Monday, July 8, 2013

Turmeric Dye

Turmeric (the cooking spice)

Having cooked with Turmeric before, I noticed that not a lot of the spice was needed to add color to a dish.  So I decided to try it out in the dye pot and was very pleased with the results.

Results: Pictured from left to right are wool with no mordant, wool with Alum mordant, cotton with no mordant, and cotton with Alum mordant.  For color reference, the background is a white Bounty paper towel.



Dye process: Added 1/2 teaspoon of ground turmeric to 1 cup of water.  Brought to a boil and then simmered for 1 hour.  I added my pre-wetted yarns to the pot and let it simmer for another hour.  I extracted my yarn and rinsed it while it was still hot, and it took quite a bit of rinsing to get the extra residue off from the yarn.

Notes:  I definitely used way too much turmeric and not enough water.  Next time I would probably try 1/4 teaspoon in about 4 cups of water.

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