Natural Dyes > Dyes

Dyes - Madder root for Reds and Oranges - whole roots (below)

Madder - ground

Madder is a beautiful, permanent red dye from the roots of a pretty, viney, low growing herb. It has been cultivated in Europe and the Middle East for at least 5,000 years. Similar wild varieties have been used by Native Americans and in the Far East.

Pictured clockwise from left:
(1) Madder Orange on wool, tin mordant, second extraction
(2) Madder Oriental Carpet red on handspun longwool, alum mordant
(3) silk yarn and fabric dyed Madder Orange, tin mordant.
Dyework by Master Natural Dyer, Cheryl Kolander, who brings you this quality Madder Root.

Think of the red grounds in antique Oriental carpets: These are Madder colours on wool. On silk the colours tend to be more coral or orange; on cotton the colours are to the more rosy coral. The true "Turkey Red" which is the bright clear red of antique cotton quilts, was acheived on cotton thru a multi step dye process. No longer mythical, Aurora Silk is the proud distributor of true Turkey Red dyed in the traditional manner, using the Asian variety called Mungeet.

Brick red with alum, bright orange with tin; burgundy with chrome; off-black with iron. Very fast to both washing and light. Also fast to acids, sweat, baby drool, etc. This is a softer red than Cochineal, Lac or Brazilwood, but is superior in fastness to all other reds, since it is both light and wash fast.

On wool, expect to use 100% by weight for a rich red on an alum mordant. For extra dark red I dye twice, using 100% each time. Lighter shades need much less dye. I especially like the bright clear orange gotten by re-boiling the roots a second and even third time, then dyeing on a tin mordant. Rich tones edging into violet can be had by after-mordants of iron, copper or chrome. - Cheryl

For best reds, when dyeing cotton, Calcium in the form of chalk or Calcium Carbonate can be added to the dyebath. This binds with the Madder and enriches the colour. For wool or silk, add some ammonia (clear, non-sudzing) to your dyebath until the colour of the solution is reddish rather than orangey.

MADDER ROOT PIECES

This is the same top quality madder described below under "whole roots", only it has been coarsely ground. A coarse grind is better than fine, as it strains out and doesn't leave so much fine powder in the yarn/fibre/fabric. This is the perfect grind for the indigo vat fermentation (see Natural Fermentation Indigo Vat).

 

4 oz

$12

1 lb

$30

5 lbs = wholesale

$120

Roots, whole

"These roots of Madder are exceptional. Some of them are huge 1" diameter five-years olds (that is, they have been left to grow in the ground for up to five years). Normal harvest is at three years when the roots are about 3/8th inch. The original importer of these roots told me that they came from one of the finest Madder growing regions of the world: the high valleys on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is Wazirisatn where some of the most horrible fighting in the world has been a daily reality for years. Of course the madder growers fled for their lives. After many years, during a lull in the fighting, they were allowed back to their fields to harvest what they could. They dug all the madder that had matured over their absense. Sadly, there is yet no end to the fighting, and we may never get madder of this quality again." - Cheryl

 

For clearest tones, these whole roots can be soaked overnight and the brownish soaking water discarded; add fresh water and SLOWLY bring to a near boil. Do this over at least 1 hour. Then let them be at this near boil for at least 20 minutes. This pulls out the most of the pink toned dye that is in madder, leaving the orange tone component to be extracted by boiling the roots vigorously, with fresh water after the red dye is strained off and used. As Cheryl puts it:

"Raise temperature slowly, over one hour, then keep at HOT but not a boil for about 30 minutes. Decant this liquid tea* water, then add enough household non-sudzing ammonia till the hot water turns rosy instead of orange. Volume of water has to be enough to move around easily, because madder is a fast uptake dye. Or crowd it, because this characteristic in reverse makes madder a good tie-dye colour.

Then use the same roots for BEST ORANGE: boil the already once extracted roots. For an hour or more. Let your water be acid. Use on a tin mordant. This is the colour often found in the antique, thus Naturally Dyed Oriental Carpets, which causes the non-immitiate to exclaim: Oh! but it can't be Naturally Dyed and be that BRIGHT!"

"For best reds, when dyeing cotton, Calcium in the form of chalk or Calcium Carbonate can be added to the dyebath. This binds with the Madder and enriches the colour. For wool or silk, add some ammonia (clear, non-sudzing) to your dyebath until the colour of the solution is reddish rather than orangey." - Cheryl Kolander, Senior Natural Dye Master, who IS Aurora Silk

 

4 oz

$10

1 lb

$22

5 lbs = wholesale

$80

1 kilo = Wholesale

$40

5 kilo = wholesale

$150

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