Testing 6 Mordant Methods on Cotton
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- čas přidán 16. 07. 2024
- Before you comment that I should be using tannins if I want the colors to last in the sun, please check out my newest video:
Mordanting Cotton With vs Without Tannin - • Mordanting Cotton With...
In this video I use 6 mordanting methods on cotton fabric and then dye the fabric pieces with 4 natural dyes. You will see the mordanting process and the results. I also performed a light/wash fastness test on the dyed fabrics to see how the colors last.
Blog post with photos of the results and descriptions of all mordanting methods: www.chromaticnatureclothing.c...
Mordant ingredients I used:
Aluminum Acetate - www.chromaticnatureclothing.c...
Aluminum Lactate - www.chromaticnatureclothing.c...
Alum (Potassium Aluminum Sulfate) - chromaticnatureclothing.com/p...
Sodium Acetate - chromaticnatureclothing.com/p...
Soda Ash - www.chromaticnatureclothing.c...
Calcium Carbonate (chalk) - www.chromaticnatureclothing.c...
Soy milk & vinegar - grocery store
Synthrapol detergent - www.misterart.com/crafts/text...
The dyes I used:
Madder root - www.chromaticnatureclothing.c...
Osage Orange - www.etsy.com/listing/62246447...
Avocado skins - eat some avocados
Logwood -chromaticnatureclothing.com/p...
00:00 - What this is about
01:45 - Soy milk mordant method
04:03 - All the other mordant methods
10:44 - Dyeing the fabrics
12:56 - Light/wash fastness test
14:01 - Soy milk debacle
15:07 - Madder root results
19:22 - Osage Orange results
21:46 - Avocado skins results
24:14 - Logwood results
26:31 - My closing thoughts - Jak na to + styl
Such a concise, well presented and organized presentation! Lots of useful information which has saved us all a lot of wasted time and effort. Thank you!
Wow you are the fabric dye scientist!! Very helpful
In researching on dyeing material I came across a website of a natural dye company called WAIWA. This company offers instructions on the dyeing process and mentions that store bought soy milk does not work as intended. The process that they suggest involves purchasing soy beans and making your own milk from soaking the beans. Might make a difference and worth a second experiment. Thanks Raymond
I I will try this too, thank you for info.
Its MAIWA and unsure why they would put out misinformation about soy milk?? I tried to look up the information on soy milk but did not find it, do you have the link to that particular page?
As an experienced dyer and artist who specialises in fibre arts I can tell you that most advanced/experienced dyers/fibre artists would disagree.
There is NO difference between using store bought vs homemade soy milk. First of all soy milk is not a mordant, many novices always confuse soy with being a mordant when its actually a binder. Soy milk acts like a glue that helps to adhere the natural dye or eco print to the fibres of non-protein material such as cotton, linen, hemp, rayon etc. Unlike animal fibres which contain protein (silk, wool, leather etc) non-protein fibres require an extra step in their prep after scouring and that is soaking in soy milk. For best results, soaking and rinsing then drying non-protein fibres should be done several times and left to "cure" for at least a month.
Preparing soy milk in bulk is something most fibre artists/dyers do to save $$ but it really makes no difference in using commerically prepared soy vs homemade unless its a sustainability issue (gmo seeds, additives, not organic??) Im not sure why MAIWA would state this?
MAIWA
Thanks for doing all of this work and sharing!
Very cool! I appreciate your hard work! Thank you ☺️
Thank You so much, precious information!
so useful and well organised!
Excellent tutorial!
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I really enjoyed watching it and learn a lot.!!
stellar work!
I am so impressed with your methodology!
I really appreciate you taking the time to make this video. It saved me soooo much time from experimenting on my own, lol.
This was incredibly useful. Thank you for producing this video.
What a thorough and comprehensive video! So much thought and time went into this experiment and it is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Thanks for this informative video 👍👍👍
Great experiment!
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! This is so thoughtfully done.
Thank you!
Lots of work! Wow! Thanks!
Fantastic video! Packed with helpful information. You are a scientist at heart!
thank you!
I actually like all the variants of each colour for the type of crafts I do, even the sun faded ones, thank you so much for this tutorial, I am excited to try this dyeing experiment for my self as I am told the different types of water make a difference, as I live in an area of very hard water I will use highland spring water from Scotland as well as the tap water from the chalk hills area I live in.
it would be very interesting to see the difference between the colors you get with the two different types of water!
Very informative! Thanks
Excellent! Thank you!
I appreciate all the work you did to create this useful video.
Thank you! I'm very happy you found it to be useful!
Thank so much. That was a lot of work!
