The
Palmetto
Quarterly Magazine of the
Florida Native Plant Society · Vol. 13, No.
3 · fall summer 1993
Natural Dyes
From Florida Native Plants
By
Elizabeth Smith (drawings
by the author) Use of dyes may have all started when early men and
women noticed the Berry stains on their fingers, and went from there to
experiment with adding color to their daily lives.
However it
may have started, we do know that the first recorded mention of dying and dye
shops appears in a Chinese chronology dated 3000 B.C.
Using natural materials to dye fabrics
appealed to me, and I decided to research our native plants to learn which
berries, leaves, flowers or barks would yield dyes.
Being an amateur at both dyeing and Botany, I
searched for boods, looking to history for related European plants, Records of
early American settlers, Indians--- anything that mentioned color from native
plant material.
We know the ancient civilizations in India, Japan, and Egypt had dye Industries
using plants, insects, and Sea creatures to color their handicrafts. The
Egyptians were known to have used another important improvement - a substance
called a mordant that helped the dye color become permanent. Natural fibers
such as wool, silk, and cotton have the property of holding certain chemicals Called
mordents in their
Fibers, which then form an insoluble compound
with the dye to improve colorfastness.
Throughout Europe,
records reflect that dyeing was mainly a trial-and-error process, until
scientists and publishers put together a manual for the dye industry.
The American Indians did not leave written records
about the native berries and plants they used. We know of some general
materials passed down through generations, but little is known of localized
knowledge, especially from the east.
The North American settlers continued to use
European methods and imported dye products even when they became quite
expensive. There were several efforts to grow dyestuffs in colonial America as a
commercial crop but they did not succeed. Little is written about the colonial
dye materials and processes except those based on traditional European methods.
Our knowledge
of early experiments with native materials comes mainly from personal papers,
family traditions, and recipes passed down from generation to generation.
We would all still be wearing the soft muted colors
of natural dyeing if William Henry Perkins had not been experimenting with coal
tar in 1856.
From this he produced
aniline, and from aniline he produced a lavender dye, a color that created
excitement in England and spread to the rest of the Europe and eventually to
North America. It was said that Queen Victoria wore"mauve" (the new
color!)Dress at the Great Exhibition of 1862.
Aniline dyes became the standard -the colors were
predictable compared to natural dyes, which were often shaped by environmental
factors, and offered a wide range of colors not obtainable from natural
sources.
Natural dyeing survived in the rural areas of America,
but died out for commercial use by the end of the 19th century.
Germany led the way in the chemical
manufacture of dyestuffs from aniline until World War 1, when a "dye famine"
spurred America
to compete in the business of large scale dye manufacture. During the shortage,
however, the use of natural dyes revived for a time, and then lapsed back into
the hands of local craftsmen and artists.
One of the reasons
natural dyeing has survived is the very reason commercial dyers have rejected
them they are impossible to standardize. Natural dyestuffs produce unique
colors that may vary widely from dye lot to dye lot. Each plant has subtle
differences - live oak twigs from one area may produce a gray color, from
another area, a rose color. The soil, weather conditions, and other elements
that make up different habitats will cause variations in the dye color.
Add to that the miscellaneous lichens,
insects, and galls that you may have gathered with the plants and that color
changes again.
I had decided to limit my
experiments to plants, saving the insects and sea creatures for hardier
experimenters, so the next step was to track down the plants and recipes I
would need.
After amassing a list of
the possible plants native to Florida
that had related plants mentioned throughout history, or which seemed to be
likely candidates, I was ready to learn how to do the actual process.
First, I needed to decide which mordents should be
used to make the dyes colorfast. Certain mordents work best on certain
materials wool and silk color best when metallic salts such as alum, chrome,
iron, or tin are used. Cotton or vegetable fibers combine best with tannic
acid.
I selected
wool and cotton ply yarns for the first attempts, and later had a chance to use
a woven silk fabric. I chose two mordents that are readily available to me -
alum (sold in many food stores) and iron or copperas (sold through a pharmacy).
Others are available through chemical supply houses or specialty mail order.
Alum is aluminum potassium soleplate and is commonly used with cream of tartar
(also from food stores), which acts as a "helper" and also brightens
the colors. The iron comes in a form called copperas and is ferrous soleplate.
In the old days, the iron dye pot acted as the mordant! Iron will darken or
"sadden" colors, often producing grayer or cooler tones.
