Mordants and Fixatives

Mordants and fixatives help bond dye to fiber, and improve the color-fastness of the dye. Without mordants, most natural plant dyes fade quickly. We touched on mordants and fixatives a bit in Tooling Up to Dye and Equipment for Dyeing with Plants, now I'd like to reinforce some of these ideas.

Techniques for mordanting protein-based and plant-based fibers differ. Protein-based fiber requires metal mordants in order for dye to chemically bond to the fiber. Protein-based fabric includes wool, angora, silk and so forth. Metal mordants include iron, copper, chrome, tin, and alum (often used with cream of tarter as a brightener). Some of the metal mordants are toxic, so must be handled and disposed of carefully.

Metal mordants for protein-based fibers

Plant-based fiber can use mordants such as tannins, soda, salt, vinegar, and ammonia, as well as the metal alum. Tannins are often naturally-occurring in plant dye source, such as in black walnut hulls, sumac, and oak galls. Most of these mordants can be purchased at the grocery store, others, like dried, ground oak galls can be found at specialty stores. So far I have only dyed with plant-based fabric, so I'm focusing on their mordants. They are not toxic like metal-based mordants but some can be caustic so should still be used with care.

Mordants for plant-based fibers

Weigh the Fabric

In either case, you need know the weight of your fabric, so you can calculate the quantity of mordant to use. In my case, I'm dyeing white cotton dish towels, which weigh about 77 grams (2.25 ounces) each. Recipes frequently state the mordant ingredient as a percentage (% WOF, or weight of fabric). For example, if the recipe calls for 100% WOF, and you are processing 100 grams of fabric, you need 100 grams of alum for the mordant. If the recipe calls for 50% WOF, you would need 50 grams of alum to mordant your 100 grams of fabric. 

Weight of Fabric * (% WOF) = Weight of Mordant 

100 grams fabric * (100% of 100g) = 100 grams of alum

100 grams fabric * (50% of 100g) = 50 grams of alum

Wash and Scour the Fabric

Always wash the fabric to prepare it for dyeing. Even sparkling white cotton fabric may have a coating applied, which could prevent dye from bonding with the fiber. Some books recommend that you "scour" the fabric before you wash it to remove any wax, finish, or sizing. Sasha Duerr, in The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes, recommends using a mixture of 2 tablespoons neutral detergent (like Dawn dish washing detergent) plus 1 tablespoon washing soda (like Borax, soda wash, or soda crystals) to remove these impurities. Simmer the fabric in the mixture for about an hour, then rinse, wash, and air dry.

Wash and scour fabric to remove impurities that prevent the dye from bonding to the fiber

Mordant the Fabric

Once you've scoured and washed your fabric, you're ready to mordant. The basic process for mordanting fiber is: 

1. Add the mordant to boiling water.
2. Add the fabric and simmer for about an hour.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and let the water cool. 
4. Remove the fabric and squeeze gently.
5. Use immediately, or air dry and label for future use.

Fabric simmering in a salt mordant bath

Following are a couple of mordant recipes for plant-based projects, condensed from Duerr's book. You can find alum and ground tannin through suppliers such as Amazon, MAIWA, and Dharma Trading Company.

Ingredients	Steps
Basic Tannin Mordant 113g fiber (4 ounces) 1 teaspoon (1 ounce) powdered oak galls	Soak fabric overnight in cool water. Dissolve oak gall powder in 4-6 gallons of water. Simmer tannin water for 30-60 minutes, then let cool. Move fabric from soaking water to tannin water and let steep for up to 24 hours. Remove fabric, rinse in lukewarm to cool water, then wash in a pH neutral soap, rinse thoroughly, and hang to dry.
Alum Mordant with Tannin-Treated Fiber 113g fiber (4 ounces) 20% WOF alum (4 teaspoons) 6% WOF washing soda (1.5 teaspoons)	Follow basic tannin recipe above to prepare fabric. Dissolve the alum and washing soda in a large pot that is half full of water. Add the tannin-treated fabric and add water to cover. Heat the solution to 82 degrees C. (180 degrees F.), turn off heat, and let fabric steep for 4-8 hours, stirring occasionally so the fiber absorbs mordant evenly. Remove the fabric and squeeze the mordant solution back into the pot (you can reuse it). Wash fabric in a pH-neutral soap, rinse thoroughly, and hang to dry.

Additives

Additives such as vinegar or ammonia can change the pH of the water, and the color of the dye. They can be added to the mordant, or to the dye. I haven't tried adding them to the mordant yet, but have added vinegar and ammonia to separate red cabbage dye batches. I was amazed to see the dye vats turn from from blue to dark blue/purple from the ammonia (base), and from blue to green from the vinegar (acid). It's always fun when art and science converge!

