Fun Facts about the Fustic in our Botanical Colors’ Beginner Dye Kit:
Fustic (Chlorophora tinctoria or Maclura tinctoria) is a tall tropical hardwood that grows from Mexico to Argentina. Fustic is high in tannic acid, which makes it an ideal cotton dye. In fact, it was used in the military to dye the color khaki during World War I.
On cotton, it will dye a clear gold and on silk and wool it will dye gold to brown-gold. Fustic also provides a good base for other colors: indigo overdyed with fustic creates a khaki green; combined with madder and cochineal to make oranges; and mixed with logwood or with iron to produce olive greens.
Use it at 10% on the weight of fiber (WOF) for bright rich gold with a strong exhaust dyebath for additional color. Lower percentages will produce a lemony shade. The high tannin content of this dye will result in a slight color shift toward a golden buff when exposed to direct sunlight. For more details, please see our how to page.
CLICK HERE for our post on setting up your dye studio.
- Fustic Extract
- Iron
- A Dye Pot : Stainless Steel , Iron or Aluminum Pot – Different metals will produce darker shades
- Heat Source : Stove Top, Hot Plate, Fire outside….
- Whisk
- Gloves
- Thermometer
- Bucket
- Your Fiber : Natural fibers like cotton , hemp , silk or wool . We have a bunch of fabric for you to work with HERE.
PROCEDURE
Fiber Preparation and Mordanting
Your fiber should be scoured and mordanted prior to dyeing. Visit our How To pages for information on scouring and mordanting instructions for wool, alpaca, silk (protein), cotton and plant (cellulose) fibers.
Dyeing your Fibers
Calculating the amount of dye that you need can be done by first weighing the material that you want to dye. The material must be dry when you weigh it. This measurement is known as the weight of fiber or WOF. The amount of dye that you need is then calculated as a percentage of the WOF.
| LIGHT | Medium Shade | Dark Shade | |
Fustic shades by % | 1-2% WOF | 3-4% WOF | 5-10% WOF |
Darkening the yellow for a rich khaki green.
Make a bath of 2% the WOF with Iron Sulfate. You can use room temperature or cool water for this but you want enough water so that your fibers flow freely throughout the pot. Let your fibers sit in this bath for about 20 minutes , monitoring the color. Too much iron can make wool feel a bit crunchy so be mindful of the time in the bath.
WASH CARE
It is always best to use pH neutral soaps for your natural dyes. This means ecological brands that don’t contain optical brighteners or any sort of Once you are finished with your project you will want to wash ( in your washing machine – separate from other garments ) on a hot cycle to bleed out the excess dye. After this initial washing, it is recommended to hand wash or wash on a delicate cycle to preserve the longevity of your pieces. Always wash wool by hand as to not felt the fibers.