Slow Color
…sustaining natural dyeing traditions around the world
Natural red dyes…from plants and insects
Sep 2nd
There are two primary ways to achieve reds with natural dyes: using plants or using insects.
To dye fabric red using plants, madder root is used. Indian madder (Rubia cordifolia) gives an orangey-red color, and Persian madder (Rubia tinctorum) gives more of a true red. Genuine antique Oriental carpets usually used Persian madder; other tapestries used the insect Kermes (see below). The term “red tape” comes from the Indian madder-dyed ribbon holding packets of documents; Indian madder is also used in Ayurvedic medicine. Both kinds of madder are still used in natural dyeing.
(Brazilwood gives a beautiful plant-source scarlet color, but unfortunately is not very lightfast.)
Very bright scarlet or fuchsia hues are obtained using insects. In medieval times, in Poland, Lithuania, and Russia, dyers used a scale insect known as St. John’s Blood. In the Far East, lac insects secrete a substance which contains a red dye. In the Mediterranean region, the insect used was Kermes, and in the Americas it is the ground-up bodies of insects known as cochineal. Of the insects, lac and cochineal are still in use today, and not only for fabric (for instance, lac is used in the common product “shellac” and in bracelet-making in India, and cochineal is an approved food dye found even today in the U.S. [unbeknownst to most people] in some bottled fruit juices, canned fruit, cough drops, etc.). Spaniards brought cochineal from the Americas to Europe. The term “Redcoats” for the British army was due to their wool jackets dyed with cochineal–giving them something in common with ancient Aztecs, whether or not they knew it.
Use of these red dyes dates from probably three to four thousand years ago.
DESIGNatural and SlowColor will not use cochineal in its products due to the fact that it is necessary to kill the insects in order to produce the dye.
The fastness of natural dyes
Aug 22nd
There are four types of fastness for dyed cloth, whether the dye used was natural or synthetic.
1) fastness to light: nearly all dyes, natural and synthetic, fade to some extent with enough exposure to light. Natural dyes are often more susceptible to fading with exposure to light; however, the fading that takes place, often referred to as “mellowing,” is usually of a gentle and aesthetic kind.
2) fastness to washing: many dyes, natural and synthetic, fade to some extent with washing. While some natural dyes may be more susceptible to fading with washing, again, the fading that takes place is often referred to as “mellowing,” and is gentle and aesthetic. No dye, when done correctly, should radically “bleed” when washed. A gentle, pure soap should be used, rather than a detergent. Detergents are synthetic, are harsher, and often contain ingredients which may affect natural dyes.
3) fastness to rubbing: of all the natural dyes, cloth dyed with indigo is probably the most affected by rubbing. Recall that this is a desirable quality in blue jeans, and was from the very beginning. Done correctly, only minimal or no rubbing should occur on garments where this “blue jeans” effect is unwanted.
4) fastness to other substances: natural dyes are often quite susceptible to reacting with substances of a particular alkalinity or acidity. Because changing the alkalinity or acidity during or after dyeing is a way to alter the color, care must be taken to avoid contact with substances of a particular alkalinity or acidity. For example, an accidental splash of lemon or orange juice (an acid substance) can lead to unexpected and unwanted results, such as pale splotches on a red shirt.
desigNatural and SlowColor will only use those natural dyes which have a good or excellent fastness rating.
Cutch (catechu), a warm brown dye from India
Aug 19th
Acacia catechu, sometimes called mimosa catechu, a tree native to India, provides a warm-brown colorfast natural dye. Interestingly, the tree also provides firewood, medicine for diarrhea and sore throat, wood for furniture- and tool-making, and fodder for livestock. It has been used to help preserve cloth fishing nets and sails. The color comes from the sap within the heartwood, which gets boiled and then the water evaporated. It contains its own natural tannins and is one of the easiest and oldest dyes. It is an unusually versatile dye in that it can dye both plant-based fibers and protein-based with equal ease.
Learning patience…once again!
Aug 18th
The interesting thing about Slow Color Movement, is how in today’s fast paced world, it teaches you about being patient with yourself. Be it either to see how the colors will reveal themselves slowly, as the natural fabric dries, to just waiting for the natural dyes to boil slowly and not in a flash.