Thank you, I'm working on part 2 now, where I also test tannin modants!
That was a great experiment!
great work.. thank you
thank you so much for sharing! super helpful!
I'm happy you found it helpful!
Thank you for doing such an extremely thorough experiment! Really interesting results
This is a fantastic video! Thank you for producing it. Excellent presentation of methods and results. Also, props for highlighting the mistake you made with the soy milk! 🙌
Excellent, excellent video. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you!
Thank you! great video, very helpful.
Thank you! I'm working on a part 2 where I test tannin mordants
Wow! Thank you for your hard work. I am relatively new to botanical dying and this has saved me a lot of trial and error.
Glad you found my video helpful!
Very useful, especially for a frustrated beginner!
Getting into natural dyeing isn't easy, the more you research the more complicated it gets. I'm glad you found my video to be useful!
The soy milk simply makes your cellulose fibre into a protein one like wool or silk. Nice video and experiment. Thank you
This is great and confirms I picked the right method for flower dyeing. Thank you!
Hi! Which method did you pick?
And which method is that?
So insightful, thank you I'll stick to alum for starters
Good job. Great information
Thank you!
Thank you so much 🙏😊
gorges. I tried some of them before and I am going to try some others soon.
This is such good science
So glad i saw this
Wow, super-interesting, Thank you 👏🏻💚🍃🍀
Thank you so much for the demonstration. Could you show on different mordant with eco print.
Thnk you for this ...😊
Very interesting indeed. Haven't heard of aluminium lactate before. The only thing I would like to say is that the time required for dyeing avocado skins/pits is definitely not enough. I have had wonderful deep colours from avocado and many plants (leaves) on a soy pre-treated basis by leaving the fabric in the dye for up to 4 days. Madder or logwood, of course, don't take that long. This is just to point out that they cannot be compared in this way. But as for the latter , good job. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this regarding dyeing with avocado. Next time I attempt to dye with avocado skins/pits I will let the fabric sit in the dye for several days as you suggested. I have not tried that before.
@@chromaticnature and clean pits is what gives a much nicer pink! try with both on their own to compare
Wow ! That’s a lot of hard work 😓 thanks for the brilliant video !!
Thank you! I'm glad you found it interesting
I find when crinkled in a pot seems uneven verses laying flat in a glass or plastic container it's more even. Thank you so much for your info I'm trying to sort this out myself I'd like to find colors and methods so it doesn't wash out in cotton as soon as you wash it or change in the sun! ❤️😎🌻🦋
Yes haha 😅dyeing in jars doesn't give very even results. When I'm dyeing garments I am more careful about that!
@@chromaticnature I didn't mean anything by it I'm brand new a new kid on the block! Before I try this I'm trying to get enough knowledge to have some success at it!!! Thank you for your help!!! ❤️🌿💯💐
Awesome video! It’s great to see the side by side comparisons of the mordant methods and it’s lightfastness. Thanks so much for sharing!
I was confused at first by the soda ash, vinegar, alum combination. But after looking in to it the soda ash and vinegar would create sodium acetate which when mixed with alum would make aluminum acetate, which is often preferred over alum. So it’s essentially a homemade aluminum acetate!
I also wonder if perhaps the mold didn’t impact the soy milk results and they were accurate for that method. They were similar to the control colours which makes me think it just didn’t work great for those dyes. I haven’t done it myself, but I do agree with another commenter that I’ve seen it recommended that home made soy milk works better. And from what I understand, it works differently from other mordants in that it doesn’t actually bind to the fibre the same way. Instead you’re essentially trapping the soy milk on the fibre and building it up more and more with subsequent dips. So the more dips the more soy the more spots for dye to bind. I have heard it referenced as basically adding protein to a cellulose fibre as most dyes bond stronger to proteins than cellulose. A cool experiment could be to compare the use or a mordant on cotton with and without the addition of soy milk before dyeing, basically seeing if it gets a more saturated colour as wool or silk might. Your video has got me thinking!
Thank you! I'm glad you found the video interesting.
Yes, the soda ash, vinegar, alum combo is supposed to be a substitute for aluminum acetate. It didn't work very well, but I will admit that the proportion of vinegar I used may have been wrong/too much. So maybe this method could work better if it was executed more accurately. It definitely hasn't ever given me results like using Aluminum Acetate has.
