Dyeing is thecraft of impartingcolors totextiles in loosefiber,yarn, cloth or garment form by treatment with adye.Archaeologists have found evidence oftextile dyeing withnatural dyes dating back to theNeolithic period. In China, dyeing with plants, barks and insects has been traced back more than 5,000 years.[1] Natural insect dyes such asTyrian purple andkermes and plant-based dyes such aswoad,indigo andmadder were important elements of the economies of Asia and Europe until the discovery of man-madesynthetic dyes in the mid-19th century. Synthetic dyes quickly superseded natural dyes for the large-scale commercial textile production enabled by theIndustrial Revolution, but natural dyes remained in use by traditional cultures around the world.
Aal or Indian mulberry (Morinda tinctoria) is the source of themorindone dye sold under the trade name "Suranji". It is extensively cultivated inIndia for the dyeing ofcotton,silk andwool in shades of red, chocolate or purple, dependent on themordant used.
adjective
Adjective dyes are those dyes that require use of amordant to bind the color to thefiber.[2]
alkanet
Alkanet or dyer's bugloss (Alkanna tinctoria) is a traditional plant source of red dye.[3]
alum
Alum (aluminum sulfate) is a naturally occurring basicmordant widely used in the ancient world.[4]
Aniline dyes or basic dyes are a class of synthetic dyes derived from coal tar, first discovered in the 19th century. These dyes produce brilliant colors that work well with animal fibers, especiallysilk. Because of poor colorfastness, aniline dyes are seldom used with textiles today.[7]
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a flowering plant native to eastern North America; its root is the source for a red dye used byNative Americans.[9]
brazilwood
Brazilwood is a red-brown dye from either of two related trees. The original brazilwood,sappan wood (Caesalpinia sappan), is native to India and was exported to China by 900 BCE and to Europe via the Muslim world by theEarly Middle Ages.Portuguese explorers discovered a similar tree growing in theNew World and named the surrounding countryBrazil. This tree is theBrazilwood (Caesalpinia echinata) used by contemporary craft dyers.[10]
Cudbear is a purple dye from the lichenRoccella tinctoria which also producesarchil andlitmus. Cudbear is one of the fewnatural dyes to be credited to a named individual, Dr Cuthbert Gordon ofScotland, whopatented the process of its production in 1758.[8]
cutch
Cutch is an ancient brown dye from the wood of acacia trees, particularlyAcacia catechu, used in India for dyeingcotton. Cutch gives gray-browns with an iron mordant and olive-browns with copper.[18]
Dyes arecolor-bearingorganic compounds that can be dissolved in water or another liquid so that they will penetrate fibers.[19]
dyebath
A dyebath is a solution of dye and water or other liquid in which textiles are dyed.[20]
dyed in the wool
Dyed in the wool ordyed in the fleece refers tofibers that are dyed prior tospinning. Compare todyed in the hank oryarn-dyed;piece-dyed (dyed afterweaving); andgarment-dyed, dyed aftersewing orknitting.
dyer's broom
Dyer's broom (Genista tinctoria), also known as dyer's greenweed or dyer's greenwood, is a garden plant used to produce yellow dyes.[21]
Fugitive colors are prone to fading when exposed to sunlight (fugitive to light) or washing, as opposed to colorfast.
fustic
Fustic orold fustic is a brilliant yellow dye derived from the inner bark of the dyer's mulberry treeMaclura tinctoria of theWest Indies andMexico.[18]
Gall nuts, nutgalls or oak apples are atannin-rich growth on oak trees produced by an infection of the insectCynips gallae tinctoriae, used as a dye and amordant. Commercial gall nuts are harvested from theGall Oak (Quercus lusitanica), also called Lusitanian Oak or Dyer's Oak, native toMorocco,Portugal, andSpain.