Additives can change the dye results

Dye Project: Red Cabbage

For this home dyeing project we're working with red cabbage (Brassica oleracea), also called purple cabbage, red kraut, or blue kraut. The cabbage leaf color depends on the pH of the soil. In acidic soils the leaves are reddish, in neutral soils they are more purple, and in alkaline soils they are greenish-yellow. We'll be dyeing more white cotton dish towels, and using the experience we gained when dyeing with black walnuts  (see Dye Project: Black Walnuts). We'll actually try two projects – the first is to dye the fabric with a cabbage dye bath, the second is to change the pH value of the dye bath to see how it changes the fabric dye results.





Red cabbage is typically available year round at the grocery stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. I picked out a couple of dense red-purple cabbage heads and chopped them up, using one cabbage head for each project. The color pigment is so beautiful (but of course the color of the source does not predict the end result)!

Chopped head of red cabbage

Cotton dish towels pre-washed and treated with a salt mordant

To prepare the dish towels for the dyeing process, I washed the fabric in the washing machine, and treated the fabric with a salt mordant. I boiled the fabric in a mixture of 1 part salt to 16 parts water (with additional water to cover, as needed) for an hour. This is described and demonstrated in Mordants and Fixatives. I didn't scour the fabric.

Straining the dye from the cabbage pulp

Purple cabbage dye

I used our patio for my outdoor studio (cabbage is quite pungent). To a gallon of water I added the chopped leaves of a head of cabbage, plus 1 tablespoon of salt for every 1/2 cabbage as an extra mordant, then simmered the mixture for about half an hour. These proportions are recommended by Samantha James of All Natural Dyeing (search for red cabbage).  After boiling, I strained the mixture through cheese cloth and returned the dye to two pans (splitting it so that each pot could easily accommodate three dish towels). I brought the dye bath back to a boil, immersed the dish towels,  reduced the heat, and let them simmer for an hour. I let the towels soak over night to deepen the blue color.

Let the towels soak in the dye over night

Rinse the towels thoroughly in water

The next day I rinsed the towels until the water ran clear. The fabric lost quite a bit of  color in the process, but they were still a lovely shade of blue. I hung the towels to air dry, then ran them through the washing machine to make sure the color was set.

Batch 1 - dark blue towels after rinsing

This seemed like a successful project, but, several months later, I retrieved the dish towels from the drawer in which they were stored to find they had faded to a dingy white! The short list of possible causes:

• I did not scour the fabric, so waxes, oils, sizing, or other treatments may have remained on the fabric even though I pre-washed the dish towels. Any deposits on the fabric surface would prevent the dye from bonding with the fibers.
• Salt may not be an adequate mordant for cabbage. 
• Cabbage dye may not be colorfast.

After several months, the towels had faded to a dingy white!

For the second project I changed the pH value of the dye bath to see how it would change the color of the fabric. I used the process described above to create the basic dye, and then split it between two pans.

• To one pan I added 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to make the dye bath more acidic (should turn the bath more pink).  
• To one pan I added 1 tablespoon of ammonia to make the water more alkaline (should turn the bath more blue).

Left: vinegar added to make the dye bath more acidic.
Right: ammonia added to make the dye bath more alkaline.

Left: after the initial chemical reaction the towels appear pink-blue.
Right: the towels appear more blue.

The chemical reaction in the dye bath was very promising. You can see how the pan on the left seems to show both pink and blue, and the one on the right first turns an (unexpected) bright green and then calms down to a blue.

Batch 2 - after rinsing, all the dish towels are pale blue.

After simmering the dish towels in the two dye baths and then rinsing the fabric until the water ran clear, I ended up with six blue dish towels!

And, several months later, these blue dish towels had faded to a dingy white just like the first batch! This was a little disappointing, to end up with 12 dingy white dish towels (especially when the initial blue color was so appealing, and the chemical reaction in the dye bath was so promising)!

Several months later, all 12 of the dish towels are dingy white!

But that is part of the fun (and pain) of dyeing with plants. For my next experiment, I plan to scour the dish towels (and not just pre-wash them), and to use stronger mordant like a colorless tannin such as Gallnut, Tara, or some Sumacs (described in the Maiwa Guide to Natural Dyes, see the Mordants section, under Tannins).

Dye Project: Poinsettia Bracts

A few weeks ago I tried a new solar dyeing project, using the bracts that I collected from a Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) last Christmas. The plant was a gift from our gardener, Mr. Nygren, and was an especially vibrant red color. The growers' label described that the Aztecs used poinsettia bracts to create a pink-purple dye. I collected the bracts as they fell off the plant and let them air dry.

Solar dyeing with Poinsettia bracts - salt mordant (day 14)

I used a single dish towel (WOF is 2.7 ounces/77 grams) that had been scoured, mordanted with salt, brightened with ammonia, and previously dyed with cabbage (see Dye Project: Red Cabbage). I collected .7 ounces/20 grams of dried bracts, so the WOF% was 26%. Dyers typically recommend equal weight of fabric and plant material when solar dyeing, but I compensated with time (two weeks) to extract as much color as possible. I added 2 teaspoons of alum to the dye bath.

