Look no further, colour your yarn naturally with plant dye products from Wonky Weaver. From scouring, to mordanting, and then setting up your dye pot, you only need to use plant based products.

Here's how:

Washing

For washing and scouring your fibre/fabric, use soap nuts (or Indian Soap Berries). These are the berries from the tree Sapindus Mukorossi tree which have been used for many centuries, particularly in Indian households where their use is customary. They are an amazing natural detergent due to a natural cleaning oil/essence contained within their shell. They are also 100% environmentally friendly. The nuts themselves can be re-used several times, so keep them after the first wash and use again.

Mordanting

For mordanting using plants, a natural plant based ALUM is found in Symplocos. This is derived from the dried leaves of the plant Symplocos cochinchinensis originating from Indonesia. The Symplocos naturally accumulates aluminium from the soil, and therefore the fallen leaves become a very rich source of Alum. The use of this natural plant derived mordant not only helps protect the endangered forests of Indonesia but also offers an alternative to using chemical mordants. Symplocos is a particularly good mordant for protein-based fibres and material such as wool and silk. It can also be used with cellulose based fibres such as cotton, but a tannin (use gallnut (10% WOF or myrobalan 20% WOF) pre-mordant bath is necessary before using symplocos.

The Dye Bath

and of course all our natural dye powders and extracts are derived from plants. There are no processing additives - they are 100% plant.....

Go and have fun, and explore your natural dyeing journey with us - www.wonkyweaver.com