We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected]
YOU ASKED: I am using your liquid tannin on cotton. Beyond scouring, I was wondering if it is sufficient to use liquid tannin (on cotton t-shirts) as a mordant before using the other liquid dyes? Or, do I need to mordant cottons at all when using these liquids? Do I need to alum them as well? I have aluminum triformate currently so was thinking to use this.
KATHY ANSWERED: I hope I’m answering your question here. If you want to use Liquid Tannin as a dye, then you can mordant with alum (any cellulose process) and then “dye” with the Liquid Tannin. If you want to use Liquid Tannin + alum as a combination mordant and then dye with another dye, like Liquid Madder, then you can also do that.
If you are debating to use a tannin only (any tannin liquid or powder such as tannin, quebracho, sumac, myrobalan, etc.) You’ll get improved light and wash-fastness and in some cases, better color development if you use alum in the mordant process.
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