Natural mordant dyeing - PEP BB textile.straw.dye.natural

This post is over a year in the making, but here it goes!

Last year, I made femine pads out of wool, as well as my kids old diaper cloth (very well washed!).

Here you can see the wool before it was washed. The picture next to it is what the cloth diapers looked like (yes, I took this picture this year. But they all were like that.).



To dye them, I used extra dyestuff from dyeing Easter Eggs. I used the Logwood and cochineal dyes. I used syntrapol to prewash them (my mom had an ancient bottle of it she gave to me), and then mordanted them with copper, because I wanted purple colors!



I then rinsed them all well, and washed them all in my washing machine with a undyed cloth diaper. The undyed cloth diaper is still undyed. The dyed cloth is still dyed.



The wool dyed much deeper colors than the cotton, but both made nice colors. Here's the wool, turned into pads:

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I'm pretty sure that's 2 pounds of fibre. BUT, since goldenrod is blooming in my area, I thought I'd dye some more! I had some white fisherman wool yarn, as well as some more of that washable wool knit fabric (just to see how it dyed). Then I threw in my hamper basket (I prepped it first, but the prepping did not remove the black mildew spots from it being left outside while laundry dried). I also threw in some llama wool that I had washed, combed, and prepared for spinning. My son liked the whitest of the llama wool, and wanted to spin it. So, I drafted while he spun the spindle. This was like a year ago. I finally got the wool off the spindle and we dyed it!


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I saw a video where they'd used a paint bag to hold the dyestuff in the pot. Then all you need to do is pull it out of the pot--no straining required! I didn't have a paint bag, but I do have these REALLY cheap gerber cotton diapers that are seriously thin. Perfect for this job!






I washed them all by hand, and hung them to dry (I actually hung them inside, first, to stop them from twisting, and to set the llama yarn)

For this BB I experimented with plants I could forage myself. I'd never tried any of them before, so each was a surprise.

My fleece is a previously scoured Dorset fleece. I divided my two pounds into four, 8-ounce sections.

1. Pokeberries



For dyeing with pokeberries, I used vinegar diluted in water for the mordant.



While the fiber soaked in the mordant, I prepared the dyebath.



Then I added the wet fiber to the dyepot. I read that to get red, I needed to keep the temp under simmering.



I also read that freshly dyed pokeberries are pH sensitive, so I used soap nuts for washing the fiber.



Here are my results after rinsing and drying.



Mordanting the rest of the fiber

For my other three experiments, I mordanted with alum and cream of tartar. I did the remaining pound-and-a-half of fiber all together in one mordant pot, then rinsed, and dried.



2. Black-eyed Susans

Preparing the dyebath.



Dyeing and washing the fiber.



For this one, I used Ecos "Free & Clear" dishsoap.

Results after rinsing and drying.



3.  Pear leaves

Preparing the dyebath



Dyeing and the washing the fiber



I used Ecos "Free & Clear" dishsoap for this one too.

Results after rinsing and drying



4. Hardy hibiscus flowers

Preparing the dyebath



Dyeing the fiber



This one is also pH sensitive, so to wash the fiber, I used soap berries.

https://permies.com/t/148347/a/247599/3.hibiscus-washing.jpg

Results after rinsing and drying.