The results - a surprising greenish gray

The result is a surprising greenish-gray color (the photos don't capture it well), and certainly not a pinkish-purply color! Perhaps I'll try again next year with the next holiday Poinsettia bracts, and possibly a different mordant. Experimentation is part of the fun of dyeing with plants!

Tooling up to Dye

During my sabbatical I spent some time delving into the art and science of dyeing fabric with plant-based dyes. In the next few months, I plan to share my experiences with several hands-on dye projects. As with any project, one of the first tasks is to tool up! Following are some the supplies that I found quite useful. As with any creative endeavor, you may find a better solution!

Studio

A well-ventilated outdoor area is the best place to work. I use our partially-covered back patio as my dyeing "studio". The brick retaining wall provides a stable work surface for my supplies and heat source. I typically use either a propane gas stove (my Coleman camp stove works great), or an electric burner. Dust and vapor face masks, rubber gloves, closed-toe shoes, and a full-length splash-proof apron are important for protecting yourself. You can use your kitchen as a studio, but it is important to take precautions to ensure you and your family aren't exposed to anything toxic.

An outdoor studio for dyeing with plants

Equipment

You need several large pots for boiling water and the dye stuff. Avoid using your cooking pots to prevent residual chemicals from contaminating your food. Instead use old pans that you've retired  from cooking, or visit thrift stores to find them. Many of the books on dyeing recommend stainless steel or copper pans, but I use the large aluminum pots from my two grandmothers (the same pots I use for paper-making projects). The aluminum may change the chemistry of the water slightly. If you are concerned about the acidity or alkalinity of your water source, you can test it using a pH tester or pH test strips from the pharmacy, and adjust the water with vinegar (acid) or ammonia (alkali). We have pretty good tap water so I haven't experimented with that yet.

A collection of containers, pans, stir sticks, jars, and cheese cloth

You'll also need strainers, cheese cloth, plastic buckets, wooden or stainless steel spoons for stirring (I use wooden paint stir sticks from the hardware store), and glass jars for storing leftover dye. Again, these should not be the same utensils you use for cooking.

Fabric

You can dye protein-based fabric (such as wool or silk) or plant-based fabric (such as cotton or linen). The techniques for preparing fabric to receive the dye are slightly different.

White cotton dish towels for dyeing

In either case, you need to know the weight of your fabric so you can calculate the quantity of mordant or dye material to use. I'm working with white cotton dish towels, which weigh about 77 grams (2.27 ounces) each. Recipes frequently state the percentage of dye or mordant required.

Weight of Fiber * % = Weight of Mordant/Dyestuff 

For example, if the recipe calls for 100% alum mordant and you are processing 100 grams of fabric, you need 100 grams of alum for the mordant. If the recipe calls for 50% strength of dye, you need 50 grams of the dye source for your 100 grams of fabric.

Mordants and Fixatives

Mordants prepare the fabric to receive dye. Some books recommend that you "scrub" the fabric first to remove any sizing, wax, or surface treatment from the fabric. Use washing soda, which can be found in the laundry detergent aisle of the grocery store or online. The typical mordants for plant-based fabric are salt, vinegar, ammonia, baking soda, and alum. 

A collection of mordants

Protein-based fabrics require mordants that include metal, such as copper or iron, which can be toxic (and why I have chosen to focus on plant-based fabric for now). Alum is a metal but is safe for household dye projects. Additives such as vinegar or ammonia can be used to change the pH of the water and the color of the dye.

Dye Stuff

You can extract dye from plant material by boiling it in water, and then straining it. You need quite a bit of water for boiling and rinsing, and a place to hang your fabric to air dry. Some of the books describe other processes like solar dyeing, and soaking the fabric in jars with the raw dye source over a long period of time.

Dye Stuff: onion skin

You can also purchase natural dyes that have been extracted from plant material and are sold in powdered form. That can save you quite a bit of time, allowing you to focus more on the dyeing. Or you can also purchase synthetic dyes, like Rit Dye if you want to focus on dyeing. The variety of colors are stunning, and they are widely available. But, if I have the time, I find that part of the fun is harvesting the dye source, extracting the dye, and then experimenting.

Recipes and Resources

You can find some excellent books that describe the dye process and provide recipes. I'll be sharing some of my favorites over the next few months. You can also find some great web sites that sell natural dye products and provide recipes, techniques, and ideas. That's a great way to get started, before plunging in and trying the art and science of dyeing for yourself!

In the Atelier: Michel Garcia

Welcome back to watching people work! Sometimes we can get new ideas for solving problems and performing tasks, just by seeing how other people do things. To learn more about the art and science of dyeing, we're watching a few accomplished dyers at work using YouTube videos. In the last video, we learned from Sachio Yoshioka of Kyoto, Japan (see In the Atelier: Sachio Yoshioka).

This time we're visiting the studio and workshops of Michel Garcia of Provence, France. He is a dyer, phyto-chemist (studies the chemicals derived from plants), and botanist. Below I describe videos showing his work (produced by Yoshiko I. Wada, the founder of Slow Fiber Studios, located in the East Bay). Unfortunately, the trailers for the videos are no longer available, but you can purchase of stream the videos from Shop Slow Fiber Studios. They contain lots of great information about materials, tools, and techniques used in dye projects, and are worth watching. Following is what caught my attention when I watched them.

