What is Natural Dye?

Using the colors of nature

Header Image Source: Fars Media Corporation under Creative Commons

What is Natural Dye?

Natural dying is the art of using organic materials to create dye which can be used to color fabric and fibers. The pigments are created from three main sources, plants, animals, and minerals.  There is a rich history of natural dye that differentiates worldwide, with colors being tied to social status, religious symbolism, as well as occupation. Some pigments even have their own deep history, such as indigo, ocher, cochineal and madder.  In the modern day naturally dyed garments are more sparse, as the man-made synthetic dyes forged during the industrial revolution increased efficiency in production as synthetic dyes are brighter, last longer, and are more consistent. There is still a large community of natural dyers that prefer the non-toxic, experimental nature, sustainable and unique look of natural dye. This article includes a brief history of natural dye, my experience in Lacoste’s natural dye lab, and how you can get started with natural dye at home!

A Brief History

Color has a huge role in culture, and natural dye has been an important element throughout fashion and art history. Synthetic or man-made dyes didn’t appear in garments until the mid to late 1800s. The first synthetic dye was created by British chemist William Perkin by complete accident, when he fabricated a rich purple color as a result of a failed experiment to create a treatment for malaria using coal tar. The discovery inspired chemists to create even more synthetic dyes that could be used in the mass production of garments, paint, and more. Before this discovery, purple was a rare color for fabric, and was reserved for wealthy members of society. Tyrian purple, also known as royal or imperial purple, is made from the mucus of sea snails found in the Mediterranean sea. Creating the dye requires long hours of collecting shells, extracting the mucus gland, fermenting, and preparing the final pigment. The result is a deep purple color that can be seen in ceremonial and religious garments throughout Europe and North Africa. 

Natural indigo dyed yarn and long leaf indigo plant.

Source: Ashley Walker, Three strains of Japanese Indigo tested and observations on indigo extraction

Indigo is one of the most popular dyes throughout history and all over the world. Though synthetic versions exist today, traditional indigo dying holds an important place in history and culture. The name indigo refers to one of history’s largest suppliers of the dye, India. Indigo dyestuff was exported from India to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Interestingly enough, the oldest fabric dyed with indigo was found in Huaca Prieta, Peru dating back 6,200 years, long before European colonizers arrived. In Europe indigo dye is most famously used to dye denim fabric. The fabric originates from the Provincial city of Nimes, France where denim gets its name from “serge de Nimes” or what the technique used to create the fabric became known as. Indigo is still used to dye denim today, though synthetic dyes are used as well. In Japan indigo is most commonly implemented in an intricate dye technique called Shibori. Shibori uses a manual resist technique that controls what parts of the fabric is dyed. Beautiful patterns can be created by skilled artisans, often inspired by the artist’s appreciation for nature and imperfection. Indigo dye has an incredible history, and I highly suggest reading more through the resources below.

Another incredible pigment you may recognize is ocher, which can be found in a range of yellows, reds, and browns. Ocher is a natural pigment from clay that contains various amounts of ferric oxide or iron. Ocher may be the oldest pigment used by humans to create art, as it was used by early humans in cave art. The pigment still stains the walls of caves thousands of years old providing evidence of some of our oldest ancestors, and the oldest surviving forms of art. As humans evolved so did art, and ocher survived along with us as an important pigment for dyeing garments, and painting anything from buildings to humans themselves.

The origin of natural dyes is incredibly complex, containing stories of discovery, trade, conflict, politics, culture, fashion, and fine art. But even then, Tyrian purple, indigo, and ocher pigments are just three of many, many different unique colors with such a rich history. As an artist it’s completely worth researching where the colors you use originate from and whether they are natural or synthetic, not only to learn about the history of color, but to also see the make-up of the pigment you are using. 

