4. BioChromes¶
Research & Ideation¶
Fahion to Dye For
For this week's assignment I wanted to focus my research on the polluted waters caused by the chemical dyes for the fashion industry. I really wanted to understand how big the problem is we are facing and how we can change the path of fashion. I did some research on what areas are the most affected and how this kind of labour affect the lifespan and the enviroment of these communities. I did not want to get inspiration from any artist, but instead I let the people, who really struggle with this problem, speak for themselves.
Here is a video I recommend watching if you really want to understand the magnitude of the matter.
Creating our own living palette¶
This week's assignment consisted on creating our own personal palette dyeing different textiles with all natural ingredients.
Gathering ingredients¶
For our ingredients, we focused on using some ingredients known for their effective dye properties and often used in the natural dye world. Apart from those, we gathered some others that we could find nearby and tested them.
This way we have been able to merge our surroundings with the textile industry and learn from what nature has to offer.
Cooking our colors¶
Step 1: Preparing the fabric¶
One of the first steps we have to follow when preparing for the natural dye is separating the fibers. We have to make a difference between the animal origin fibers and the vegetable origin fibers.
Silk is a vegetable origin fiber even though it is made by an insect
After that it is very important that we weight our dry fibers. Note the weight down and do´nt forget this information since you will be using it after that.
Step 2: Scouring¶
In this step we need to remove all of the oils and impurities the fabrics may have.
1 tsp of soda ash per 1l of water
Cook for 30 to 60 min
Step 3: Mordanting¶
The last step before the dye bath is mordanting. With this step what we will achieve is a fiber prepared for a better absortion of the dye bath.
White vinegar - 1/4 of the water used
Alum - 8% of WOF
Cook for 30 to 60 min
Step 4: Dye Bath¶
For this step you will need to choose a natural ingredient, depending on its properties you will need to use more amount. Prepare a water bath and leave your ingredient for about 60 min on boliling water (for hard iongredients like bark leave aovernight on hot water). After your ingredient has released all the color filter your water and you are ready to put in your ingredients. Introduce the fabric and simmer for 60 mins, then let it rest for a couple of hours.
Step 5: Modifiers¶
The last step is to add and test the modifiers. We used four different modifiers: soda ash, iron, copper and white vinegar.
Here is a small video of the whole process with the modifiers.
Results¶
Eucalyptus¶
- Dyeing material: 185 gr Eucalyptus bark
- Fabric: 112gr (linen, cotton, wool, silk, bamboo, felt)
- Water: 2,25 lts
- Leave overnight for the bark to release pigment
- Boil for 30 mins with fabrics
Onion¶
- Dyeing material: 115 gr Onion skin
- Fabric: 112gr (linen, cotton, wool, silk, bamboo, felt)
- Water: 2,25 lts
- Leave overnight for the bark to release pigment
- Boil for 30 mins with fabrics
Yerba Mate¶
- Dyeing material: 300 gr Yerba Mate
- Fabric: 112gr (linen, cotton, wool, silk, bamboo, felt)
- Water: 2,25 lts
- Boil for 30 mins with fabrics
Cochineal¶
- Dyeing material: 4.6 gr Conchineal Powder
- Fabric: 44gr (linen, cotton, wool, silk, bamboo, felt)
- Water: 2,25 lts
- Boil for 30 mins with fabrics
Avocado¶
- Dyeing material: 245 gr Avocado pits
- Fabric: 44gr (linen, cotton, wool, silk, bamboo, felt)
- Water: 1 l
- Leave overnight for the bark to release pigment
- Boil for 30 mins with fabrics
Homemade Inks¶
Yerba Mate
- Ingredient: 41 g
- Water: 1 l
- Reduce to 100 ml
- Mix with 1 g guar gum
Hibiscus
- Ingredient: 34 g
- Water: 1 l
- Reduce to 100 ml
- Mix with 1 g guar gum
Turmeric
- Ingredient: 20 g
- Water: 1 l
- Reduce to 100 ml
- Mix with 1 g guar gum
After we had our inks prepared we found out that the Hibiscus ink could be altered using magnesium powder.
LabWork with Bacteria¶
To be continued...
Final Project¶
As a final project for this week we wanted to use our homemade inks and create something special. We used some old tote bags that we found on the lab and decided to stamp them. We used the design from last week's assignment and used our modules as a stamp.
