Colour and fastness of natural dyes: revival of traditional dyeing techniques

Cotton and wool fabrics were dyed with nine natural dyes obtained by aqueous extraction of the original plants/insect in an attempt to reconstruct traditional textile dyeing recipes, to optimise the methodology at all stages, i.e. extraction, mordanting and dyeing, and to standardise it. Cochineal, madder, alkanna, henna, brazilwood, red sandalwood, safflower, indigo and logwood were used for the dyeings, which were carried out directly and after mordanting of the textile material. A variety of mordants, namely, aluminium potassium sulphate, potassium dichromate, copper sulphate, zinc chloride, iron(iii) chloride, iron(ii) sulphate and tin chloride, is anticipated to meet both early and recent requirements and options. The dyeings were evaluated through colour measurements and standard wash, light and rub fastness tests. Generally, the mordanting process known for many centuries and connected with the textile dyeing resulted in an improvement in dye absorption and fastness properties mainly for the cotton samples, as is concluded from the tests and measurement assessments.