SCAD Lacoste’s Natural Dye Lab

My first experience with natural dye was during my time at SCAD’s Lacoste campus in FIBR 102: Fibers for non-majors. As a technical animation major, this class gave me the chance to learn more about hands-on crafts like embroidery, cyanotypes, and of course natural dye. Through this class, I learned that the natural dye process is just as much of a science as much as it is an art. The pipeline explores the biology and chemistry of natural materials to create beautiful and practical works of art. A lot of the materials we used to create our dye baths could be found around the village, including oak gal, logwood, poppies, dried pomegranate, and lavender. Other dyestuff was collected from the local market, onions, tea, coffee, avocados, lemons. We also had access to commonly used dye stuff including hibiscus, weld, indigo, madder, and more. This class encouraged students to experiment with dye bath ratios, mordants, additives and combinations of dye to create a rainbow of colors. This was an incredible opportunity to learn about natural dye, the fibers major at SCAD and connect with the gorgeous landscape of Lacoste, France.

How to Get Started at Home

If you’re eager to get your hands dirty experimenting with natural dye, here are some materials to get started: 

• Stove pot (reserved only for dye, not to be used for cooking with food)
• Stovetop or hotplate 
• Liquid measure
• Jars
• Tape and sharpie to label jars and pots 
• Fabric (test dye baths with both cellulose and protein fabric like cotton and silk) 
• Scale to measure dyestuff 

As for the dyestuff, starting with commonly used materials is a great way to get started. Onions, avocado pits, tea, and coffee are perfect for beginners. Most dye recipes require heating a pot of water to a simmer or boil and cooking the dye stuff so it releases the colorant. The resulting color of your fabric depends on the water to dyestuff ratio of your bath, how long the fabric has been soaking, whether or not you used mordants, as well as the fabric itself. As mentioned before, natural dye is a science just as much as an art, which means it’s important to keep track of your experiments. Here is a simple chart that you can use to record information about your dye baths. Make sure to also label any jars and pots with what is in them and when they were created. Experimenting with a lot of different dyes at once can get complicated, so it’s best to stick with one to three baths at a time. 

One of my favorite experiments was testing what different additives did to purple onion dye. I made a control of 12g of onion skin to 1200mL of water, then separated the mixture into five different jars (one jar being the control). I tested what additives like Lemon, cochineal and lemon, iron, and tannic acid would do to the resulting color of my fabric samples. I got a nice range of color from this simple recipe. 

If you are interested in learning more about creating natural dye at home I recommend taking a look at this website: https://naturaldyes.ca/guide that goes into more detail about their process. Definitely do research on any plants or dyestuff you find before experimenting as some materials can be harmful. 

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed learning about natural dye!

Resources

History of Natural Dye: 

“To Dye For,” Royal Society of Biology: https://www.rsb.org.uk/biologist-features/to-dye-for 

“Natural Dyes Revisited,” American Association of textile chemists and Colorists:  https://www.aatcc.org/natural-dyes-revisited/

“Making Color,” Smithsonian: https://library.si.edu/exhibition/color-in-a-new-light/making 

“Identifying Natural Dyes to Understand a Tapestry’s Origin,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/conservation-and-scientific-research/projects/identifying-natural-dyes

“Home Dyeing with Natural Dyes,” Margaret S, Furry (Historical Document): https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/1759046/PDF 

History of Dyes: 

“The Accidental invention of the Color Mauve,” JSTOR Daily: https://daily.jstor.org/the-accidental-invention-of-the-color-mauve/?highlight=natural%20dye 

“Tyrian purple,” Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_purple#Production_from_sea_snails

“Why Tyrain Purple Dye Is So Expensive,” Insider Business: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVXqisH6VeM 

“Indigo dye,” Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_dye#History

“History of Denim & the Origin of Jeans,” Hawthorn: https://www.hawthornintl.com/history-of-denim

“What is Shibori? 7 Things to Know about Japanese Tie Dye,” Japan Objects: https://japanobjects.com/features/shibori 

“Earliest Evidence of Indigo Dye Found at Ancient Peruvian Burial Site,” Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/earliest-evidence-indigo-dye-found-ancient-peruvian-burial-site-180960477/ 

“Ochre,” Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochre#In_heraldry_and_vexillology 

Natural Dye at Home: “The Maiwa Guide to Natural Dyes,” Maiwa: https://naturaldyes.ca/guide