symplocos

This week: Expanding color profiles with Symplocos and “aluminum potassium sulfate?”

This week: A detailed answer on non-toxic alternatives to mordanting

This Week: Reusing symplocos for mordanting and considering just what a “chemical” is.

We are happy to offer symplocos (Symplocos cochinchinensis) dried leaf powder as a plant mordant from Indonesia. The fallen leaves are rich in alum from endangered forests. As a result, we support a sustainable crop rather than felling trees for their lumber. As natural dyers, we have access to various plant-derived tannins for mordanting options. […]

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, […]