The recipes say that mordents may be used
before, during, or after the dye bath. To simplify things, I use the mordant
directly in the dye bath. The most permanent color is achieved with mordant bath before and after.
Amounts given for mordents
must be followed carefully. Too much may harden or streak the cloth; not enough
will not give a fast color. Generally, I followed a basic recipe – 11/2
teaspoons of alum and 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar to 2 gallons of water for
my base mordant; for the secondary mordant I used iron (copperas), 1/2 teaspoon
to 2 gallons of water. I did find several recipes giving amounts of bark,
flowers, and so on, but I decided to follow the basic formula and experiment on
my own. For specific and exact recipes (including temperatures), an excellent
book is Dyes From Your Garden by Bernice Gillette Conner, a recent soft cover
publication listing her experiments with many Florida plant materials of exotic
and native species. Some of the basic rules of home dyeing are based on common
sense: be aware of any toxic plant materials (use with care or not at all); be
aware of the poisonous nature of some mordents (store separately from food
items and label correctly). Using a dye recipe is like using any other recipe.
A good cook knows to gather equipment and assemble ingredients before starting
to cook... Use non-metallic pots and utensils, as the metals may affect the
desired dye color. I use a canning kettle of enameled porcelain, wooden spoons for
stirring be sure to keep pots And all utensils used for dyeing separate from
other and lifting and plastic measuring spoons for the mordents cooking
containers and tell your family not to use them for any sort of food
preparation.
Some purists use only distilled water because rain
water may contain minerals and tap water has chemical additives that will
affect the color.
I
believe early dyers used whatever water was available, and feel that tap water
does not add an amount of chemicals that would severely distort the colors. If
you do the dyeing indoors, be alert for noxious odors and provide baths I
tested required about one quart of plant material (leaves, flowers, roots,
berries, twigs, or chopped bark) to 2 gallons of water to dye approximately 2
ounces of yarn. These were simmered together until the color was released, from
20 minutes to an hour.
Intensity of color
could be regulated by adding more dye material or more water, also by the
length of time the fabric or Fibers are left in the dye bath. Fibers or Fabrics
should always be wet before Immersing in the dye bath to enable the Color to be
absorbed evenly.
You may want to strain the plant Material from the
dye bath first. I use a colander to strain bark and twigs, and an old dishcloth
for flower heads, small stems, and leaves.
Pour the dye bath back into the
pot and add the wet fabric or fibers continue to simmer gently, never crowding
or squeezing.
I found most materials took about 30 minutes to
reach the desired color. Before removing the fabric from the bath, pinch some
of the water out of the fibers; this shows the color closest to the final
result after rinsing and Rinse thoroughly until the water runs clear, and then
hang out of direct sunlight to dry. I
have color samples from eight years ago that still retain the same hues.
These were not exposed to
our bright Florida sun, though, but even our best synthetic dyes don't always
stand up to that! Most natural dyes are soft shades that reflect the natural
world around us - greens, yellows, and browns of all shades; gray, rose, and peach
tones.
The colors derived from berries tend to be the most
fleeting - over time the colors mellow into softer and paler versions of the
originals.
My dye samples were made from native plants in my
backyard or cultivated species throughout the neighborhood. Friends shared
berries, walnut husks, and Spanish moss for ex-permeating.
Some plants brought forth
amazing colors; while some that I had high hopes for (such as beautyberry) were
duds. I had the best results with 100% virgin wool needlepoint yam in an
off-white unbleached color. I tried the same dyes and mordents on cotton
knitting ply and usually got paler versions of the wool color.
The silk was "China" silk given tome by a
friend. Silk yielded the same tones as those on the wool, sometimes with a
slight variation. Finding pure fibers is not easy. Those that I used were
available without having to order specialty items from a hobby or weaving
source.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Smith is not an expert on dyes or native
plants, but enjoys fabrics, fibers, and the native plants in her garden.
Her experimentation with native dyes is Ongoing. Readers are invited to add new
Species to her list of dye plants. Write the Author at P. 0. Box 8092, Naples,
FL 33941-8092.
[Yikes – if she isn’t an Expert, who is! – Ed.]
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Complete Illustrated Book of Dyes from Natural
Sources. Arnold and Connie Krochmal.
Dyes from Your Garden. Bernice Gillette
Conner. E. E. Seeman Publishing, Inc., Miami,
FL.
Natural Dyes and Home Dyeing.
Rita J.
Androsko. Dover
Publications, New York, NY.
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