Collecting Plant Information

I had Blue Jay make a cover for a ring binder in which to keep her dyer’s notes. She took to that task immediately, using Corel Draw for her illustration. Now to fill it up. To start I’ll create some loose-leaf sheets with plant identification information and pictures. (This is going to test my color print cartridge replacement capabilities.)

[As an aside, one of my Internet research techniques is to, first, open up a Word document then start my internet search. When I find relevant or interesting pages, I’ll swipe the address from the browser, and copy it into the Word document with a word or two of description. That way I can move on quickly to browse other pages, but keep the best references just a click away. Bookmarks might be the preferred method, however, I can load these research logs up on a flash drive and always have them with me.]

To look up wildflower data for identification purposes I found that the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center http://www.wildflower.org/ has abundant pictures. I looked up a Black Eyed Susan and found bunches of pictures showing the flower, the leaves and stem, and a field picture.

The USDA also has a web site for plants, a plant database, http://plants.usda.gov/index.html. This site has pictures. (They have citation policies for the use of these pictures which one would be wise to check out.) In addition the USDA site has information on a plant’s growth range for US and Canada, full classification, and threatened and endangered species information. We don’t want to be uprooting any endangered kind of plant, introducing a noxious plant to a non-native environment, or anything less than being good stewards.

Spring Weather, Seeds, Mordants

I’m glad that I spent a few days last week preparing the raised garden beds, turning soil, pulling weeds, etc. The last few days have been great weather wise.

Yesterday Blue Jay, Lucy, Pi Guy and I took a bike ride to the Dog Tooth Café. Awesome weather, in the seventies, blue sky.

I also went to Rick’s Garden Center, I found that they carry Burpee seeds, and a flyer sent out recently had a 20% coupon on Burpee seeds. I asked Blue Jay if she wanted to go. If all the spring flowers were out she would have gone. As it was it was just me.

Rick's did have the Starlet Scarlet Marigold that Jael insisted on from A Dyer’s Garden. I also purchased some Basil, Shasta Daisy, Hibiscus, Zinnia, Mammoth Sunflower, some regular Marigold mix, and Red Hot Poker Mix just for fun. I also purchased some peat pots.

I still have some mordant that I need to buy to make our experiments complete. For the tin mordant, was able to locate stannous chloride at B & H Photo. This, also, is a special order for them. I ordered it with the alum, it should take two to four weeks. They have it for about $30 for100 grams. I opted for the 10 gram size (for starters) at $6.

Potassium dichromate for the chrome mordant is a slightly different story. If you happen to be in New York City, B & H Photo has potassium dichromate, but because of the hazard, they don’t ship it. It has it’s own personal “No Fly Zone”. I have some more research to do. I was thinking a metal plating shop. The nearest to me is Denver, about 60 miles distant. But I have located some about 10 miles closer at Colorado Scientific Company. They sell educational materials.

The purchase list for mordants is: ammonium aluminum sulfate and stannous chloride, copper sulfate, and tannic acid from B&H Photo, allowing two to four weeks; Cream of Tarter from Safeway or King Soopers; walnut shells from walnuts also from Safeway or King Soopers. We were fortunate to find copper sulfate for copper mordanting in a home school chemistry set, with the option to replenish our supplies from there. Or, our stand by B & H Photo has it. ~$9/ lb.

Happy fabric treating!

Taking Advantage of a Nice Day

Yesterday was such a gorgeous day, in the low seventies, sunshine, blue sky; I took the kids on a hike over at Palmer Park. (I say this because I’m not going to finish the information on the mordants today, just tannic acid.)

Both Blue Jay and I both forgot cameras, a fact the Blue Jay bewailed repeatedly. There were some excellent views of Pikes Peak and the Front Range, and some awesome sandstone formations on the Templeton Trail.

At the tail end of the hike, which was kind of rugged, we saw bunches of ladybugs on the Yuccas. About three years ago we had hiked in the same area. Blue Jay and pi Guy were intent on counting ladybugs but had no idea that they would be in such abundance. The Yucca plants were like an open square for mobs of them. (Blue Jay corrected me. Mobs are for kangaroos. All is venery.) To see them out on the first day of spring was impressive.

It was a great break. But back to the mordant business, at least for tannic acid to treat the cotton. I just want to be prepared especially if there are lead times to contend with.

I might be able to get tannic acid from a bag of oak leaves or walnut shells brewed up like tea. Walnut shells I can obtain from a metal polisher or metal finishing supplier like Cyclone Sandblasting Equipment (http://www.mytoolstore.com/cyclone/access.html) 50 lbs for ~$55 plus shipping. Lucy’s sister lives near some pecan groves, the owners of which sell shelled pecans. It’s possible that I could obtain some of the waste shells to use like the walnut shells.

