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FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: What’s the difference between colorfastness in natural dyes vs synthetic? Based on the fact that we have museums filled with tapestries and other textiles from hundreds of years ago, why is there such debate that natural dyes last? This is an interesting question with a complex answer. Color, light and washfastness commonly refers to how well a … Read more

A yellow-green powder sits in a red bowl

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: What is the best natural fixative for cotton? All tannins (chestnut, tara, myrobalan, cutch, etc) may be used to pre-mordant or mordant cellulose fibers but the recommended mordant is tannin and alum, and depending on the type of alum you are using, sometimes a post bath is also recommended. Instructions are given in our How To Section. … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: How do you keep dyes from bleeding into non-mordanted areas? I am finding that excess dyes deposit into white areas and I can’t seem to get them to wash out. Keeping undyed areas intact really depends on the technique you are using. If you are doing shibori work, it’s important to create tight resists. A loose resist … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: Are all synthetic dyes made from petroleum? Synthetic dyes are a huge category of colorants and they are derived mainly from benzene or benzene-like chemicals, which are among the primary petrochemicals. When they were first developed, they were called coal-tar dyes as they were developed from coal. Check out this article on our blog that covered this … Read more

Kathy Hattori holding a skein of yarn over a pot

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: I often hear about “fugitive color.” Can you tell me why some colors like turmeric can latch onto fabric and why others like beets can’t? The terms “fast” and “fugitive” (not Fast and Furious) refer to how durable a natural color is to light, heat, and washing. “Fast” means that the color is durable and its strength … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: I’ve always used my tap water to dye but have just started using rain barrels to collect water I will use for dyeing-can you tell me what differences you have found in using different types of water? Water is a significant factor in natural dye results. Water that is highly mineralized with calcium, magnesium and/or iron will … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: I am really new to dyeing–is the material to be dyed mordanted first, then dyed? When I developed film/printed photos, you always “fixed” at the end to keep it from continuing to develop. Please help; I’m trying to understand and visualize the process. Many thanks! The procedure that I prefer to use is: Scour or clean the … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: Is there any way to remove iron from fabric to brighten it up? Iron is a reliably “permanent” mordant, which is why it is used to enhance light and “washfastness” with dyes that are weak in these categories. I have not seen a reversible method for removing iron. I keep getting mixed answers from people about dyeing … Read more