oak gall Archives - Botanical Colors

MORDANT MONDAY: How Is Gall Nut Extract Different Than Ground?

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: If I am using whole oak galls as a mordant, how is the gall nut extract used differently than the ground oak galls? Does the ground have to be heated for a certain amount of time or can it be added directly to hot water? KATHY ANSWERED: Gall nut extract, which we call gallo-tannin, is dissolved in near boiling hot water and then added to the dye pot or the mordant tub (it is a low -temperature mordant, … Read more

You Asked, Kathy Answered: Oak Tannins On Cotton

We get lots of emails from customers about challenges with dyeing and needing Botanical Colors’ President Kathy Hattori’s help. Why not share the learning so we can all benefit? From our inboxes to you, it’s simple: You Asked, Kathy Answered. Email questions@botanicalcolors with your plea for help! YOU ASKED: I am curious about some results I’ve been having using oak as my tannin bath for cotton fibers. As far as my experimentation goes I first tried freshly fallen oak leaf— still green, as a pre-mordant tannin bath at around 50% WoF. I found the fibers turned a dark purple color, … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Mordanting For Mixed Fibers + Blotchy Linen

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] This week on MORDANT MONDAY… YOU ASKED: I tried the oak gall tannin and then symplocos method on linen and for the life of me I can’t get an even dye. The mordant looks blotchy. Not sure what to do. I get consistently blotchy pieces with linen. KATHY ANSWERED: Hmm. Unevenness in mordanting and dyeing can come from a number of bedeviling sources. The first thing that comes to mind is the cleanliness of the fabric. If the linen isn’t evenly … Read more