Vegetable Dyes: Being a Book of Recipes and Other Information Useful to the Dyer

Tannin (Tannic acid). Cotton and linen strongly attract tannin and when prepared with it they are able to retain dyes permanently. Cotton saturated with tannin attracts the dye stuff more rapidly, and holds it. Tannic acid is the best tannin for mordanting as it is the purest and is free from any other colouring matter; it is, therefore, used for pale and bright shades. But for dark shades, substances containing tannic acid are used, such as sumach, myrobalans, valonia, divi-divi, oak galls, chestnut (8 to 10 per cent tannin), catechu

Iron. Iron is usually employed as a "saddening" agent, i.e. the cotton after dyeing is steeped in a cold solution of the mordant. A further use is in dyeing black, when the cotton, after being prepared with tannin, is steeped in a cold solution of Iron. This process by itself gives a dark colour before any dye is used

Table of Contents
The dyeing of cotton is difficult with the natural dye stuffs, there are only a few colours which can be said to be satisfactory. The fastest known in earlier days was Turkey red, a long and difficult process with madder and not very practical for the small dyer. It had its origin in India where it is still used; red Indian cotton is one of the fastest colours known. Catechu is another excellent cotton dye used for various shades of brown, grey and black. A cold indigo vat is used for blue, Indigo Extract is not used. Yellows can be got with weld, flavin, turmeric (for which cotton has a strong attraction), and fustic. Great care is to be taken in dyeing yellow as it is not very fast to light. Greens may be got by dyeing in the indigo vat and then with a yellow recipe, purples from logwood with tin mordant, but purples and greens are unsatisfactory, and not suitable to the vegetable dyer