Dyeing with Natural Dyes
By Charles Vestal



In the summer of 1994, I became interested in dyeing my own materials for dressing Classic Atlantic Salmon Flies after reading several informative articles (see references for a list of these).

Now, I don?t claim to be an expert in this area, but I certainly have had fun dyeing materials in colors that I know must match the colors that were in use in the mid-nineteenth century. I?ll pass on my recipes and experiences for each of the primary colors (yellow, red and blue) based on the methods first reported by William Blacker in 1855. These recipes and methods are not for commercial quantities of materials. They are for the salmon fly dresser who needs some reasonable quantities of materials using the classic dyes.

Natural Dyeing Basics

The first key to dyeing with any dye stuff is to have the material absolutely clean and free from natural oils. I wash all my materials using Joy Liquid Detergent and then rinse, rinse and re-rinse to get it all washed off. I have also used generic Woolite for cleaning materials. A popular urban legend contends that Woolite contains Lanolin and should not be used; however, reading the ingredients on my generic substitute and discussions with a Proctor and Gamble chemist refute this. The key seems to be frequent changes of the wash bath and complete rinsing. Seal?s fur may require the use of Washing Soda (sodium carbonate) to get it completely clean.

The first step in using natural dyes is to prepare the substrate (i.e. material to be dyed) by a process called mordanting. Without getting into any chemistry, this step is necessary to make the substrate more reactive to the dye that will come in the next step.

I make up a mixture consisting of:

1 liter distilled water
1 teaspoon Alum
1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

in a 1 liter Pyrex glass beaker.

I use distilled water to take out the variables associated with hard or soft water. The two mordants are readily available at your local grocery store in the baking section and are completely nonhazardous.

I put my materials in the mordant solution, heat it on a hot plate to 180 F and hold at this temperature for 45 minutes. I let the solution cool to 100 F, take the materials out of the mordant, rinse using tap water and transfer wet into the dye bath. When dyeing Seal?s fur be extra careful to avoid thermal shock between the mordant solution and the dye bath or you?ll end up with Seal felt. When dyeing Seal I skip the rinse step and transfer from the mordant to the dye bath when I can comfortably handle the material. I?ll preheat the dye bath to avoid any drastic temperature changes.

Yellow Click to see larger image:

The natural dye used for yellow is the spice Turmeric. This is also readily found at your local grocery store. Dyeing with Turmeric is easy, inexpensive and completely nonhazardous.

Make up a yellow dye mixture consisting of:

1 liter distilled water
1 teaspoon Turmeric

Place the pre-mordanted materials in the dye bath, heat to 170 F and hold at this temperature for about 8 ? 12 minutes to get a bright yellow color. Wash, rinse and dry.

Leave in the dye bath for approximately an hour to get a rich golden yellow. Add one drop of Chemic solution (see instructions for dyeing blue) to get a lemon yellow color.

Materials will take up the dye at different rates. Mohair and Swan dye faster than Turkey which dyes faster than Seal. Don?t hesitate to pull out a sample, rinse and dry with a hair dryer to check your finished color. Colors always appear darker on wet materials, so drying is an important step in checking the final color.

Red Click to see larger image:

The classic red dye is either Cochineal or Madder root. Either of these natural dyes are available from Earth Guild, 33 Haywood St, Asheville, NC, 28801, 1-800-327-8448. The dyes are easy to use and nonhazardous.

Cochineal comes from a beetle that lives on cactus. The Aztecs and the British used this material to get crimson red colors. The active ingredient is carminic acid.

Finely crush the Cochineal beetles and prepare a dye bath consisting of:

1 liter distilled water
1 teaspoon of finely crushed Cochineal beetle

Pre-mordant the dye stuffs and add to the dye bath. Heat to 170 F and leave for approximately 2 ? 4 hours. A rich crimson (red with violet hues) will develop. Leave the dye stuffs sit in the dye bath without heating for 24 hours to produce a plum-claret color. Wash, rinse and dry.

The actual color that you will get depends on the batch of Cochineal beetles you use. I?ve had three different batches and get three different shades of red using the same concentrations, temperatures and times. The amount of carminic acid in the bug will determine what you get.

My experiences with Madder are less than thrilling. The resulting colors were weak and washed out. I now know that the Madder root needs to be pulverized, soaked in water and exposed to air for a period of time to fully develop the active dye ingredient (alizarin).

Madder is used in a dye bath consisting of:

1 liter distilled water
4 teaspoons finely crushed Madder root

Pre-mordant the dye stuffs and add to the dye bath. Heat to 140 F only! Leave in the dye bath for 2 hours for a rich lacquer red. Higher temperatures will cause a significant shift to brown. Wash, rinse and dry.