We’ll try the brewing of walnut shells and/or pecan shells as an experiment. We could use our own shells obtained from whole walnuts from the grocery store. Or, another plan is to get some sumac and brew that.

If these plans are not successful, I have plan B. Plan B would be to purchase the chemical from our trusty friends at B & H Photo.

Tannin vs. Tannic acid. www.Smarter.com has a lot of coffees and teas listed when looking up tannic acid. However, if you look at an article by Bruce Richardson at Elmwood Inn, Perryville, KY, (http://elmwoodinn.com/about/tannicacid.htm, I like this news letter. I’d like to stay at his Inn someday.) he clearly differentiates between tannins and tannic acid. He even shows the difference in chemical formula, and makes the statement bold, “There is no tannic acid in tea!” So, no tea for tannic acid.

Mordant info (1 of 2)

Mordants treat the fabrics so that the color imparted by the dye bonds to the fibers. There are several kinds, aluminum, tin, chrome, and copper are some of the most common

For aluminum mordants I’ll start with ammonium aluminum sulfate, which I can get from B & H Photo, ~$15 for a pound, as a photographer’s developing reagent. B & H is probably the least expensive source for craft sized projects. They special order it, so it would be good to note a two to four week lead time for delivery.

Ely Drugs sells 12 oz. of ammonium aluminum sulfate for ~$16, http://store.elydrugs.biz/alumpge.html they have a stated use as for pickling. And, another supplier, (kosher even) is Holland Company, I didn’t check the pricing but they supply it for wastewater treatment.

Another use that I became aware for ammonium alum of is in the manufacture of deodorant. The Delicious Organics folks, http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Controversies/aluminum.htm warn against the use of these deodorants, which might be worthy of note. (They do give aluminum chloride a (relatively) clean bill of health in anti-perspirants because it affects the production of perspiration differently. But reading up on aluminum chloride eliminates it from consideration as a mordant for right now.)

When I spent some time at the local markets looking for alum for pickling, none of the supermarkets nor any of the niche food markets carried it.

The aluminum mordants are used in conjunction with things like Cream of Tarter and tannic acid. I’ll have to get my own supply of Cream of Tarter so as not to alter the kitchen equilibrium. Apparently Cream of Tarter is used along with protein fibers like wool and silk, so, for my beginning purposes, wool.

I didn’t expect that mordants would be this time consuming. I’ll continue with, and should finish with info and sources next time. I might have more later when considering some other dyes, like the Hopi black dye. (What did they use?)

Cohorts Excitement

Blue Jay didn’t disappoint me with her interest level. I handed her a copy of A Dyer’s Garden by Rita Buchanan, which I had obtained from the Pikes Peak Library. (I haven’t yet received the copy that I had ordered from Amazon.) I had some things to attend to in another room.

Blue Jay found me about a half hour later and said that her “ant” was going to be busy for her, because her “ant” had commented about the Yarrow, which, in their southwest Colorado neighborhood was very much like a weed. And she could send us some.

“I really like the yellows! And I really like the sunflower colors… I think that they call madder “madder” because of the warm colors that it makes.” Did I say that she is nine years old, and enjoyably chatty?

I quizzed her a little further. She knew that we already had cosmos in the corner garden in the back yard. It has pink flowers so she didn’t know that it was yellow cosmos. I also found out that in the interim while reading more of A Dyer’s Garden she had grumbled to Lucy “Why does it have to be hollyhocks, I hate the bees.”

I asked her if she could recall from looking at the picture in the book where she had seen some dyer’s coreopsis. She didn’t, however when I mentioned a place on the Rock Island path she remembered. She also liked the St. John’s Wort because of the good, dark colors… earth tones.

Because of the time of year, I’ll acquire some of my plant subjects from the produce aisle at the grocery store that might be free or cheap. I’ll also visit the local green houses to see if there are items I might pick up there also free or cheap. (Not to say I won’t pickup an occasional bouquet.)

When the weather is warmer or if we visit warmer regions, we’ll collect samples, truly natural, on hikes and drives.

These collection efforts will be divided into specific locations with accompanying photos. Hopefully some of them will read like the “The Dye Plants of the Raymond Trail of Pack Monadnock”, or “The Dye Plants of the New Vegetation on the Talus of Mount St. Helens”, and not just “The Dye Plants of the Rock Island Trail, Colorado Springs”, which is just a stones throw from our house.

Equipment Gathering

So the other day I made the rounds to the Salvation Army store and to Goodwill here in Colorado Springs to see if I could find some used enamel or stainless steel cookware. The stainless would be the best, but enamel would do, especially for the mordanting. Unfortunately, cookware was in short supply at these locations. They did have aluminum, glass, and Corning ware. Still the eight plus quart stockpots that I would need just weren’t there.