DVD: Colors of Provence using Sustainable Methods

Garcia demonstrates working with two historical plant dyes, madder  (Rubia tinctorum) and indigo (Indigofera tinctoria). He compares historical dye techniques with more sustainable methods that don't use lead or other toxic chemicals. Different mordants can provide a wide range of results. He recommends using common household items like vinegar, lime, and alum as mordants; and demonstrates using guar gum syrup as a mordant for brush work and block printing.

He also demonstrates how to extract the sap from indigo leaves, making a simple infusion, similar to making tea. The infusion is strained and dried, and the pigment is extracted. Garcia challenges dyers to reuse dyes and mordant to the last drop, and work with what we have to achieve dramatic colors.

DVD: Colors of the Americas on Wool Fibers using Sustainable Methods

Garcia is enthusiastic about the dyes of Mexico, and Latin America's rich history of beautiful textiles. Ancient dyers in the Americas used indigo for blue, cochineal and lac (insects) for red, and various local plants for yellow. The traditional indigo recipe used indigo leaves, local lime juice, and organic matter (such as chopped cactus leaf) for dyeing. Over-dyeing was used to achieve some colors, such as dyeing first with red and then blue to achieve purple, or dyeing blue and then yellow to achieve green.

The Zapotec's used plants and cochineal with additives like lime juice to produce many shades of red. For sustainability, modern household waste, such as fruit skins, can be used to produce dyes. Tannins also come from ordinary sources like Quercus infectoria, oak gallnut, and Lengua de vaca, with additives such as local lime, natural alum, and pomegranate. He also notes that the colors produced from all these dyes have a natural harmony of color.

DVD: Colors of Europe

Back to Provence, Garcia demonstrates working with some of the plants available in Europe. He focuses on the historical plant dye, weld (Reseda luteola), from which you can produce a paste pigment as well as a dye. We also get a few shots of his studio with great storage, work tables, and appliances such as a blender, electric tea kettle, and burners. He describes how to extract the sap from flowers such as common garden flowers and the blossoms of the Pagoda tree (Sophora japonica) to make an infusion that produces a bright yellow.

You can see the phyto-chemist and botanist at work as he describes how to use the extractions in combinations with ferrous salt, alum salt, titanium, and gum to produce different colors and effects. He demonstrates block printing and silk screen printing using the natural dyes. He mentions the reds produced by insects from the Mediterranean and the Americas, and from the madder root (used in the ancient wall paintings in Pompeii as well as to dye fabric). Garcia describes using powdered pigments to make water colors, and demonstrates how to make plaster paint for a plaster wall.

DVD: Beyond Mordants, Indigo and Direct Application of Dyes

Garcia reviews some of the traditional methods used to process indigo, such as drying leaves to create a paste that can be used for paint or dye, and composting indigo leaves to preserve for later use. The traditional approach uses lots of water. Instead he works with the dried, condensed leaves and uses far less water. He mixes colors that were used historically for hair dyes as well as for dyeing, including rhubarb, henna, alkanet, and safflower.

Garcia also shares his knowledge of the various natural mordants that are readily available in nature, including calcium chloride (sea salt and lime), soda ash (burned seaweed), shell lime and sugar. The class opens the gates for the huge garden of color that nature provides.

Studio Takeaways

In summary, here are a few of my takeaways from seeing Garcia at work in his studio and workshops. He uses various industrial gas burners (from small to large), which are portable and support multiple temperature settings. He uses glass beakers for some of his smaller dye projects. This is fantastic for demonstrations and dyeing yarn (I wonder how practical that would be for larger projects, like our dish towels).

He uses common items like wooden stir sticks (large and small), a hand blender, a variety of plastic and glass containers for mixing. His knowledge of chemistry serves him well; he squeezes in lime juice, crumbles up clam shells, and tosses in various salts. Best of all is his "just try it" attitude, and the many examples of beautiful colors that his experiments produce!

I hope you enjoyed this peek into Michel Garcia's atelier. It's worth watching the DVDs to see his workshop, tools, and processes. They inspire me to learn more and adapt some ideas for my home studio.

Field Notes for June

Welcome back to Field Notes!

June 1, 2024

I started a new solar dyeing project, using the bracts that I collected from a Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) last Christmas. The plant was a gift from our gardener, Mr. Nygren, and was an especially vibrant red color. The growers' label described that the Aztecs used poinsettia bracts to create a pink-purple dye, which sounded like a fun project to try. I collected the bracts as they fell off the plant and let them air dry.

Solar dyeing with Poinsettia bracts - salt mordant (day 1)

I'm using a single dish towel (WOF is 2.7 ounces/77 grams) that has been scoured, mordanted with salt, brightened with ammonia, and previously dyed with cabbage. I collected .7 ounces/20 grams of dried bracts, so the WOF% is 26%. Dyers typically recommend equal weight of fabric and plant material when solar dyeing, but I intend to dye for a couple of weeks, which may compensate by extracting more color. I added 2 teaspoons of alum to the dye bath. So far, I'm loving the color!