What you're saying about soy milk mordanting is all aligned with what I've learned about it too. Making your own soy milk for it could give better results and it basically deposits protein on the cellulose fibers which makes the cellulose fibers hold dye more like protein fibers. Combining that method with aluminum salt mordanting would probably be very successful. I wanted to test it alone in this experiment because many dyers who want to stay away from using aluminum salts use soy milk mordanting, so I really wanted to see how they do one vs the other. I think there's some dyes that only soy milk mordanting will just never work with, logwood for one. Maybe the more tannin-rich dyes would do better with soy milk method only. It definitely deserves another try. Maybe the mold didn't ruin it... but I can't rule out that it could have messed with the results it gave me. There's always more experiments to try and improvements to be made.
15:10 a hopefully helpful idea for the soy smell issue: a salad spinner works too. I use mine single for hand-washed clothing items some times.
a salad spinner would be good to have for this!
I actually don’t mind the cardboard colours especially as I would be using the cloth in craft projects. Thank you for your research.
You are amazing patients which I wouldn't have lol!!! 😂
I'm glad you are enjoying my videos! These mordant comparing ones were the hardest to make for sure.
@@chromaticnature I know it's crazy how many different things give you a different result even sun light!!! That's why I was wondering about distilled water it wouldn't have any minerals in it for the sun to play off of! Also I'd like to know how tannin which I understand is from oak may play a part as well! So many questions and so many experiments!!! Lol! 😂
Wow! Great experiment!! Very thorough and scientific 🤓
I am just starting my journey into natural dying for my knitting yarn. I find I don’t really care for the harsh synthetic dyes with the perfect and even saturation. My only worry is the color fastness. Will it just fade away after a short while?? Anyway, thank you for this video! 💛
Thank you! Some natural dyes last longer than others. From my experience, indigo is definitely the most long-lasting, but dyeing with indigo is like its' own special science. Cochineal dye is very long-lasting. Madder root and weld are pretty good. The ones that I've found fade the fastest are avocado and osage orange. Using tannin mordants can improve the color fastness. I did another experiment using tannins and comparing results, it's my next video after this one, if you're interested.
@@chromaticnature yes definitely!
Natalia, great presentation! Was curious if you have tried to dye cotton fabric with turmeric. Which mordant works best in this case?
Thank you! I have not tried dyeing with turmeric yet, but I would guess that mordanting with Aluminum Acetate would be best, since it's most often the most effective way. It would also help to first mordant with a tannin. In the video I made after this one, I tested mordanting with tannin first and it makes a pretty big difference.
Thank you! Keep up with the good work!
Wow that was a lot of work. I've never heard of most of the ingredients and processes but appreciated the effort you put into this. I'm only doing a bit of eco dyeing/ and maybe some quilting but it's always useful to learn something new.
About the ''yellow'', does it have to be put in the sun? Seems if you were making a wall hanging or a quilt you could keep it out of direct sun light. And second, isn't there any other plant material that gives you a yellow dye? like Turmeric?
Thank you for watching! There are definitely other options for natural yellow dyes. I was testing Osage Orange because it's very commonly sold by natural dye distributors. I really like dyeing with carrot greens, they give a very bright yellow if mordanted for correctly and the color from them does better in the sun too. It's totally possible to naturally dye something and keep it out of the sun so as to avoid sun damage. And this experiment is to help people be aware which dyes are best kept out of the sun, and which are longer lasting for clothing you would be wearing outside.
Thanks!❤ This is very helpful for our project. One question, after simmering the fabric with mordant, do I need the fabric to be dry first before putting the dye extract or put the dye extract while the cotton fabric is wet?
In my experience, the fabric can be wet and go straight from mordanting into the dye vat. No need to dry it in between.
When you were putting the fabric into the soy milk you said it had been scoured & prewetted, can you please explain the scouring part.
Fabulous presentation! just one question: how does your spin dryer like the soy milk???
It didn't cause any problems with the spin dryer as far as it working properly. BUT even after I cleaned out the inside of it with soap and a hose, there was a faint soy milk smell that took months to wear off...
Is there a reason (other than electricity use) not to use a dryer for the layers of soy milk?
Hello and thank you for your wonderful videos. I am curious about almond milk, is this an option for a mordant? Thank you once again.
Almond milk will not work as well as soy milk or cow's milk for mordanting. Here is why, a cup of soy milk contains about 7 grams of protein, a cup of cow's milk contains about 8 grams of protein, but a cup of almond milk contains only 1 gram of protein. It is the protein from the milk binding to the fibers that makes them hold on to the color in the dye. The protein is what's doing the work, and almond milk does not have a lot of it. Great question!
Hello, muchas gracias. Are these mordants tóxico for using them in our kitchen?? are they safe to use?? do you need special care after this process, or can you just wash the fabric as normal? Gracias
It is fine to use these mordants in the kitchen. However, it is better to use bowls/pans that you do not use for food. It's better to have separate containers and tools for dyeing projects. Also, keep in mind that all fine powders (natural or not) are bad to inhale, so either work in a well ventilated area, put on a mask, or do both.
