4. BioChromes¶
Research
I started reading Tintes Naturales Mexicanos by Leticia Ortiz Arroyo, a mexican researcher from UNAM. In her book, she shares the context, history and how-to of natural dyes in Mexico, the plants and methodology to obtain vibrant, lasting colors. It's available to read online or, you can find the physical copy at UNAM's School of Design in Mexico I do not have access to most of the plants listed since I am following Fabricademy in France however, there are a few such as indigo (añil), campeche and lichens that that can be found in Europe as well. It's a good source to compare recipes.
Casa Hipolito is a family owned atelier in Oaxaca, México specializing in tradional garments and natural dyes.
@artesania_monyhdz Is a mexican artisan who specializes in weaving and dyeing with añil (indigo) and caracol púrpura, a type of sea snail from which tyrian purple color is obtained. The snail is protected by mexican law NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 so its harvest and use must comply with the regulations.
References & Inspiration¶
Capucine, our instructor from our local lab shared with us some wool samples that had been naturally dyed in past years of Fabricademy.
Le Textile Lab, Lyon
Capucine's Fabricademy Dodcumentation
This is wool from the Thône et Marthod breed, native to the Alpine region. Some of the dyes used here were acacia, madder, cosmos, yellow dahlia, alder tree, greater celadine, birch leaf & twig, alkanet, as well as some variants with iron.
Some of the books we used for reference. We got most of our guidance for recipes and plants from the little green book, Guide des Teintures Naturelles.
Guide des Teintures Naturelles - Maria Marquet
Le Monde des Teintures Naturelles - Dominique Cardon
Color Inspiration - Papier Tigre
Indigo - Catherine Legrand
RESULTS¶
Top, (L-R) Campeche + iron, Campeche. Madder + Iron, Madder. Acacia + Iron, Acacia
Bottom, (L-R) Bouddleia, Bouddleia + iron. Carrot Tops, Carrot Tops + Iron. Galls, Galls + Iron
Silk dyed with campeche, madder, acacia, indigo. Photo by Capucine Robert
Process and workflow¶
We decided to do a series of experiments in different fabrics with 6 dyes.
- Carrot Tops
- Galles
- Madder, Rubia tinctorum
- Acacia, Acacia dealbata
- Campeche, Haematoxylum campechianum
- Bouddleia, Buddleja davidii
Preparing the fabrics, cutting sample pieces. Here we sorted all of the fabrics by dye bath.
For the last one on the right, we collected Bouddleia leaves from the road outside the lab. Bouddleia is considered an invasive species here so it's ok to take some leaves without affecting the ecosystem.
1. Weighing¶
We will use WOF (Weight of Fiber) to calculate our scouring, mordant and dye preparations. Start by sorting the fibers into cellulose based (linen, cotton) and animal based (wool, silk) and weigh them.
Weighing ALL fabrics, then we split by fiber type
2. Dye bath prep¶
Create a decoction by adding the pigments or chopped leaves in water, bring to a slow boil for 1h. To calculate the ammount of pigment or leaves to add into the bath, we use the WOF and the table below as a reference.
The % of WOF to create a dye bath varies depending on your color source ingredients. As seen in the table above, we need 300% of WOF for the the plant leaves and carrot tops since the pigment is not as strong. For the rest of the pigments, we used this as guideline: Madder: 1%-10% for pale red, 10%-30% strong red. Campeche 3%-20%. Acacia 10% WOF.
| Ingredient | Bouddleia | Carrot tops | Campeche | Madder | Acacia | Oak galls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WOF (gr) | 39 | 154 | 49 | 49 | 51 | 47 |
| dye ingredient (% of WOF) | 300% | 300% | 15% | 10% | 16% | 50% |
| dye ingredient (gr) | 120 | 362 | 7.35 | 4.9 | 8.2 | 23.5 |
Dye baths for carrot tops and bouddleia leaves
3. Scouring¶
Scouring refers to the process to prepare the fabrics to be dyed by removing impurities. This will allow the dye to penetrate into the fibers and fix the color.
- Weigh the fabrics by fiber content (not color bath)
- We scour by adding neutral soap to the pots in hot water, and adding the fibers.
- Cellulose based fabrics, in addition, need sodium carbonate based on WOF.
- Leave the fabrics in hot water for 1h.