June 4, 2024

We've been observing our bird buddies via camera over the past month. It is fascinating to watch their feeding and interacting behaviors. Our most frequent visitors appear below, and include the Oak Titmouse (adult and juvenile), House Finch, Scrub Jay, and Chestnut-backed Chickadee (not shown is the Dark-eyed Junco).

Our bird buddies

June 7, 2024

My first Over-the-Hills Gang hike! I've been eligible for a long time, but I finally joined an over-the-hills group hike in the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park. The 55+ group meets monthly to explore the Regional Parks, and to learn about nature, history, and fitness. Mari (retired colleague and friend), Gaymond (new friend), and I joined the June hike, lead by Anthony Fisher. We had the best time hiking in the cool shade of the redwoods with a group of about 40 walkers. The pace and company was excellent (and someone brought cookies)! Check the website to learn more about upcoming events at Reinhard Redwood.

Hiking through the redwoods on a hot day

June 10, 2024

Saw this beautiful mural in Montclair today. The train seems to spring to life from its flat surface! Need to find out more info about the Railroad Trestle Mural Project, by muralist John Pugh! 

New mural in the Montclair district in Oakland, CA

June 13, 2024

I'm heading back to Juneau, Alaska today, for some more family time. This time I'm flying solo, because Aunt Char is travelling to Boston by way of Phoenix. She is such a jet setter! I'll miss her company but will look forward to hearing all about her adventures.

Back to Alaska!

June 19, 2024 🌞

Tomorrow is the summer solstice, and the longest day of the year! Even though summer starts "virtually" with the Memorial Day weekend, it "technically" starts on June 20 this year. Enjoy the new season!

Dye Project: Lace Lichen (Fermentation)

For this project, I'm dyeing with lichen. Lichens are comprised of both fungi and algae living together as symbiotic biological entities. Lichens can produce brilliant dyes—in shades of yellow, orange, ochre, russet, brown, copper, bronze, olive, true green, pink, mauve, violet, red, rose, magenta, purple, and blues—depending on the fiber and dye method used. Three dye methods include fermenting in ammonia, boiling in water, and photo-oxidizing.

I'm using Lace Lichen, also known as Fishnet Lichen (Ramalina menziesii), the official state lichen of California. I plan to use the lichen and ammonia dye bath that I have been fermenting over the last four months and a protein-based silk scarf. I'm not sure what to expect—the dye may produce shades of olive-yellow to pale tan to buff tones, or shades of purple or pink.

Lace Lichen growing on a tree in Mendocino, California

Key Supplies

I'm using my usual dye equipment, including a convection burner, a non-reactive stainless steel dye pot, candy thermometer, strainer, cheese cloth, various plastic pails and containers for soaking and rinsing, a digital kitchen scale, stir stick, a mild pH-neutral soap (such as Synthropol or Professional Textile Detergent), rubber gloves, and a face mask. Additional supplies and equipment:

• Lichen: Lace Lichen, also known as Fishnet Lichen (Ramalina menziesii). I collected the lichen on our trip to Mendocino in the spring.

Lichen downfall after a big wind in Mendocino

• Glass jars with secure lids: for fermenting. I used two 4-cup jars. The lid for one of my jars was not very secure, so I lost a little of the dye liquid over time as I agitated the jar. The loss wasn't enough to transfer it to a new jar, but I'll make sure the lids are more secure in the next project.

• Ammonia: combine equal parts of clear ammonia and water (1:1 ratio) to create the fermentation bath.

• pH test strips: to test how alkaline or acidic the dye bath is.

• Fabric: 100% protein fibers like wool or silk (as with dyeing with mushrooms, protein fibers respond better to lichen than cellulose fibers). I'm using a silk scarf from Dharma Trading, which has been scoured and mordanted with alum. For details, see Dye Project: Preparing Protein Fabric (Scour &  Mordant). The scarf weighs 1 ounce or 28 grams. Note that you do not need to mordant fabric or fiber when dyeing with lichen, since lichens produce light and colorfast dyes.

• pH Modifiers: I hadn't planned to use any additional modifiers for this project, other than the scarf that is pre-mordanted with alum. I wanted to try the basics first. But I did end up adding a modifier to make the dye bath more acidic, and change the color outcome. See below!

Collecting the Lichen

Lichen is very slow-growing, so it should be collected responsibly. It is typically considered ethical to gather lichen that has been dislodged from its habitat, unless other restrictions apply. Only collect lichen that has fallen naturally from trees or rocks to protect the ecosystem, and only collect what you need.

I collected the lichen while on our trip to Mendocino, California in March. A big wind caused lichen downfall from the trees, so I was able to collect quite a bit from various locations. See Field Notes for March 2026, the March 9 entry.

