I had ordered aluminium lactate online and seem not to be able to get a hold of it any longer. Still wanting to dye cotton fabrics without the colour being rinsed out after one wash, I found other ways to dye fabrics. The pouches I make are not intended to wash very often, but I do wash them before I stitch the fabric.
I use mostly cotton for my embroidery projects and I have tried several options now. Searching online on how to do this, I have practised and came with good results. Mind you, nothing bright or flashy coloured but soft shades and mild differences. It will do for me.
I start using copper for mordanting (that was intended for gardening) with gall nut as a tannin.
I work with natural derived material such as marigold petals, sumac fruits, yerba mate, mullein leaves. Furthermore I am using washing soda (sodium carbonate), gloves and sometimes a mask as not to breath in copper powder.
Step 1
– wash fabric on hot machine wash program (60 or 90 degrees Celsius). I use soap nuts with washing soda, not commercial liquids nor softeners.
– scour fabric with washing soda, as I don’t have soda ash. Fill a large pot with enough water to submerge the fabric, not more than 100 gram. For 100 gram of fabric one should use 35 gram of soda ash, which I have substituted for washing soda. When the fabric gives off a lot of yellow coloured water, I repeat this process with new water and another batch of washing soda.
– let dry.
Step 2
– weigh the fabric and use 5 to 10 % tannin to the weight of fabric. I have a lot of gall nuts so I use these. Sumac leaves are a good option too. I smash the gall nuts in a mortar that I use only for this purpose.
– add the gall nut powder to warm water and soak the fabric overnight.
– let dry.
Step 3
– use 1 to 5 gram store bought copper per 100 gram of fabric. Soak fabric in copper solution for 1 to 2 hours. I use enough water to have the fabric submerged.
– rinse the fabric or proceed to dyeing.
Step 4
– simmer 100 gram of submerged and chopped plant material/whole petals. Heat slowly to 80 – 90 degrees Celsius degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.
– strain the plant material and use the clear dye liquid.
Step 5
– add the pre mordanted cotton to the strained dye bath.
– simmer gently for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
– let the fabric cool in the dye bath overnight or consider curing it for several days.
I experiment with leaving the fabric several days in a tannin bath and several days in the dye liquid.
My dyeing pot is showing signs of wear, thus starting to make dark stains to the fabric: make sure the dye pot is in tact and used only for this purpose.
I use rain water instead of tap water.