Blue Click to see larger image:

The classic blue dye is Indigo. Natural Indigo and synthetic Indigo are identical so either may be used and can be readily obtained from the Earth Guild. The blue dye used by Blacker was Chemic which is Indigo dissolved in concentrated sulfuric acid. Needless to say, this dye requires careful preparation, handling and disposal. This dye is very hazardous.

Prepare the Chemic solution in a well-ventilated work space, wear safety glasses or goggles and rubber gloves. Take 4 ounces of concentrated sulfuric acid and slowly add 1 ounce of powdered Indigo. The Indigo will dissolve in the acid. Store in tightly capped bottles and open the bottle to remove dye only as long as is necessary. The concentrated sulfuric acid is a desiccant and will remove moisture from the air and will seem to ?grow? in volume. Chemic solution may be commercially available from your local natural dyed wool shop under a label such as ?Liquid Blue?.

Make a dye bath consisting of:

1 liter distilled water
6-12 drops Chemic for Silver Doctor Blue
12-24 drops Chemic for Medium Blue
24-48 drops Chemic for a rich deep blue called Saxon Blue

Make certain to add the Chemic drop by drop to the water without splashing. The dissolution of the concentrated sulfuric acid in the water is very exothermic (heat generating) so add the Chemic slowly.

Take the pre-mordanted materials, add to the Chemic dye bath, heat to 170 F and leave for 15 ? 60 minutes depending on the color you want. Remove from the dye bath wearing rubber gloves, wash and rinse several times, dry.


Dispose of the spent Chemic solution by pouring it onto dry Kitty Litter.

The key to dyeing with Indigo is to get it into solution because it is not soluble in water. A method using sodium hydrosulfite (also known as Thio-Urea Dioxide) and sodium hydroxide (Lye) has also been published. This method is very hazardous and will generate an odor you won?t soon forget. The resulting solution of Indigo is yellow in color under a blue surface of oxidized Indigo. The dye stuffs are put into this yellow solution and then they turn blue after they are removed and exposed to the air. Since the materials have to be exposed to air for 30 minutes or so before they turn blue, I don?t use this method due to the lack of direct control of the color.

Other Colors Click to see larger image:

Take materials dyed yellow and over dye in a blue dye bath to get green.

Take materials dyed yellow and over dye in a red dye bath to get orange.

Take materials dyed red and over dye in a Chemic dye bath to get purple.

Summary

Dyeing with natural dyes is a lot of work and involves much trial and error. Use a cheap, easily available material such as mohair or white hackles to perfect your recipe and procedures. All of the recipes I?ve given are for dyeing ?in excess?. More than enough dye is present so the key variables are time and temperature in the dye pot.

I?ll have to admit that I?ve been unsuccessful in duplicating the beautiful Indian Crow substitute method presented by Ted Roubal in the Radencich book. This method uses the natural dye Cutch to develop the Indian Crow base color. I always end up with a rich mahogany brown rather than what I want. Pretty, but worthless.

I also use a modern nonionic detergent (Synthrapol) to help thoroughly wet the material in both the mordant and dye bath. A couple of drops is all you need.

Once you?ve mastered the three primary colors and the three secondary colors obtained from them, then you?re ready to try Osage Orange sawdust, Logwood, Brazilwood, Black Walnut husks, ???..

Charles Vestal
November, 2005

References

Adrosko, Rita, Natural Dyes and Home Dyeing, New York, Dover Publications, Inc. 1971.

Blacker, William, Art of Fly Making, &c., Comprising Angling, and Dyeing of Colours, London: published by the author, 1855.

Roubal, Wm. T., ?Modern Dyes and Dyeing for Fly Tiers, Part I: Preparation of Materials and an Introduction to the Rudiments of Dyeing Chemistry?, American Angler, May/June, 1994.

Roubal, Wm. T., ?Modern Dyes and Dyeing for Fly Tiers, Part III: Natural-Product Colorants?, American Angler, September/October, 1994.

Roubal, Wm. T., ?The Science and Practice of Dyeing Fly-Tying Materials? in Tying the Classic Salmon Fly, A Modern Approach to Traditional Techniques, edited by Michael A. Radencich, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 1997.

Smith, Ray R., ?Antique Colors for Atlantic Salmon Flies?, The American Fly Fisher, The American Museum of Fly Fishing, Summer, 1994.

Ray was my personal mentor through my initial explorations of natural dyeing. He generously supplied answers to all my questions, dye materials and examples of what the finished product should look like. I need to practice more because I still cannot produce the clear and vibrant colors that Ray obtains.