It might be interesting to place feathers and other objects on shirts in the sun!
It would be an interesting experiment to use the sun exposure to make an ecoprint on the fabric!
@@chromaticnature I know that sounds like what I did when I was in college many many years ago it was fun! It was paper already treated and we placed objects on it to block it from developing in that area!!! It was fun. I bet it would be fun again!
What a great job! It sure was a lot of work and it was super organized. Awesome!
I don't get the soda ash (alcalin) + vinegar (acid) mix, since one cancels the work of the other, and it seems so laborious for not so good result in general. What is logwood? I mean, what wood is it? Looks almost like indigo. Wow.
Thank you! I'm not sure why soda ash + vinegar is supposed to work either... it's a method I saw recommended on a couple different websites, so I wanted to include it, in case it did work well for some reason. But it didn't do a very good job, and it's a lot of work, so that was the last time I attempt that method. Logwood is the heartwood of the Haematoxylum campechianum tree. It is also referred to as blackwood, bloodwood tree, bluewood, campeche, and Jamaica wood. You can read more about it on my website if you wish!
chromaticnatureclothing.com/product/logwood/
It has a very interesting history (pirates, and being outlawed in England), I don't really go into it on my website. But it's worth looking into.
@@chromaticnature thank you! I will go take a look for sure. The color it yields is spectacular, almost like indigo.
Hey! You’re correct that soda ash and vinegar cancel each other out in terms of pH, however there’s a bit more to the reaction. They are chemically reacting to create water, carbon dioxide, and sodium acetate. Then, when it is mixed with alum, the alum and sodium acetate create aluminum acetate, which is often preferred for cellulose based fibres over alum. It’s essentially a homemade recipe for aluminum acetate which can be both more expensive and harder to source than alum.
This was really interesting. Can I ask, what is log wood?
Logwood is the heartwood of the Haematoxylum campechianum tree. It is also referred to as blackwood, bloodwood tree, bluewood, campeche, and Jamaica wood. You can read more about it on my website if you wish! chromaticnatureclothing.com/product/logwood/
@@chromaticnature thank you very much. Sounds fascinating
Hello, Is it possible to do the Aluminium acetate and the chalk together in one mordanting bath? Or is does it need to be seperate?
These baths need to be separate. The aluminum acetate (which is acidic) needs to bond with the fibers. Then the chalk afterbath neutralizes the fibers so they aren't acidic anymore once the aluminum acetate has bonded already.
Could you try doing experiments dyeing with coffee? Would you recommended using a mordant?
I'll try to do that soon. From what I have learned about dyeing with coffee, all those same methods that I test in this video would work for coffee as well. I haven't tested how light-fast coffee is as a dye yet but I'd like to do that sometime.
you can antique some table runners for example with tea bags
Hi, how long did u leave the fabric in the chalk after bath?
chalk bath only needs 15-30 minutes
🌞🌞🌞
I want to try dying a faded favorite dress with black beans. I'd love to use soy milk to keep the whole process non-toxic. Any advice?
I've never dyed with black beans, and I've only had... marginal success with soy milk mordanting. My only advice would be to test this method on something other than the dress first. Ideally, on a piece of fabric with the same content as the dress. Since the dress has sentimental value for you. And after you test dye a fabric piece, do a sunlight test on it, to see how sun exposure changes the color, because it would be good to know what the color would really look like after wearing the garment a few times.
"alum" does not rhyme with "a room" but with the name "Callum".
I find that funny, too. But it seems to be the American way of pronouncing it. They also say aluminum (aloominum) and not aluminium like Brits do.
@@andrealouchene6916actually in America we say Al umm like callem not A loom
I guess it depends on where you are from ...
@@cyndanyia
@@andrealouchene6916 No, most Americans pronounce "alum" properly, not a-loom. ;-)
How long do I leave the fabric in the aluminum lactate? And then how long do I leave it in the chalk bath after?
I generally soak the fabric in aluminum lactate for at least 1 hour, you can leave it in there for longer. I haven't compared how much difference leaving it in the mordant for longer will make, so I can't say for sure if leaving it in the mordant for extended periods of time will be beneficial. The chalk bath can be 15-30 minutes. No need to soak it in the chalk for too long.
Hola soy de Cecilia de Chile .En el video podrías incluir en español? Gracias!
La traducción automática de los subtítulos parece estar funcionando bien
how did you know which one is what it is when the wash machine step was taking place?
I mark all the fabric pieces with different small cuts. If you pause at 11:38 you can see what each one means.
how long did you leave the fabric in the calcium carbonate for im wondering?
