On Fri, 17 Mar 2006, Kahlara wrote:
My modern references state thus:
#1. Dandelion flowers with alum mordant produce a soft yellow, flowers with a
tin mordant produce yellow, and the whole plant -roots, leaves and flowers -
without mordant produces a magenta color.
#2. Dandelion flowers with tin mordant produce a golden yellow and dandelion
root with an alum mordant a gold-yellow similar to what we call 'goldenrod'
paper. (this one has a color chart)
I spent a few years as a R&D lab technician at a homeopathic manufacturing
company. Dandelion is a great foodstuff/supplement. Good for the liver too. My dad
used it in salads and for making wine.
Annette M (looking forward to finally moving into our new house where there is
a lot more space for sewing and room to start experimenting with natural dyes)
I actually went back and poked about in the archives on the dye
lists--Natural Dyes and SCA Natural Dyes on yahoogroups.
What I have found (marked with *)
:
*Dandelion root added to an orchil dye bath will produce magenta,
apparently. (Su Grierson says this in her book _Color Cauldron_)
*Dandelions will make magenta *in England and Scotland* but not in the
USA, because of the different mineral composition of the soil. I think
that's also from the Sue Grierson source.
*There is a particular variety of red or red-seeded dandelion that will
produce magenta.
*"Craft of the Dyer: Colour from Plants and Lichens
Karen Casselman
1993 (2nd ed), Dover Publications
Information on the kinds of colors you can expect from a wide
variety of natural dyestuffs. And she states that she has been
unable to get a reddish dye from dandelion roots (is this a myth
or has anyone been able to do this?)."
*"So the dandy was NOT fushcia but NOT a waste
of time either (but what really is when you're
experimenting?) On the Spin List, several people
confirmed my hunch that the fuschia/pink/purple
of dandelion is a myth. I'm pretty sure that N.
american dandies are the same as European.
I wonder if someone collected them from an
unusual soil type somewhere and got pink dye-
soil conditions can influence which pigments
plants produce, as can amount of direct light
vs shade, and even extreme temperatures, but
I don't know if it could influence the pigments
enough to influence their dyeing potential. ?"
*"I've read in numerous books that dandelion roots yield a magenta dye. So
far, no one I know has been able to do it. I was told that the
magenta-yielding dandys grow in England, not in the US, but I haven't
found
any English dyers who have been able to get magenta, either."
So the evidence for a red dye from dandelions appears to be site-specific
and not necessarily substantiated.
Something to keep in mind when you're reading a book on natural dyeing,
even the modern ones--are the authors merely repeating someone else's dye
recipe, or have they actually tried this particular recipe/technique and
can reproduce it with a reasonable amount of success?
Jenny Dean in Wild Color gives yellows and greens as the colors one can
get from dandelions. She does not mention either the use of the roots as a
dyestuff or any red color from the plant in any capacity.
Jim Liles (The Art and Craft of NAtural Dyeing) doesn't mention dandelions
at all.
Pixel/Margaret
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