Here I wait for various colors of Ahmisa Silk to dry. Ok, I will be patient and go do something else.
Types of natural dyes
Aug 15th
Colors that come from natural sources do not all use the same dyeing process; there are three types of process (and these may also vary depending on what type of material is being dyed):
1) substantive dyeing: The dyestuff alone, with nothing else added, colors the fibers. The dyestuff may or may not contain its own natural mordant. Some substantive dyestuffs (and their associated colors) are saffron, turmeric, and annatto (yellows and oranges); safflower (pinks); walnut (brown); cochineal, on wool (crimson).
2) adjective dyeing: a mordant is used with the dyestuff. (See previous post about mordants.) Some examples are cochineal, on cellulosic fiber (pink); madder, on cellulosic fiber (reds and oranges); logwood (blue-violet to purple); brazilwood (pink).
3) “vat” dyes: a different process than either substantive or adjective dyeing. Examples: indigo, and the historic Tyrian purple.
Mordants
Aug 13th
In order to get natural dyes to absorb better and stay more fast in fiber, one frequently uses a mordant. Mordants (Latinate, meaning “bite”) are substances typically used to prepare fibers or cloth before dyeing, and are also occasionally used during and/or after the dyeing process. They allow the dye to “bite” more effectively into the fiber.
Some mordants are plant-based, like tannins; others are metal-based, like iron. Some mordants impart their own color to the process and others do not. Some are innocuous, like alum or myrobalan; others dangerous and/or polluting, like chrome, tin, copper. (Why would someone want to use a toxic mordant? To achieve different colors or sometimes a more vivid color.)
As part of their commitment to the health of all organisms and their environments, DESIGNatural and SlowColor will use only non-toxic mordants such as Myrabolan.
Being a B-Corporation…
Aug 12th
Based on initial impact assessment, DESIGNatural and the Slow Color Movement have been invited to become a B-Corporation. A B-Corporation is a benefit-corporation that looks to enable social enterprises like DESIGNatural to make a statement and not be part of the greenwashing process.
Aesthetics of natural vs. synthetic dyes
Aug 10th
Have you noticed that few of your clothes look good together? You probably have certain favorite combinations in your wardrobe that you know well, because at one point you realized they do make a good color match, and so you reach for that particular combination repeatedly. But you also know from experience that most of your colored clothing (other than the urban adage that black is always appropriate head-to-toe) does not look good together. Synthetic dyes are sometimes called “pure colors,” which sounds, when one hears the phrase, like it ought to be a good thing. However, what it means is that the synthetic dye is coloring the clothing in a single molecular hue. Dyes from natural sources contain multiple color agents; even though we may call a naturally-dyed garment “green,” say, or “pink,” there are actually many discrete hues present to cause that “green” or “pink.” Because each naturally-dyed “color” is actually naturally made up of multiple colors, virtually any naturally-dyed garment looks good with any other.
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From J.N. Liles, The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing: Traditional Recipes for Modern Use, The University of Tennessee Press, 1990:
The natural dyes are not stark, pure colors like the synthetics. Instead, they have been pre-mixed by nature, thus rarely clashing when placed side by side. This imparts to them some of their special beauty. Mixing modern [synthetic] dyes can produce some of this effect, but it is all too seldom done. And the natural dyes possess additional beauty because they come from living things. (I sometimes feel that some of that life is still there.)
‘Totally’ stylin’ guilt-free in days of sweatshops…
Aug 9th
In India, they love to say ‘totally’ to emphasize and make a point. So here I am totally stylin’ in the first prototype handloomed naturally-dyed on unbleached untreated natural linen, with coconut-shell buttons. I feel cool! In hot and somewhat humid Northern India. It is lush green in the Desert State, thanks to some unusually long spells of rain. 
The same day the headline news item in Hindustan (India’s original name, pre-independence) Times highlights the problem of sweatshops in India. GAP to Marks & Spencer to Next are mentioned in the article.
One can do things right, in terms of style, fashion, environment impact and social impact, so it feels good to be ‘totally’ stylin’ guilt-free.
