NATURAL DYE WORKSHOP VIDYA RANI SEM 2 M.DES TEXTILE DESIGN FACULTY V. SAKTHIVEL
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO NATURAL DYES
................................................................ INTRODUCTION TO MORDANTS
................................................................ PREPARING DYE BATH & EXPLORATION
................................................................ EXPLORATION IN ACIDIC, ALKALI & BASIC MEDIUM
................................................................ FABRIC DYEING
................................................................ UNDERSTANDING
............................................................... REFERENCES
...............................................................
NATURAL DYES The word ‘natural dye’ covers all the dyes derived from the natural sources like plants, animal and minerals. Natural dyes are mostly non-substantive and must be applied on textiles by the help of mordants, usually a metallic salt, having an affinity for both the colouring matter and the fibre. Transition metal ions usually have strong co-ordinating power and/or capable of forming week to medium attraction/interaction forces and thus can act as bridging material to create substantivity of natural dyes/colourants when a textile material being impregnated with such metallic salt (i.e. mordanted) is subjected to dyeing with different natural dyes, usually having some mordantable groups facilitating fixation of such dye/colourant. These metallic mordants after combining with dye in the fibre, it forms an insoluble precipitate or lake and thus both the dye and mordant get fixed to become wash fast to a reasonable level. Natural dyes are known for their use in colouring of food substrate, leather as well as natural fibres like wool, silk and cotton as major areas of application since pre-historic times. Although this ancient art of dyeing textiles with natural dyes withstood the ravages of time, but due to the wide availability of synthetic dyes at an economical price, a rapid decline in natural dyeing continued. However, even after a century, the uses of natural dyes never erode completely and they are being still used in different places of the world. Thus, natural dyeing of different textiles and leathers has been continued mainly in the decentralized sector for specialty products besides the use of synthetic dyes in the large scale sector for general textiles/apparels.
Some common natural dyestuffs obtained from different vegetable origin
Root - Turmeric, Madder (Manjistha), Onions, Beet-root Bark/ Branches - Purple bark, Sappan wood, Shillicorai, Khair, Red, Sandalwood
ADVANTAGES OF NATURAL DYES
LIMITATIONS OF NATURAL DYES
•They are obtained from renewable resources.
•Lack of standardization.
•No health hazards, sometimes they act as health care as in the case of Tulsi.
•High cost of Dyeing.
Leaf - Indigo, Henna, Eucalyptus, Tea, Cardamon, Coral Jasmine, Lemon Grass
•Practically no or mild chemical reactions are involved in their preparation.
Flowers (Petals) - Marigold, Dahlia, Tesu, Kusum
•No disposal problem; biodegradable.
Fruits/Seeds - Latkan, Pomegranate rind, Beetle nut, Myrobolan (Harda)
•They are harmonized with nature.
•Their easy and ready availability. •Their pastel shades.
SPECTRUM OF COLOURS FROM NATURAL DYES •Red coloured Dye: Sappanwood, Lac •Yellow coloured Dye : Bougainvillea,Marigold, Eucalyptus •Blue coloured Dye : Indigo •Black coloured Dye : Lac •Brown coloured Dye: Sappan, Balsam •Green coloured Dye: Canna, Tulsi •Orange/Peach coloured Dye: Balsam,Bougainvillea
Mordants for natural dyes are often required to help fix the dye to the fiber. The term ‘mordant’ derives from a french word meaning ‘to bite’ the fiber - describing how mordants were thought to work. Mordants come from primarily two groups - plant based, especially plants high in tannins and mineral based such as alum, iron, tin and chrome. Mordants should not affect the physical characteristics of the fibres. Sufficient time should be allowed for the mordant to thoroughly penetrate the fiber. Cotton and linen are more difficult to dye than wool or silk. Their fiber is not as porous and will not hold the natural dye without a mordant. Alum has been known for centuries in Europe. Alum and iron are the most environmentally friendly of the mineral mordants while chrome, tin and copper are considered more toxic. Some additional chemicals used with natural dyes, like cream of tartar, acetic acid and vinegar as well as the plant based mordants and tannic acid are also safe to use.
Alum as mordant - brightening mordant - cheap & easily available -produce pale version of prevailing dye color
Copper as mordant -gives brighter colors. -causes loss of fabric tenacity
Ferrous/ Iron as mordant -used for darkening or browning of colors.
DAY 1
Scouring of the fabric with cow dung & making dye bath with natural substances
DAY 2
BOUGAINVILLEA
STAR CLUSTER FLOWER
experimented with pH, temperature & concentration
MORNING GLORY FLOWER
METHOD
PREPARED DYE BATH OF THESE FLOWERS SEPARATELY BY PUTTING THEM IN HOT WATER. COTTON, SILK, WOOLLEN FABRICS ARE DYED IN RESPECTIVE DYE BATH AT pH 7 IN ACIDIC MEDIUM & BASIC MEDIUM SEPARATELY. AGAIN, THE pH IS ALTERATED BY ADDING ACIDIC ACID TO MAKE IT ACIDIC & QUICKLIME TO MAKE IT BASIC.
ACIDIC
NEUTRAL
BASIC
AFTER DYEING THESE PIECES OF FABRICS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE DYE BATH IN RESPECTIVE MEDIUM, THESE ARE DIPPED IN SEPARATE MORDANT ; ALUM, COPPER, FERROUS. FABRICS ARE TAKEN OUT AND WASHED IN WATER.
pH
COPPER
ALUM
IRON
OBSERVATION COLORS COME BRIGHT/ MORE INTENSE IN ALKALI, THAN ACIDIC OR NEUTRAL SOLUTION. MINT GREEN & SUCH SHADES COME WITH ALKALI MEDIUM, WHICH IS UNIQUE IN NATURAL DYE.
DAY 3
DAY 4 experimented more with bougainvillea, morning glory & marigold flower
intensity dyeing of bougainvillea with copper mordant
DYE BATH HARDA + NAG KESAR + TEJ PATTA ALUM - pastel dull green COPPER- dull olive brown FERROUS - dark blue
DYE BATH TURMERIC + POMEGRANATE
DYE BATH kala-kattha ALUM - beige COPPER- brown beige FERROUS - dark grey
ALUM - bright yellow COPPER- olive brown FERROUS - black/grey
DYE BATH MANJISTHA ALUM - rust maroon COPPER- rust orange FERROUS - tan brown
DYE BATH RATANJOT ALUM - beige COPPER- dull olive green FERROUS - dull olive green
DYE BATH ONION ALUM - fresh live green COPPER- olive green FERROUS - dark olive green
DYES WITH OTHER DYEBATH
DYE BATH ROSE DYE BATH MARIGOLD ALUM - bright yellow COPPER- mustard yellow FERROUS -olive green
ALUM - light olive green COPPER- olive green FERROUS - light grey
FINAL ASSIGNMENT 2 METRES OF FABRIC DYEING The workshop ended with metres of fabric dyeing using natural dye & come up with new ideas with natural dyes.
MANJISTHA (Rubia Cordiflia) - purifies blood. - tastes bitter, sometimes little sweet. - recommended in skin diseases; acne, edema. - valuable in vast range of diseases; diarrhea, hepatitis, improves menstrual bleeding. - promotes healing of skin tissues damaged by injury/ infection. - good for skin, when mixed with honey & used as a paste.
PROCESS
UNDERSTANDING THROUGH THE WORKSHOP 1 week of natural dye workship was great experience. It was a new learning all together. Experimenting with pH value and diffrernt mediums opened a new insight about natural dyes. This workshop will help me to use this aspect of craft in my future projects.