30 minutes
What type of Madder did you test?
Ground Madder root from the Rubia cordifolia plant
Interesting but Soy Milk is not a mordant it is a binder. Also when Mordanting the amount of water is not important as it is the Mordant at WOF that counts. Cover the fabric with enough water so it moves freely.
Yes, soy milk is not a mordant, it's a binder. I should have clarified that, but many people do use the word mordant to describe this soy milk process.
What is the difference between a mordant and a binder?
@@riversandroots Mordants form a chemical bond between the fibers and the dye. A binder like soy milk does not. The soy milk process makes cellulose (plant) fibers act more like protein fibers (like wool and silk). Protein fibers bind to dye more easily than cellulose fibers without mordants.
how much water to use for aluminum acetate mordant??
The concentration that I used was about 1 gram of Aluminum Acetate to 1 cup of water. I used 3 grams Aluminum Acetate and 3 cups of water, and the weight of fiber that was mordanted was 25 grams.
@@chromaticnature okay, thank you so much✨👍🏻
@@chromaticnature this is misleading info as Mordants are used at WOF not the amount of water used…… if you need to to mordant a large amount of fibre you will need a larger amount of water…
@@jdmosaics I didn't say that's how much needs to be used. I said that's how much I used here. Also, I gave the amount of fiber I used, water, and mordant. Obviously, if you use more fiber, you will use more water and mordant as well. There are no hard rules as to the proportions, but if someone wants to replicate my results, then this info is useful and not misleading. And the concentration of mordant in the water does make a difference, so it is an important detail.
Have you tried distilled water?
🤔?
@@chromaticnature Sorry I meant distilled water it changed the word on me!!! Lol!
Osage yellow what is that? Thank you❤️😎
It's wood shavings from the Osage Orange tree actually.
@@chromaticnature Thank you! I lived in upstate NY don't know how I would get my hands on it!❤️🌻
@@kathylewis7543 I have a link in the description to an etsy seller that you could order it from online. I also have a dye/mordant online shop on my website but, unfortunately, right now I am moving from state to state and need time to be able to reopen my shop.
@@chromaticnature Oh I get it I wish I could move out of NY state sooner then later I'm by the capital it is horrible here I'm actually from Buffalo NY and western NY this area is unfriendly and controlling
I don't see what the point is of dying with natural non-toxic dyes, but then using a mordant like aluminium, which is highly toxic and is incredibly difficult to detox.
Saying aluminum salts (which is what these mordants are) are highly toxic is inaccurate. They have been, and still are, widely used in food products, water treatment, and topical medicinal creams. And while it's best to limit how much it's ingested, as with any chemical, natural dyers aren't ingesting them. Aluminum salts are considered much safer than the chemicals being used in synthetic dyeing processes such as chrome, lead, and manganese. And the dyed end products do not need to be detoxed of it. The end products dyed with it carry no risk to the people using them. Any minimal risk that comes with handling these metal salts falls on the dyer and they are always encouraged to use gloves and wear masks when handling the powder mordants. It would be great if any and all chemicals could be avoided but well, then you can't produce color on fabric. At the end of the day, this is just a hobby for people who have an interest in using natural dyes. It's not a solution to the problems of global fashion production.
This is an oversimplification of chemistry, edging into pseudo-science. Alum is a product regularly used in food. Compare this to the more “natural non-toxic dyes” you mention, such as rhubarb which contains oxalic acid, which has the exact same warning labels on its material safety data sheet as alum. Just because something has a more “chemical” name than another doesn’t mean it’s toxic and more dangerous. For any dye or mordant we are using we need to take precautions and be educated on its risks.
It makes no sense to use soda ash and vinegar together as they cancel one another out. One is an acid, the other an alkali. It would be better to just use each one separately to see their effect.
Sorry, but I must contradict you there. This combination is used by experts and enables you to mordant without heating, which is very good for wool. See Jenny Dean or Michel Garcia.
Hey! It isn’t quite that simple, you’re missing the chemistry happening. Yes, acids and bases react to create a neutral byproduct (in this case water and CO2), however this specific reaction creates sodium acetate, when mixed with alum makes aluminum acetate. The goal of the reaction is not to alter the pH, the goal is to create the aluminum acetate as it can be more expensive and harder to source than alum.
Please, please ditch the make up. You are pretty enough without it.
Wow what a controlling statement! Why is it people seem to want everyone to think like them? This kind lady ( makeup or not) made a huge effort to help others with her experiment results for FREE, and this is all you could say to her?
How’s about a Thank you instead of your controlling criticism. 🫤