 Bleaching linen with kelp started in Scotland

1745 Indigo begins to be grown in England 1766 Dr. Cuthbert Gordon patents Cudbear which was prepared from a variety of lichens. Only one of 2 natural

dyes ever credited to an individual. The second is in 1775 when Bancroft introduced the use of quercitron

bark, from a North American oak, as a natural dye. 1856 William Henry Perkin discovered the first syn-thetic dye stuff "Mauve" while searching for a cure for

malaria and a new industry started

Shibori A traditional Japanese textile art dating back to the 8th century. The artist first creates a design and then the cloth is stitched, bound, resisted, wrapped or

gathered by hand. Any number of these methods are used on one piece and of-

ten involves a dozen different tech-niques. For each color, dozens of steps

have to be altered, re-stitched, and gathered. It’s common for a kimono to

take a year to complete!

Bandhani This tie dyeing technique is used

in many parts of India and is related to Shibori. Bandhani tie dyeing, or knot dyeing, in which parts of a silk or cotton cloth are tied tightly with wax thread be-

fore the whole cloth is dipped in a dye vat; the threads are afterward

untied, the parts so protected being left uncolored.

Multi-Colored The modern technique of applying different colors of dye directly to

cotton at the same time became pos-sible with the development of cold

water fiber reactive dyes (which means not simmered on a burner

like the historical use of dyes). Cold water fiber reactive dyes were intro-duced to the US textile industry in the 1950s but weren’t available to

the public until much later.

Trick or “Re”treat Getting ready for Halloween tonight? So was Alexander the Great! Legend has it that he tricked the Persians into thinking that his army was wounded by sprinkling his soldiers in “fake blood” made out of madder juice, which contains the bright red dye alizarin. Quite a treat for his soldiers! To Die or Not to Dye Ancient Egyptian mummies have been found wrapped in cloth dyed from the madder plant. Chemical test of red fabrics found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen in Egypt show the presence of alizarin. Tie Dyeing Styles From

Around the World

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Natural dyes can be direct dyes which fix themselves to the fabric without an additive to make it stick. Examples of direct dyes are indigo and lichens. Some natural dyes need some-thing to help the color stick to the fabric and not wash-out. This is called a mordant and acts like Velcro on the fabric at-taching the color to it. Mordants are traditionally metal salts like aluminum and iron salts. Copper, tin and chrome came into use much later. Historically, alum and iron were used as mordants in Egypt, India and Syria. In places where metal wasn’t available, plants that can attract minerals from the earth, like club moss, have been used. non-sticking dye

Sticking dye

Mordant

Fabric you’re trying to dye

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1. D, 2. C, 3. B, 4. I, 5. A, 6. G, 7. E, 8. F, 9. H Do You Know Your Dyes?

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A. Saffron D. Bloodroot G. Woad B. Elderberry E. Indigo H. Black Walnut C. Beets F. Onion I. Goldenrod