Working with 18th Century Dyes
I am excited to share with you a project that I have been working on using period correct (to the 18th century) dyes. A lot of my research has come from the book, The Dyer’s Assistant, which is from the year 1800. I used many techniques that are described in the book to dye skeins of wool yarn with varying results. Most of them had great results and a couple of them didn’t work out well for me.
To start with, let’s discuss which plants would have been used for each colour. Blue would have been made with either woad or indigo. Red had very specific instructions depending on the shade. “Scarlet of grain” would have used kermes insects, Dutch scarlet (also called flame coloured scarlet) was from cochineal, Crimson would have been cochineal with alum and tartar, “bastard scarlet” was made from gum-laque insect (it is noted as not as good, but lasts longer), and Madder was made from the roots of the madder plant. Yellow could have been made from weld (or wold), savory, green wood, yellow wood, or fenugreek. Brown was made from the rinds and roots of walnut, rind of alder, santal (or saunders), sumach, roudoul (or sovic), or soot. Black could be created using logwood with elder bark and sumach.
Next the book talks about colours that are created by mixing different dyestuff. Blue and red is created by first dying with woad or indigo and then being overdyed with cochineal. Blue and yellow is done by starting with blue and then being overdyed with yellow. It lists the possible shades of green as the following: yellow green, light green, gay green, grass green, laurel green, molequin green, deep green, sea green, celadon green, parrot green, cabbage green, duckwing green, celadon green without blue.
Next, the book describes using blue and brown to create greenish grey or olives. It says that you can start with either blue or brown first, and that it doesn’t matter like in the other mixed colours. It also mentions that blue and black together can produce a blue/grey.
To achieve red and yellow, you must start with kermes and overdye with yellow. This makes the shades of aurora, marigold, orange, lobster, pomegranate. Red and brown is made with madder and overdyed brown; it makes the shades called cinnamon, tobacco, chestnut, musk, bear’s hair.
Yellow and brown are created by starting with yellow and overdying with soot. It makes the shades of seulemort and bear’s hair. Brown and black is made by starting with brown and adding green copperas, and this makes coffee, chestnut, prune, musk, thorn. Finally, the author describes “Polish red”, which is made with boiled nut galls and mixed with madder in cold water.
The book goes on to describe what the author calls “lesser dyes”, which include the following: archil (lichen or sort of moss), which makes red; logwood or campeachy, which helps make blacks, greys, violets, blues, etc. (it is not used on its own, but to enhance); brazilwood, which is like logwood, and a good additive to adjust shades (it adds red) and is also called “false scarlet”; fustic (which is the wood of a mulberry tree), which created orange. There is also roucou, which also creates orange; grains of Avignon, which makes yellow, but it is noted that it doesn’t last; turmeric (and also saffron) which creates yellow; fruit, which can include red currants, mulberries, elderberries, morello, and black cherries; and finally leaves, including wild chervil, ragwort, also alkanet root.
Let’s get into the actual dying that I did! I will include brief notes on how I achieved all of the different colours and shades. There are many great resources online for how to dye, especially the more complicated ones like indigo. I purchased some of my dye supplies from Maiwa (link here) and highly recommend them. Others were grown and collected by me (and I am hoping to expand what I can grown over the next couple of years while we grow our garden).
A couple of things to note, for all of the skeins, I prepared them by washing them and kept them loose, but tied in several spots to prevent tangling. I then washed them after they sat in the dyes to get out and excess dye and prevent running in the future. To make an iron bath – soak rusty nails in a mix of vinegar and water until the water turns orange/brown, I also used a cast iron pot to dye in. When I do the “iron dip” I dip the washed fibres into the solution for no more than 5 minutes
Pomegranate skins – Crush the fresh skins into small pieces and simmer for about 1 hour. Strain and add alum before simmering the fibres for 30 minutes and leaving to soak overnight. I added an iron bath afterwards.
Calendula, as well as one overdyed with a weak indigo – Simmer the dried flowers for one hour, strain and then simmer the fibres in the dye bath for 30 minutes to one hour. I added alum and iron to the dye bath. I also soaked it in indigo to achieve a green colour
Indigo – I purchased a kit to make it much easier to make the indigo dye bath. I used a ratio of 15g of indigo, 45g fructose and 30g calcium hydroxide (this is good for 450g of fibre). Put 3.75L of hot water in a pot and add the fructose to dissolve, then add the indigo and stir it in well. Add the calcium hydroxide and stir gently (you do not want to whip air into it). Heat until it reaches 120F, turn off the heat, and after 1 hour if should develop a bronzy surface and the interior of the vat will be a clear yellow-green. Let the fibres sit in the dye for at least 1 hour, then let it sit out until the blue develops before washing the fibre. Note: to dispose of the vat, you need to whip air into the mixture to neutralize the calcium hydroxide.
