EXPLORING NATURAL DYES
Herbal dying sounds exotic and tedious but it is, in fact, far simpler to create a natural dye than its hazardous chemical counterpart.
Nature has always been a sourcing warehouse for pigments and dyes, we have merely forgotten its key. For thousands of years people used herbs, spices and fruit derived extracts not just for eco-friendly dying but also for their myriad health benefits.
WHITE DYES
Haritaki/Harade: Believed to be the oldest available vegetable dye, it is considered to be the king of medicines.
YELLOW DYES
Turmeric/Haldi: Used as a daily household spice in Indian kitchens, it alleviates infections, diabetes, urinary disorders, ulcers and more.
BLUE DYES
Indigo plant: Traditionally grown as a rotational crop, indigo is a legume that replenishes spent soil (it fixes nitrogen).
RED/ORANGE DYES
Madder roots: A climbing plant with small flowers and long freshly swollen roots, its extract is used to treat pain in female genital organs, diarrheaassociated with bleeding, skin diseases including leprosy, ulcers and other urinary diseases, and diabetes. It also acts as a natural moisturiser for the skin.
GOLDEN YELLOW/YELLOW FAWN
Pomegranate: Pomegranate is one of the oldest fruits in cultivation and its rind has been used as a dye for millennia. You get yellow fawn using pomegranate without a mordant, and golden yellow with a mordant. Addition of iron gets you shades of green and grey, and even black.