Natural Dyes Part 1 Dyeing with Madder Root

This video goes step by step through dyeing a batch of cotton garments with the natural dye, Madder Root.
Ingredients I used:
Madder root - chromaticnatureclothing.com/p...
Aluminum Acetate - chromaticnatureclothing.com/p...
Calcium Carbonate - chromaticnatureclothing.com/p...
Professional Textile Detergent - www.dharmatrading.com/chemica...
Since posting this video, I've stopped using the Dye Fixative I used here. I realized its ingredients are not as eco-friendly as I would like them to be, and I don't want to promote this product. It is not a necessary step.
Music is by Borscht Porsche
Welcome to the Chromatic Nature KZbin Channel!
Chromatic Nature is my small-batch clothing company, that only uses organic cotton fabric and natural dyes. My name is Natalia, I am the company's founder/owner. I will be using this channel to post videos that show how I create my products. You can use these videos to learn to be a natural dyer yourself, but if after watching them you decide this all looks like too much work, you can go to my website and buy the items you see me making!
My website - www.chromaticnatureclothing.com/

[@LadyEowyn]

This was the most helpful tutorial I've seen. Thank you.

[@chromaticnature]

Glad you enjoyed it! If you want to dive deeper into different mordanting methods, I recommend watching my latest video in which I also mordant for Madder Root.

[@kathylewis7543]

Lovely!!! Great video!

[@adrianameunie4015]

So well explained! Thank you!!

[@nicibrockwell1544]

Excellet tutorial. I'm very grateful!

[@soniamartin8635]

Me encantó. Muchas gracias

[@nancyskinner5207]

Beautiful! Natural dyers all make mistakes that them wonder, “What was I thinking?”. I’ve made my share of them. I was worried when I saw the dye pot bubbling, but the color came out lovely. I’m enjoying your work.

[@chromaticnature]

Thank you! I'm going to try another madder root batch soon. I think I can get a much more red color if I don't let the temperature get too high.

[@dmbatikabstrakkontemporer2116]

Good process n art 👍

[@howtoheal5896]

Thank you so much for this tutorial 💖🫶

[@dorinases]

Thank you .. very nice color :)

[@velabeauties411]

☀️💞😊😎🤦🏽‍♀️Omg you are so funny 😂 I love this video Thanks for your honesty your a grate teacher 👩🏽‍🏫

[@chromaticnature]

Thank you! I try not to hide my mistakes so others can learn from them 😂I'm going to post a new video real soon, working on it now

[@KrisvanLaar]

just a quick question. when you pour the madder solution into the dye vat, what temperature is the water already in the pan? is it cold or warm?

[@chromaticnature]

It would be better for the water to be warm. A temperature of about 160 F would probably be the best. I can't remember what temp my dye vat water was here, but it was warm, not cold.

[@sanghamitranift]

Hi.. could you share the link for the dharma textile washing liquid and fixative?

[@chromaticnature]

Sure! This is the washing liquid www.dharmatrading.com/chemicals/dharma-professional-textile-detergent.html And this is the fixative www.dharmatrading.com/chemicals/dharma-dye-fixative.html

[@howtoheal5896]

How do you know how much madder root to use??

[@chromaticnature]

So that's really an up to you thing, there's no right amount. The more you use the richer the color. How much water you are using in the dye pot also matters. You should use enough water for your fabric to have room to float and move around when stirred, that way the dye job will be more even. But the more water you have in the dye pot the more diluted the dyebath is. In general, if you want a light color, you can get that with 10-25% WOF in madder root. If you want a rich color use more like 35-50% WOF. And if you want the color really rich and dark, use more than that.

[@kathylewis7543]

Do you know how it does in sun thank you!!! How do you scour with what?

[@chromaticnature]

Madder root dye does ok in the sun, including tannin in the mordanting process makes it more light-fast. Have you seen my last video? I see you commented on the one where I compare mordanting methods, but there's one more newer video where I compare mordanting with and without tannin and that really does make a huge difference with sun exposure. You could skip to the Madder Root Results chapter of the video. I split it up, in case you don't wanna watch the whole long thing! I scour with Soda Ash (2% WOF) + Synthrapol detergent (2% WOF). Heat water to 180 F and add those ingredients plus your fabric and keep at that temp for an hour. Then rinse the fabric out. Instead of Synthrapol, I've also used cellulose scour, and I liked using that, but it can be hard to get.