Grain was theMedieval word for the red insect dyekermes.Dyed in the grain refers to dyed with kermes, or kermes in combination with another dye, producing colors such ascrimson in grain,violet in grain.[15]
Indian madder or munjeet (Rubia cordifolia) is native to theHimalayas and other mountains of Asia and Japan. Munjeet was an important dye for the Asian cotton industry and is still used by craft dyers in Nepal.[22]
Logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum) is a dyewood native toMexico andCentral America which produces a fast black in combination with aferrous sulfate (copperas) mordant.[25] Despite changing fashions in color, logwood was the most widely used dye by the 19th century, providing the sober blacks of formal andmourning clothes.[26]
Madder (rubia tinctoria) and related plants of theRubia family are a source of good red dyes containingalizarin andpurpurin. Madder was a dye of commercial importance in Europe, being cultivated in the Netherlands and France until the market collapsed following the development of syntheticalizarin dye in 1869.[27]
Amordant is achemical used in combination with dye to "fix" the color in the textilefibers. By using different mordants, dyers can often obtain a variety of colors and shades from the same dye.[30]
Ochre is aniron oxidepigment fromclay that can be used to dye textiles a ruddy or reddish-brown color. Evidence of textile dyeing with ochre has been dated to theNeolithic.[32]
Phoenician red is a red dye related toTyrian purple or royal purple, extracted from several genera ofsea snails, primarilyMurex brandaris the spiny dye-murex (currently known asBolinus brandaris).[33]
pigment
Pigments are insoluble color particles that may be attached to the surface of cloth using a binding agent. Solutions of binders and pigments are calledpigment dyes.[34]
A fabric or garment which isprepared for dyeing, abbreviated PFD, is specially made to bedyed. PFD fabrics have beendesized, scoured, and fullybleached, but have been processed withoutoptical brighteners or softeners which can interfere with dye uptake.[37]
Quercitron is a mustard yellow natural dye obtained from the bark of theEastern Black Oak (Quercus velutina), a forest tree indigenous in North America.[38]
Reactive dyes are a class of synthetic dyes that first appeared commercially in 1956, after their invention in 1954 by Rattee and Stephens at theImperial Chemical Industries Dyestuffs Division site in theUnited Kingdom. Reactive dyes are used primarily to dye natural fibers andcellulose fibers such asrayon.[39]
resist dyeing
Resist dyeing and the related resist printing are terms for a number of traditional methods of dyeing textiles with patterns. Methods are used to "resist" or prevent the dye from reaching all the cloth, thereby creating a pattern and ground. The most common forms use wax, some type of paste, or a mechanical resist that manipulates the cloth such as tying or stitching. Resist techniques includescreen printing,tie-dye,ikat, andbatik.[39]
royal purple
Tyrian purple or royal purple is a purple-red dye which is extracted from several genera ofsea snails, primarilyMurex brandaris the spiny dye-murex (currently known asBolinus brandaris). Murex dye was greatly prized in antiquity because it did not fade, rather it became brighter and more intense with weathering and sunlight.[33]
rubia
Rubia is a genus of plants that are sources of the red dyemadder.[27]
Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) is a flowering plant native to Asia that produces asubstantive yellow dye for natural fibers. Dried safflower blossoms can be used to produce yellow, mustard, khaki, olive green and red colors. Cotton tape dyed red with safflower was formerly used to tie up government papers inBritain, giving rise to the termred tape.[40]
saffron
Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of the saffroncrocus (Crocus sativus) that produces a golden-yellowcarotenoid dye calledcrocin.[41]
Turkey red was a strong, very fast red dye for cotton obtained from madder root via a complicated multistep process involving "sumac and oak galls, calf's blood, sheep's dung, oil, soda, alum, and a solution of tin."[43] Turkey red was developed in India and spread to Turkey. Greek workers familiar with the methods of its production were brought to France in 1747, and Dutch and English spies soon discovered the secret. A sanitized version of Turkey red was being produced in Manchester by 1784.[44]
Tyrian purple
Tyrian purple or royal purple is a purple-red dye which is extracted from several genera ofsea snails, primarilyMurex brandaris the spiny dye-murex (currently known asBolinus brandaris). Murex dye was greatly prized in antiquity because it did not fade, rather it became brighter and more intense with weathering and sunlight.[33]
Weld (Reseda luteola), also called mignonette or dyer's rocket, was an important yellow dye of the ancient Mediterranean and Europe.[45]
woad
Woad (Isatis tinctoria) is anindigo dye-bearing indigenous plant ofAssyria and theLevant which has been grown in Northern Europe over 2,000 years as a source of blue dye. Woad was carried toNew England in the 17th century and used extensively in America until native stands of indigo were discovered in Florida and the Carolinas.[6]
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