Disclaimer: I don't have years of experience. In fact, I don't have a year of experience. But I am going to try and document everything so I can come back and see where I have grown in my experience. So please, if researching natural dyes have brought you to my blog- double check my research if you feel something is incorrect. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to either send me an email or comment. I welcome constructive criticism and advice!
The first thing that I cannot stress enough is that when you start, document EVERYTHING. Even using tap water instead of bottled water can have a drastic change in the results of your dye. Your dye book will become a great reference guide- so that if in the future you find yourself wanting to get that colour you got years ago, you have a higher chance of replicating it by accurately recording what you did back then.
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| This is just five weeks worth of samples from seven students. |
If you think that the colour you made is a bust because it isn't what you had in mind- record it anyways! In the dyeing world- there is NO wrong result. If you got colour on fibre, then you did a good job. It might range in colour between pea soup projectile vomit to that stuff your pet critter horked up on the carpet last night- but it's still a colour.
Currently, I am in the middle of an assignment in which I had to research Logwood and use a method in order to get colour on fabric. Any colour. And for a colour enthusiast like me, it was just so hard (and painful) to choose. In the end because of my lack of experience, I just chose a premordant and hoped to God I got something that my classmates might 'ooh' and 'aah' over.
Logwood is a fantastic natural dye source. You can get anything from subtle greys to red-violets to purple blacks. It all depends on how much dye you use and what mordants. It is very similar to Brazilwood in composition but strangely, while logwood yields a palette on the cool side, Brazilwood is a warmer palette.
My first batch of samples I used 2% WOG (Weight of Goods- percentage of the weight of material you are dyeing) of Logwood extract. According to Maiwa's website, this was the optimal number to produce medium colours.
I premordanted my protein (Silk Satin, Silk Organza, Blue Face Leicester roving, Paton's wool yarn) with 20% Alum. I had read somewhere (bad student for forgetting where I read this) that upping the alum would intensify the colour so it is actually more than the recommended default of 15%. My premordanting of cotton samples was a bit more complicated (8% Tannin for 45 minutes and then 8% Aluminium Acetate overnight).
I was a dummy and realized after I had dropped my samples in the dyebath that I should have only used a half of my samples at a time. So after I had used the dye for bath one, I had to whip up a new batch of premordanted samples in order to get a bath two. In my haste, I didn't have the opportunity to premordant my cellulose so they got dropped into the same 20% alum that my protein did (we'll take a closer look at that in the future).
For my dye liquor I found that logwood behaves differently if the water is harder (has more calcium) than soft. So I measured out three litres of tap water (research suggested that the city's tap water was medium-hard) and dropped three crushed pure calcium tablets into the water. I put on the heat and stirred the water in hopes of dissolving the stubborn blobs of calcium. When it was mixed to my satisfaction, I added my 2% of Logwood extract. Logwood extract looks like a rusty red powder but when it hits the water- it turns a vibrant inky purple. Very pretty. When you add your fibre you will see the colour bloom immediately. It's not a shy dye and needs very little coaxing!
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| Samples right out of the dyebath. |
I brought the fibre and dye up to a boil so that it was bubbling furiously. I dropped the heat to a simmer and let it sit in its juices for an hour. According to Maiwa, I didn't have to let it sit in its juices overnight if I didn't want a dark colour. Seeing as I had a pretty dark colour already, I opted to remove the samples from the bath as soon as the hour was up. I put the fibre in a bowl and let it cool before washing it was cold water and just a minute amount of synthropol.
After my first dye bath, I split the samples into two and did a post mordant of 4% iron to 'sadden' it. I weighed out my iron and measured out 2L of water in a plastic pot that is dedicated entirely to iron baths. I stirred the water until it was spinning pretty fast and poured my itty bitty amount of iron in. The water turned a slightly rusty colour in the white plastic bowl as it dissolved. I dropped the samples in and made sure that they were thoroughly soaked. At the same time, I began a stopwatch for 5 minutes. You can watch the fabrics darken before your very eyes- its pretty neat (Or I am easily amused which is entirely possible). I will try to get pictures of before and after for you to see when I do my second batch.
**Make sure that when you remove your fibre from the iron post mordant bath that you wash it entirely. If you don't, your fibre will disintegrate quickly.
They might not look like much now but in a future blog post, I will show close-ups of my end results on a neutral background. For now, they will dry. I will iron the silks and cotton then along with the wool, cut up them up for sample sheets for my class.
For next blog post, I will be doing my second batch of logwood dye using Tin as a premordant. Let's see what the difference in colour is from that small change in the dyeing process.