Indigo overdyed with Cochineal – I dyed the skein with indigo, as above then with cochineal by grinding the bugs to a powder and cover with about 3” of water. Simmer with a small amount of cream of tartar for approximately 1 hour. After an hour, add the alum and more cream of tartar and stir. Add the fibre and let simmer for one hour and then let sit overnight.
Logwood, also with iron and soot – Pour boiling water over the wood chips and let it soak overnight. Add calcium to the water and an alum mordant before simmering the fibres for 1 hour. I also did a second bath with the addition of soot into the dye bath and an iron afterbath.
Alkanet, with and without iron – Soak the alkanet in alcohol for a few days until the liquid has a strong colour, then add enough water for the fibre to move around and warm it up (do not boil). Let the fibre soak until enough colour has been absorbed. For the dark version, it was dipped in an iron bath afterwards.
Soot – Boil for 1-2 hours and then add the fibre and simmer for 1 hour
Sumac with iron – I used the leaves and twigs that I collected and dried out. Boil them for 1 hour and let sit overnight, strain and simmer the fibre for 1 hour with alum in the dyebath. For a grey colour, I then dipped the fibre into an iron bath afterwards
Walnut, walnut with an iron bath – dried walnut husks are soaked for 24 hours and then simmered for 1 hour and strained. Simmer the fibre for 1 hour and then let sit overnight or until a good colour is achieved, for the iron overdye, I used the same method but dipped it in an iron bath afterward for a few minutes
Turmeric – Dissolve starting with a paste (and then diluting until there is enough liquid for the skein to soak in), then simmer for 1 hour before adding the fibres. This was done with an iron dip afterwards
Weld – Pour boiling water over the plant and let stand overnight. Add alum and simmer with the fibre for 1 hour (note: don’t let it go over the temperature of 160F as it can make a duller yellow). I added calcium to the water and an iron dip at the end.
Fenugreek – Simmer the seeds for 1 hour, strain and add an alum mordant, then simmer the fibres for 1 hour.
Sumac – I used the leaves and twigs that I collected and dried out. Boil them for 1 hour and let sit overnight, strain and simmer the fibre for 1 hour with alum in the dyebath.
Dyer’s Chamomile – make a strong dye bath (at least twice the weight of flowers to fibre), simmer flowers for 1 hour, strain and boil wool for 1 hour in iron pot with alum mixed in
Woad – This is a very similar process to indigo, but unfortunately my woad didn’t turn out like it was supposed to. It should be a blue, but I got a cream colour (only a little bit darker than what the yarn started as). It was still interesting to try even though I would call this one a “failure”.
Rhubarb – Simmer the roots for 1 hour and strain, add baking soda and alum, then simmer the fibre for 30 minutes and then leave overnight
Madder, fermented bath and madder overdyed with walnut – add madder to water and let sit for 2-4 days, then simmer with alum for 1 hour. For fermented version, I put 1 tsp of alum and a heaping tbsp of the madder in a jar with the yarn and filled with water. Let sit for 3-6 days and shake it every day, set it in the sun and it should bubble to ferment. I did an iron dip at the end. Last one was done in the same way as the fermented and then soaked in a weak walnut solution.
Brazilwood, brazilwood with iron – works best in hard water, simmer for 1 hour and let sit overnight (or up to a few days), then add fibre and let simmer for 1 hour. For the iron dip, I added alum and then did an iron dip afterward
Elderberries (dried) – Simmer the berries for 1 hour, then strain. Simmer the wool for 1 hour and then leave it overnight. I used alum as the mordant and a small amount of iron at the end.
Cherries – I used 2 cups of frozen cherries (since they were not in season at the time that I dyed the fibre) and 4 cups of water and brought to a boil, then added alum. I added the fibre and simmered for 30 minutes then left it to soak until the desired colour is achieved.
Lac – Dissolve in water and simmer for one hour and leave overnight, then add alum and cream of tartar before simmering with the fibre for 1 hour.
Cochineal – Start by grinding the bugs to a powder and cover with about 3” of water. Simmer with a small amount of cream of tartar for approximately 1 hour. After an hour, add the alum and more cream of tartar and stir. Add the fibre and let simmer for one hour and then let sit overnight.
If you would like your own copy of The Dyer’s Assistant, you can find it here in my shop.