[@clueless7999]

@@chromaticnature For scouring can we use Red Turkey Oil?? If yes...could you please tell me the method...becasue where I live (in Ladakh) we don't get Synthrapol detergent. And if i order ..it will be too costly. 😅 Please help

[@chromaticnature]

@@clueless7999 I have not used Red Turkey Oil myself. However, I read about its use and it can be used to scour cellulose (plant) fibers. According to my research, you can scour plant fibers by measuring out 10% WOF (10% of the weight of the fiber you are scouring) in Red Turkey Oil, mixing it into hot water (temperature of 140 F or 60 C) and soaking your fibers in this solution while keeping it around that temperature for at least 1 hour. Thoroughly rinse the fibers with warm water after that and dry them. This should prepare them for mordanting, similarly to using Synthrapol. If you have access to soda ash (Sodium Carbonate), maybe experiment with using them together or one after the other. Some people scour with soda ash alone in a similar way. Heat the fibers in water with soda ash, only use about 2-3% WOF in soda ash (too much soda ash will dry out the fibers too much) and soak fibers in 140 F temp water for an hour. Hope this helps. 🙂

[@deborahcost217]

What.does the chalk do?

[@chromaticnature]

The main purpose of the chalk is to bring the pH up higher, make things more basic (rather than acidic). It's recommended to use with madder root by many dyers. The general idea is it makes the color deeper and redder. Although, I've gotten some pretty orange results when I added it directly to the dyebath once. It's also supposed to help seal in the aluminum acetate mordant.

[@ashokkumarb.v.2707]

Can you tell is it Red or saffron dye you got from madder, and if it's saffron how could we get red color from madder or something different

[@pheart2381]

There are different mordants to try. Also the hardness of the water can affect the colour.

[@chromaticnature]

When I've dyed a different batch with Madder Root I had it come out much more Red. So I think you can achieve much redder tones with it. The temperature at which you boil the madder seems to matter a lot. I think I might have made this batch more saffron by letting the water temperature go over 200 degrees F.

[@ashokkumarb.v.2707]

And please let me know other natural red dye source if you able to findout except cochineal, can't source cochineal In India.

[@chromaticnature]

@@ashokkumarb.v.2707 Red is actually a difficult color to achieve naturally. I know you can't use cochineal, but I think you should read my blog post about cochineal dye, I researched red dye options when I wrote it and I was surprised by what I learned. I mention some other red dye options in it too. www.chromaticnatureclothing.com/2021/05/05/exploring-natural-dye-cochineal-dye/ I think Madder Root might still be your best option. It just needs to be experimented with, to get it redder.

[@ashokkumarb.v.2707]

@@chromaticnature thank you.

[@khprabhu]

Nice color...one important thing calcium carbonate never get dissolved in water...what u used is calcium hydroxide ...

[@chromaticnature]

I shouldn't have said it dissolved, because you're right, it doesn't dissolve. It easily mixes with the water, but it isn't a solution, it's only a suspension. After some time the chalk settles on the bottom in the water. But it really is Calcium Carbonate (chalk). It helps to set the Aluminum Acetate mordant. I do use Calcium Hydroxide (pickling lime) in my indigo vats, so I am familiar with using it to help dissolve natural indigo, but it was not used here.

[@khprabhu]

@@chromaticnature cool, nice. Have u ever tested the pH of your chalk solution ?

[@chromaticnature]

@@khprabhu I have not tested it, but I know it's supposed to lower the pH, making the vat more alkaline. So, I'm assuming that's what it's doing. I should do some pH tests in the future!

[@khprabhu]

@@chromaticnature yep, it makes the solution alkaline. Have you ever experienced when you to add calcium carbonate powder any kind of bubbling or heat produced in the solution ?

[@chromaticnature]

@@khprabhu no, I can't say I've seen that happening. But I'm usually working with water that's already pretty hot. And I mix the Calcium Carbonate powder with hot water first, and then add it to the vat.

[@dylanstockler874]

What's a wad..wat..?

[@chromaticnature]

It has come to my attention that I'm mispronouncing vat. Hope that helps.

[@chrislecky710]

As I said I'm not afraid of anything at all, If you want me in Jamaica so much buy the ticket and I will arrive there tomorrow.