Science, Art Combine To Show Waters Of Different Lakes Produce Strikingly Different Dye Results

Interesting research!

Northwoods artists Mary Burns and Debbie Jircik dyed silk and wool with natural ingredients to make a rainbow of colors.  Different samples were produced with identical processes and dyes, with the exception of the water.

The water came from local bogs, local lakes, and Lake Mendota in Madison, and all else being equal, just a change in the water often led to arresting arrays of color.

Science, Art Combine To Show Waters Of Different Lakes Produce Strikingly Different Dye Results


The same dye mixture produced strikingly different color results when used with water from different lakes.
Credit Ben Meyer/WXPR

As a Pathologist I spent my career looking at slides made with various stains. There are a lot of factors that can alter the staining even with the same material.

Waters can have different pH (acidity) and many dyes change color with different pH's.
Waters also can have a variety of different mineral contents which can also change the color of some dyes, or how it binds to the cloth.
Then theres a whole other bunch of things: chlorine, organic material, I don't even know what else.

This is a cool "thread" and I love the "colorful" posts!