- Then take out and leave to dry overnight.
- NOTE: Avoid temperatures over 100C for wool and over-stirring since it can shrink or felt the wool
| Textile | Natural soap | Sodium carbonate | Washing time | Water temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cellulose | 46.8 g | 14.04 g | 2h | 90–100 °C |
| Silk | 3g | - | 1h | <80°C |
| Wool | 3g | - | 1h | <80°C |
Photo by Capucine Robert
4. Mordanting¶
Mordanting is the process of treating fabric with a substance (called a mordant) so that dye fixes better into the fabric. Mordants can be tartar, copper, vinegar, iron, among others.
RECIPE
Animal fibers:
-
15-20% of WOF in alum, the % depends on the PH of the tap water used.
- acid PH: 15%
- alkal PH: 20%
-
Dissolve alum in lukewarm water
- Put fibers in hot water for 1h at 80C
- Rinse with water
Cellulose fibers - 15-20% of WOF in alum + - 5% tartar cream (only if water is alkal) - 2% of sodium carbonate
- Dissolve ingredients in lukewarm water
- Put fibers in hot water for 1h at 80C
- Rinse with water
Galles do not need mordants.
Steps:
- Measure water PH. In our case it was alkcal
- Sort fabrics into cellulose and animal based fibers (remove those that will be dyed with Galles since mordants are not needed)
- Prepare 2 pots with the solutions.
- Add fibers into 2 different pots and heat for 1h at 80C. Stir occasionally.
- Rinse the fabrics
5. Dyeing¶
We heated 6 pots, one for each color. We added the fabrics to the dye baths and heated for 1h. The water must cover the fabrics, stir frequently to avoid patchy coloring.
After 1h, we took the fabrics out to air dry.
*1. Campeche. 2. Buddleia (Photo by Capucine Robert). 3. Acacia. 4. Madder
Shibori¶
Shibori is a traditional Japanese dyeing technique that creates patterns in the fabrics. This is achieved by folding or tying the fabric before putting it in the dye bath.
this is how we tied our shibori samples
shibori results using galles (top), campeche, madder, and acacia
6. Iron as an additive¶
Iron sulfate can be used as a color modifier in natural dyeing because it chemically reacts with the dye molecules, slightly changing their structure and turning colors into darker hues.
RECIPE
100g iron sulfate 1L white vinegar 50g Sodium carbonate Place the ingredient in separate pots.
- Mix all the ingredients (consider a large pot so that the chemical reactions don't overflow)
- We diluted the recipe above to create a solution of 10% concentration. So, we took 100ml of the recipe above to 900ml of water. (Martina suggested we then split this 10% solution in smaller containers, one per color to avoid cross-contamination of our samples, it was a good idea)
- Dip your samples in the solution and watch the color change.
- Don't let them in too long, only a few seconds and let them air dry
Note: we had to be careful here to have enough space to air dry our samples so they don't touch each other and avoiding color bleeding
Indigo¶
Indigo is the dye from the plant Indigofera tinctoria, it has long been appreaciated by ancient civilizations in Asia and Mesoamerica. Lise a friend from Le Textile Lab, has been cultivating the plant in her garden in Lyon was very kind to bring us some leaves to extract dye. The process had to be started right away to avoid losing pigment.
The top leaves of the plant have the most pigment
- We started by picking out all of the leaves. and crushing them before adding them to a pot with water
- Then added all of the fabric directly to the pot and massage the leaves into the fabric for about 15 minutes
- Wash the fabrics with neutral soap and see how the color changes
- Image 4 shows the final result of a silk piece dyed with indigo.
Photos by Capucine Robert
I was pleasantly surprised to see how the silk turned out a beautiful sky blue color.
One thing I would change about our process is that we used too much water that diluted our color. Obtaining a paste from the leaves could potentially result in darker color.
Indigo dyeing processs by Casa Hipolito - This clip shows how they prefer fermenting the leaves in water to produce indican, then they will stir the water to start the oxidation process which will turn the green indican into blue indigo.
Inks¶
Inks can be created from the bath dyes by diluting them in a solution. We used alum, vinegar, sodium carbonate, and iron to create Acacia and Campeche inks.
This is how it turned out. My favorite was Campeche + sodium carbonate which turns the purple into a beautiful gradient. Again, acacia is almost too light except when combined with iron.
