FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions
This week: Mordanting like Native Americans once did, mobile natural dyeing and fresh leaf indigo vs. extract.
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Online Mud-Dyeing Workshop with Aboubakar Fofana
3-Day Online Journey Pouch Workshop with Aboubakar Fofana Workshop dates: May 31, June 1 and 2, 2024 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) 9:00 AM Pacific-12:00PM, 12:00-3:00PM Eastern, 18:00-21:00 UTC This workshop will be recorded and available for viewing for 90 days afterward. Workshop description: Join Aboubakar to create a mud-dyed journey pouch that you decorate and stitch from traditional materials. The workshop will focus on traditional Malian mud as the medium and your own creativity as the path to working with this amazing substance. We will provide traditional strip fabric (finimugu) for embellishment. After that, we use the magic of tannin and … Read more
FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions
This week: A detailed answer on non-toxic alternatives to mordanting
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
FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions
This week: Is iron safe for babies, mordanting with tannins and getting a lighter hue and does liquid rhubarb like cotton?
Gallo Tannin extract
Gallo tannin extract (sometimes refered to simply as tannin) comes from gall nuts, which contain approximately 50-60% tannin and has a lovely tea-like aroma. The dye is very light, imparting a subtle beige color. Its power comes when it is combined with iron to create silver, gray and black in combination with other dyes. 250g of tannin will mordant approximately 5000g (11 lbs) of goods when used at 5% of the weight of fiber (WOF). For more detailed instructions, please see our page on natural dye extracts. If you are interested in other dyes that have high tannin content, we … Read more
MORDANT MONDAY: To Mordant Or Not To Mordant + Disposing Of Mordant Baths
We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] What is Mordanting? Mordanting is the most important process of preparing fibers to accept color. Using a mordant helps to ensure the most durable and long-lasting colors. With the exception of indigo (as a vat dye, it does not require a mordant), this is not an optional step. However, there are many different mordants you can use. Deciding which mordant to use comes down to the types of fibers you want to dye and how much time or energy … Read more
FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Aluminum Acetate Substitute & Using Recyclables For Seed Cups
This week: Substitutes for aluminum acetate and using recyclables for natural dye seed cups
Q & A: Round Up of Scouring + Mordanting 101
Mordanting and scouring should be at the top of your things-to-do list before natural dyeing. Botanical Colors Founder Kathy Hattori recently took on as many questions as was humanly possible to clarify the processes. Before reading, also please see our How-To Scour and How-To Mordant pages. Scouring Questions If I use untreated and unbleached fabric, is it a must to scour the fabric or is washing it enough? If you mean by “untreated” that it has never been scoured, then you should scour. If untreated and unbleached means it is also prepared for dyeing (PFD or RFD), then you can … Read more