Lace Lichen gathered from multiple sites in Mendocino

Fermenting the Dye

Fermentation extracts the color pigment from the lichen over a 3-16 week period. Ammonia fermentation is best for lichen that produces purples or pinks. According to Zoe McDonnel from Wildcraft Dyeing, you can test whether your lichen produces purples or pinks by dropping a few drops of bleach on it; if it turns purple or pink, fermentation is the best technique to use. I tested the Lace Lichen with a few drops of bleach but got no reaction. I'm going to use the fermentation method anyway, but am not sure what color will be produced. Possibly shades of olive-yellow to pale tan or buff tones with protein fibers like wool and silk.

Before you start, clean off any dirt or twigs from the lichen to ensure that they don't influence the dye color. Then, prepare the dye vat. Place the dried, crumbled lichen in a jar, filling it roughly half-full. I filled two 4-cup jars half-full with the clean lichen. Cover the lichen with a 50/50 mixture of water and household ammonia.

Lace Lichen fermenting in ammonia and water

Seal the jar and store in a warm place for 3–16 weeks. I started the fermenting process in mid-April (see Field Notes for April 2026, the April 22 entry) and used the kitchen window sill. Aerate by shaking the jar daily and opening weekly to introduce oxygen, which is essential for color development. The dye liquor turned a red-brown color within a couple of weeks and stayed that way for four months. Research indicated that it should turn to a deep magenta at some point, but that wasn't my experience. I ended the fermentation process in mid-August, after four months. The pH registered 11 (strongly alkaline).

Agitate the jar once daily, and aerate once weekly

I can see tinges of red, but the overall color is brown

Strain out the lichen solids from the fermented dye. I strained the lichen out of one of the jars, and obtained two cups (1/2 quart). The dye is definitely a brown color.

Straining the lace lichen dye liquor

Dyeing the Fabric (Alkaline)

 Dyeing fabric with lichen is very similar to dyeing with plants or mushrooms. Bring the dye bath to a simmer, pre-soak the silk or wool fabric or fiber in warm water, add the fabric to the dye pot, and simmer. One caveat is to make sure the temperature is very similar when going from one pot to another. For example, plunging cold silk into a hot dye bath causes shock shrinkage, uneven color, and weakened fibers. Better to add the cold silk to a cooled dye bath, or warm silk to a warm dye bath.

As with mushrooms, delayed rinsing improves color and light fastness. Casselman recommends that with lichen-dyed fibers, it is essential to cool the yarn before rinsing. Lichen-dyed fibers are more color and light fast if they are not rinsed for at least 24 hours; this stabilizes the dye and prevents after-dye runoff. She describes her technique for delaying rinsing in Lichen Dyes: The New Source Book (Dye Bath, page 27):

... first leave the fiber in the ammonia or boiled water dye bath to cool for 24 hours. Then, remove the fiber, place it in a colander over a pail and leave it another 24 hours. (What you collect can be reused.) After two days, rinse the fiber (which may be completely dry) in cold water. Even with dark colors, there will be very little dye run off, and your reward is improved fastness.

Strained lace lichen liquor (brown, but with a slight tinge of red

To prepare the dye bath, place the strained dye in a clean non-reactive pot. Casselman's recommendation is to add 1 cup of the dye liquor and 4 quarts of water to the pot, for one ounce of fiber. For more more intense color, use less fiber or more dye liquor. To obtain pastels, use more fiber or less dye liquor. I used just over two cups of dye liquor and 4 quarts of water to the pot (hoping to intensify whatever color I end up with)!

Casselman also recommends adding 1/2 cup (125 ml) salt to the dye bath. I haven't seen the instruction to add salt in any other source, so decided not to try it with this batch. If the idea is to use the salt as a mordant to enhance color and light fastness, my silk was pre-mordanted in alum, so should be fine without the salt.

The dye liquor has a brown-red cast to it

Bring the temperature of the dye bath to 150 to 180 °F. This typically takes about 30-60 minutes. I followed Casselman's recommendation to bring the temperature to a maximum of 180 °F (82 °C), and maintain the temperature for 10 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 160 °F (70 °C) and continue to heat gently for 1 hour, without boiling. While the dye bath is coming to temperature, pre-soak your wool or silk in warm water. This improves how the fabric takes up the dye.

Pre-soak the silk scarf in warm water

Add the fabric to the simmering dye pot and stir to distribute evenly. Add more water to cover the fabric if necessary. This will not dilute the dye; it just ensures better distribution of the dye to the fabric. Let simmer for about an hour, keeping the temperature between 150 to 180 °F. I tried to keep it at 160 °F.

Distribute the fabric in dye and simmer for an hour

Remove the dye pot from the heat, and use the delayed rinsing technique recommended by Casselman in Lichen Dyes: The New Source Book. Leave the fiber in the ammonia dye bath to cool for 24 hours. Then, remove the fiber, place it in a colander over a pail and leave it another 24 hours. (Any dye you collect can be reused.)

