This is the rough outline from a class I taught on Natural dyes. Quite a bit of the information was given verbally, and does not appear in this document. I hope to correct and fill in this information soon. Until then, perhaps the outline will be informative anyway!

Plan what you are going to do before you start. Clear your space, arrange your stuff, and set aside the time.

Dyes have a limited lifespan. They will only react with so much stuff, and may be killed by heat or light. They will almost always be killed by time. Plan to do all your stuff at once.

Work in a clean space, and have paper towels handy.

Try to do a test before you screw up a lot of fabric or yarn.

The more time, the darker the color...sometimes.

The more dye source stuff, the darker the color...sometimes.

Salt speeds up reactions, but usually does not change the color itself.

Heat may speed up a process, but there are dangers involved...will it hurt your dye, or your fabric, or you?

Animal fibers should never be boiled!

Animal fibers react quicker than plant fibers.

Animal fibers should never undergo shock! Use a rinse water close to the temperature of the dye bath.

Always clean fabrics before dyeing.

When dyeing yarns, they should be bundled in such a way that they do not tangle, yet be loose enough to allow the mordant or dye to flow evenly through them.

Always wet fabrics thoroughly before dyeing.

Stuff should be stirred gently to allow even exposure to the dye.

The longer left mordanting, the better fibers will receive dye.

Chrome is super super light sensitive, and should be applied immediately before dying. All other mordants can wait...but treated stuffs should be kept out of light .

Mordants are metals and are destroying part of the structure of the fiber. Take special care with animal fibers, not to mordant for too long. It will destroy the fibers and make them crunchy!

Ammonia will change the color!

Reds are often killed by heat.

Never use pots or utensils that will be for your food.

Make sure your pots and utensils are only reactive is you intend them to be. Non reactive materials are stainless steel, glass, enamel (if it has no cracks), and plastic (okay, plastic will react...it will get dyed itself...but if you don’t care...)

Some things are toxic! Make sure you have ventilation, gloves, and use them.

Test your colors for lightfastness and bleeding.

Never expect to exactly duplicate your results. Nothing in life is ever the same.

Plants are often their most potent in spring and summer. Flowers should be harvested at full bloom, before they start dying.

Take clear and detailed notes on ALL of the variables you play with so that you are more likely to be able to come close to recreating a result.

I. THE PLANT (A) fresh or (B) dried or (C) frozen

1. Fruit

2. Pods

3. Flower

4. Leaf

5. Stem

6. Root

7. Bark or skin

8. Juice

9. Entire Plant

II. PREPARATION

1. Mash up

2. Cut or tear up

3. Whole

III. PROPORTIONS

1. One part plant to one part textile

2. Two parts plant to one part textile

3. Three parts plant to one part textile

4. 4....

5. 8....etc.

IV. TEXTILE (A) Plain or (B) pre mordanted

1. Wool

2. Silk

3. Cotton

4. Linen

5. Jute

6. Rayon (not really our period, but feels nice, and is not plastic or petroleum based)

V. WATER

1. Tap

2. Distilled

3. Rain

4. Spring

5. River

VI. APPLICATION

1. Direct and simmer

2. One-pot and mordant and simmer

3. Pre-mordant

4. After-mordant

5. Simmer

6. Pre-mordant and simmer and steep

7. Steep

8. Ferment

9. Vat dye

VII. CHEMICAL ADDED (MORDANTS) (A) To dye bath or (B) to separate afterbath

1. Potassium alum or plant source of alum

2. Stannous chloride or use coffee tin (tin)

3. Cupric sulfate or use copper lined dye pot (copper)

4. Ferrous sulfate or use iron dye pot (iron)

5. Potassium dichromate (chrome)

6. Aluminum or use aluminum pot

VIII. ACIDS, BASES AND OTHER STUFF

1. Vinegar or acetic acid

2. Lemon or citric acid

3. Oxalic acid

4. Tartaric acid (cream of tartar)

5. Tannic acid

6. Ammonia (base)

7. Vaporized ammonia

8. Washing soda (base)

9. Soap

10. Lye

11. Juniper ashes

12. Stale urine (chamber lye)

13. Vaporized urine

14. Dung

15. Smoke

IX. TEMPERATURE OF DYE BATH

1. Cold

2. Hot

3. Simmer (180-195 F)

4. Boil (212 F)

X. LENGTH OF TIME

1. 15 min

2. 30 min

3. 1 hour

4. 2 hours

5. etc.