Colour

Member lesson

Natural dyes

Lesson 25 of 27 in Colour.

Natural Dye Basics: Mordanting · Myra Made Color
Lesson

A dye dissolves and bonds to a fibre, which makes it a different technology from a pigment sitting on a surface. Almost all of them need a mordant to hold, and the mordant is frequently what decides the final colour: the same madder root gives reds, corals and purples depending on what fixed it.

wax cracks · fineveinsthread · a burstclamp · hard edgethe resist decides the mark
Wax, thread and clamp resists and the marks each leaves.
A dyer lifts cloth from a clay vat, the cloth yellow-green at the bottom and shading to deep blue at the top, with blue cloths drying on poles behind.
A dyer lifts cloth from an indigo vat. It comes out yellow-green and turns blue in the air as it meets oxygen, which is why indigo dyeing looks like theatre.
Member

The rest of this is for members.

You have read the opening of this lesson. The rest of it comes with a membership.

One membership covers all four courses and Brands.

  • All lessons in the four Learn courses
  • All brand breakdowns in the Brands section
  • All quizzes, flashcards and crosswords
  • An AI teacher on every lesson, for up to 60 questions a day
  • All course material published during the membership

Price

Membership is from $12 a month on the Yearly plan, which is charged at $144 once a year. Lifetime access is $59, paid once.Membership is from ₹200 a month on the Yearly plan, which is charged at ₹2,400 + GST once a year. Lifetime access is ₹3,999 + GST, paid once.

Check what stuck

Members only

You can't take this check yet.

Members answer these 3 questions and keep the ticket for this lesson. Every lesson has one.

  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A metallic salt that fixes a dye to a fibre. Often changes the colour as well.”

    • Rendering intent
    • Tone
    • RGB
    • Mordant
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “One applied in a reduced soluble state, which oxidises to colour in air. Indigo works this way.”

    • Legibility
    • Vat dye
    • Structural colour
    • Limited palette
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “One that binds without a mordant. Rarer, and prized.”

    • Hue
    • Interpolation space
    • Substantive dye
    • Split complementary

Elsewhere in the library

Hear about new courses.

Leave an email and we will tell you when something new lands. We do not write often.