Earth Friendly Dyeing

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In the current climate, when everyone who is anyone is worried about the planet, or should be, how we use dyes to colour our clothes is an issue which needs careful thought. Chemical dyes can create problems for the environment, not least in the disposal of the waste created by the actual process of dyeing.

I have always been fascinated by natural dyes, but know from experience that some of the dyes need chemicals, or mordants, to ensure that the colour will bind to the fibre being dyed.

Because of this, I am working on ways of ensuring that my dyeing processes are as earth friendly as possible, and sharing with others, via my teaching, the results of my experiments.

I try to ensure that I use natural mordants which are not harmful, such as iron from a pot full of rusty metal and vinegar, which I keep fermenting away happily in our shed. I also use Tannin from oak leaves as a mordant, sumac leaves which I simmer and strain-this can be kept in the fridge for months!

Most recent experiments use Soya milk as a mordant, painted onto the cloth, and then ,natural dye material is spread on the cloth and the whole is rolled up and left in the compost heap for a week approximately. This gives wonderful background cloth for overprinting with natural dye liquids, thickened with Gum Tragacanth.

Soya milk and tannin have been traditionally used in Indian block printing for many years, though I’m not sure about the compost heap!

Screen printing with natural dye liquids is a really exciting technique, as it is much more free than the normal method and produces a more painterly effect on the cloth. Block printing can also be achieved with the natural dyes when thickened and the normal process of discharge can be used on your cloth, using tannin or tartaric acid as the discharge medium.(tartaric acid is a stronger form of cream of tartar, which we all use in baking)

Ongoing experiments with natural dyeing also involve cold dyeing with madder, which, during this wonderful hot summer, have been very successful, giving shades of terracotta through to orange. No heat has been involved in this, apart from that of the sun on the bucket outside my kitchen door. Certainly, primitive dyers would not have wanted to use their precious heat source to dye fabric, so this seems the most likely method for them to have used.

All of my dyeing/printing work will form part of my teaching schedule in the future, and these methods would be useful for feltmakers, weavers, spinners and anyone with an enquiring mind. What better way to do our bit to help the planet than using colour in our work which is earth friendly?