While the family and I were at Target, I found some really suitable and inexpensive pots. The eight-quart stainless pot was on sale for about $15, and the enamel 7 1/2-quart stockpot was less than $15 as well. Although it was a bit more than what I had anticipated spending we purchased one of each. (Another option that had crossed my mind was to adopt our old kitchen cookware and purchase some new.) The Target purchases have turned out to be the least expensive option for now.

I have a couple of 20 lb propane bottles in the garage. And, I have a propane space heater as a heat source for working outside in the back yard. That is where I plan to do the mordant and dye baths. I’d like to have an alternative in case of a boil-over or spill. By the time we’re ready we may have that some how taken care of. (Hot plate of course.)

Since we are using no production quantities of fabrics we’ll use a dish rack or something similar for a drying rack or use a clothesline arrangement. All we’ll be trying to do is a sample hank, and a three by three inch fabric square of cotton and the same hank and square of wool for each of the, fabric appropriate, mordant types for each dye bath. We won’t need a full drying rack.

My Cohort

I will have my daughter Blue Jay as my closest family cohort in investigating natural dyes. Not that Lucy and Pi Guy won’t join in on some of the activities, but Blue Jay seems to share my interest in color.

Only a few people know of my youthful penchant for going through Sears, Montgomery Ward, and J C Penney catalogs in search of the color swatches that particular clothing or linens could be supplied in. My folks knew, I’m sure, and were probably frustrated because once the catalogs were in my hands, I would take scissors to the color swatches and cut them out, just to have and look at them. Blue Jay would probably do the same if someone clued her in to the possibility.


This page taken from the December L.L. Bean catalog would have been fodder for my scissors in those days. (And now, how are we to properly identify the color of that slug bug without this type of aid? "Slug Bug Green Tea!")

Blue Jay also has the affinities toward the seventies lifestyle. A new “American Girl,” Julie by name, deals with the seventies. Blue Jay has expressed an interest in acquiring one of these dolls and has read the American Girl book. She would be a vegetarian if we would let her make that choice right now. So, as much as I say the pursuit of natural dying is the end in itself. Blue Jay may take it to the application level.

Since December is not the best time for collecting dye plants, except commercially (and perhaps grocery stores and florist shops for scraps). It seemed good to borrow some natural dye books from the Pikes Peak Library. When Blue Jay saw these books her eyes brightened considerably. I think that she will enjoy researching and acquiring the plants and the resulting colors immensely but may not take as much interest in the procuring and processing of the material and equipment, and in the recording of the process. But, that’s what I’m here for.

Natural Dye Starting Out

I want to share my exploration of a thirty-year plus dormant interest in natural dyes. My daughter Blue Jay will be joining me, as a father-daughter project.

My desire is not to profess expertise, but to share my exploration. Also, not part of my effort is to promote natural dyeing as an attractive alternative lifestyle, which it may be, but just as an enjoyable and colorful pursuit. (Professor Jacobi a math professor of mine at the Thomson School of Engineering at the University of New Hampshire in the early 1970’s, prefaced his course “The Logical Foundations of Mathematics” saying that the study mathematics should have no practical application but that it’s pursuit was it’s own end.) This is the approach that I would like to take in this endeavor. No practical application, but that the pursuit is it’s own end.

For preparation and organization I’m starting with parsing natural dyes into sub-topics. There are the materials. Cotton and wool both raw and in skeins will probably dominate, unless some others present themselves as potentials. Flax, thistle, and bamboo are a few that could creep in. Then there are the mordants, the acidic or alkaline treatments of the material that cause the fabric materials to bind with the dye. Different mordants can cause different color in otherwise identical fiber and dye bath. I’ll be trying to acquire knowledge of other traditional and natural mordants. After that they’ll be the dyes themselves, divided into the subsections of plants, earth oxides, and fungi.

Blue Jay and I will be starting with plants for the dyes themselves. And relying on Rita Buchanan’s book A Dyer’s Garden, available at Amazon.com. This will have plenty of color, which Blue Jay will enjoy looking at.

The equipment will initially be rather simple stuff from the thrift stores. Pots, drying racks, a propane burner or hot plate, tongs (which I may refer to as “pants”) a filing cabinet, hanging folders will comprise the basis. Other items that we find necessary I’ll list as we go. We’ll be photographing the results and posting them (even though different monitors register colors differently). Each natural dyeing experiment will have a standard template that may include differing recipes. We’ll be filing the results in a filing cabinet. I don’t think a notebook will be adequate to the task.