Letting the dye set (lace lichen alkaline dye bath)

After two days, rinse the fiber (which may be completely dry) in cold water. I ran the fabric through the washing machine to rinse, using cold water and no detergent. Hang to dry. The resulting color is a rather disappointing buff or beige. Two weeks later, wash with a mild pH-neutral soap, such as Synthropol or Professional Textile Detergent, to wash out unbound dye. Air dry out of direct sunlight. The resulting color is beige or buff.

Dyeing the Fabric (Acidic)

As mentioned above, the dye results using the lace lichen alkaline bath were disappointing (especially after all the months spent fermenting the dye bath)! This inspired me to use the rest of the dye liquor in a separate experiment, by changing the pH from alkaline to to acid [from  pH 11 (strongly alkaline) to pH 4 (moderately acid)].

I basically followed all the steps described above in "Dyeing the Fabric (Alkaline)", but altered the dye bath by adding the second jar of lace lichen dye liquor and 1 3/4 cups of white household vinegar to the dye bath. The pH registered 4 (moderately acid). Per Dorothy BeeBee in "How to Make a Natural Dye Using Lichens", Myra Made Color (June 4, 2022), when the dye bath registers pH 4, the acid releases pigment. It's unclear whether this is a universal principal or just true for Wolf Lichen.

The lace lichen acidic version already looks darker and more interesting

Letting the dye set (lace lichen acid dye bath)

After two days, rinse the fiber (which may be completely dry) in cold water. I ran the fabric through the washing machine to rinse, using cold water and no detergent. Hang to dry. The resulting color is golden brown. Two weeks later, wash with a mild pH-neutral soap, such as Synthropol or Professional Textile Detergent, to wash out unbound dye. Air dry out of direct sunlight. The resulting color is a golden brown (it looks closer to an orange in the photo, possibly because the picture was taken in the late afternoon, during golden hour).

The Results

The final results of dyeing with lace lichen included a buff or beige color for the alkaline bath (which actually has a richer tone in person than in the photo); and an interesting and complex golden brown color for the acidic bath. You can see that the color is not quite as "orange".

Left: lace lichen (fermented, alkaline dye bath)
Right: lace lichen (fermented, acidic dye bath)

I decided to store the unused acidic dye liquor for future dyeing experiments.

Store the dye for future projects

Note that I had been very disappointed to get such bland results with the fermented alkaline dye bath, but it was also exciting to change the pH of the dye bath and obtain different results with the fermented acid dye bath. This is what makes dyeing with plants, mushrooms, and now lichen, so exciting. It is an ongoing experiment and adventure!

Learn More

• Byrd, Margaret. "How to Make Natural Dyes with Lichen". Color Quest, December 9, 2022. Good overview, which includes information about the fermentation and boiling water methods, as well as a photo-oxidization method (color emerges when fiber is removed from the ammonia dye bath, similar to how indigo dye turns from green to blue when fabric is removed from the dye bat and is exposed to oxygen). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaYI7U7ZHEU

• Casselman, Karen Diadick. Lichen Dyes: The New Source Book (Dover Publications, 2001). Second edition of the original, published by Studio Vista Publications, 1996. This slim book is packed with information (see Lichen Dyes: The New Source Book).

• "How to Make a Natural Dye Using Lichens". Myra Made Color (June 4, 2022). Myra uses Wolf lichen (Letharia vulpina) to dye 100% wool with no mordant, using the water boiling dye process. BeeBee made an interesting comment that when the dye bath registers pH 4, the acid releases pigment. I'm not sure if this is a universal principal or just true for Wolf lichen, but worth exploring. https://youtu.be/RUUeAX4D1uE

• McDonnel, Zoe. "Introduction to Dyeing with Lichens", Wildcraft Dyeing (June 28, 2021). Describes what you need to know to get started natural dyeing with lichens. McDonnel discusses two types of dyeing (boiled water method and ammonia method). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8KfXIIUB_M

• Ramalina menziesii. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramalina_menziesii

Dye Project: Camellia Petals

Welcome back to season three of Plants to Dye For! Last year we experimented with some beautiful historical dyes from around the world - madder, cochineal, and logwood.The colors were rich and vibrant shades of red, violet, and purple (see Plants to Dye For (2020): Wrap Up for a recap). This year we're going back to the land, to see what colors the plants on our property might yield. As I mentioned in another article, I'm expecting many shades of brown. But, who knows!

Today I am dyeing with camellia flowers, from shrubs that grow on our residential lot. Several shrubs produce pale pink flowers; and a couple others produce red (or reddish pink) flowers, so I'm doing a batch of each. Research on the web indicates that camellia pigment can produce pale shades of brownish pink, depending on the mordant. The camellia (Camellia japonica) is native to eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia, but also grows here in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

For this project I used basic dye equipment, and a well-ventilated workspace. I used a soaking pot, a dye pot, a heat source, and a candy thermometer to keep the dye bath at a consistent temperature. I also used a strainer and cheese cloth to remove the petals from the dye bath. Supplies included:

• Camellia petals
• Sea salt
• Ferrous sulfate
• Lemon
• A gallon of water (+ more as needed)
• Prepared cotton fabric (scoured, gallnut mordant, and alum brightener)
• For safety, wear a face mask when working with powders, and rubber gloves when working with soda ash, which is caustic.

Outdoor studio

Cotton hankies (large and small), napkins, and dishtowels

The Weight of Fabric for each batch is about 259 grams (9 ounces). I typically dye dish towels, but this year I’m expanding to other cotton items. For each batch I used:

• 2 dish towels - 154 g (4.9 ounces) 
• 2 napkins - 50 g (1.76 ounces)
• 2 large hankies - 35 g (1.2 ounces)
• 2 small hankies - 20 g (.7 ounces)

Batch 1 – Pink Petals (A Bust)

For the first batch, I used pink camellia flowers, and followed instructions from Sara K. in her article, Camellia Dye. I collected about 12 ounces of pale pink camellia flowers from our yard in mid-February. Since the Weight of Fabric was 9 ounces, the WOF% was about 130%. The supplies for the first batch include:

• Pink petals: 340 grams pale pink camellia flowers (12 ounces)
• Sea salt (2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 lemon (juice and rind)
• A gallon of water (plus)
• Prepared cotton fabric

Pink camellias

I followed my typical extraction method. The pale pink petals were lovely and the dye bath was promising. It seemed to indicate that we were on track for a pale brownish pink. I soaked the fabric for about an hour, in the dye bath (I typically soak overnight). I rinsed the fabric thoroughly in cool water, washed, and hung to dry. But, instead of any shade of brownish pink, the fabric remained creamy white. No color at all! I had at least expected a pale tan color, based on the dye bath color.

Pink petals

Simmer until colorless

Extracted dye

Experiments can lead to disappointment. But, like Edison’s 2000-plus light bulb experiments, sometimes you discover what doesn’t work!

Colorless results!

Batch 2 – Red Petals (A Success)

For the second batch, I used red camellia flowers. I reused the previously dyed fabric, which was already prepared, and just washed it in Synthrapol. This time I collected about 28 ounces of camellia flowers. The Weight of Fabric was also 259 grams (9 ounces), so the WOF% was about 300%. I gathered the flowers in our yard throughout March, and froze them to preserve the color. Camellia petals turn brown very quickly, but I included the brown petals anyway, thinking they may still have pigment.

Red camellias (or deep pink)

I also decided to use ferrous sulfate as a modifier. Modifiers change the color of the dye. Ferrous sulfate produces a “grayish” version of a color. We’ll learn more about modifiers at another time. Supplies for the second batch include:

• Red petals: 793 grams red camellia flowers (28 ounces)
• 1/4 - 1 teaspoon ferrous sulfate
• 1/2 lemon (juice and rind)
• A gallon of water
• Prepared cotton fabric

Ferrous sulfate crystals (food grade)

Extract the Dye

First, extract the dye, using our basic process:

1. Add petals and lemon to the dye bath.
2. Simmer for one hour.
3. Soak petals.
4. Strain the petals.

Red camellia petals, with juice and rind from half a lemon

Rinse petals and pull them apart. Add the petals to a gallon of water in a stainless-steel pot. Stir in juice of 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon and the lemon rind. Bring to 180-200 degrees, and simmer for an hour. Soak petals and lemon rind for three days.

Simmer for an hour, then let soak for three days

Strain petals out of dye bath using cheesecloth and a strainer. Return dye bath to the stainless-steel pot. The resulting liquor is pale pink/orange. It smelled like an herbal tea.

Filter out the petals

Red camellia petal liquor

Dye the Fabric

Then, dye the fabric using our basic process:

1. Add 1/4 - 1 teaspoon ferrous sulfate and wet fabric to dye bath.
2. Heat dye bath and simmer for an hour.
3. Soak fabric in the dye bath.
4. Rinse and hang to dry.

Add fabric to dye bath, heat, and simmer for an hour

Add ferrous sulfate to the dye bath and stir well. Add wet, prepared fabric, and simmer for an hour, keeping the temperature between 180-200 degrees. Stir periodically to make sure dye is distributed as evenly as possible.

Squeeze out fabric

Rinse until water runs clear

Let soak for an hour or overnight. Since I love saturated color, I let it soak for three days this time. Squeeze out excess dye from the dish towels. Rinse the dish towels in cool water until the water runs clear. Run the dish towels through the washing machine rinse and spin cycles, using cold water. Let the towels air dry. Two weeks later, wash the towels in pH neutral soap, like Synthrapol, and hang to dry.

Hang fabric to dry

Grayish brown with hints of pale lilac

The resulting color is a soft grayish brown, with hints of pale lilac in some light. After reading How to Use Iron Powder below, I'm curious, whether the red camellia pigment contributes any color at all, or does the color result from the mix of tannin mordant (oak gallnut) and ferrous sulfate. 

Learn More:

• How to Use Iron Powder (Ferrous Sulfate)
• Ferrous sulfate (Amazon)