SAFFLOWER DYE – AppleOak FibreWorks

By A Mystery Man Writer

Last updated 13 May 2024

SAFFLOWER DYE ~ lovely soft yellow and red. Grown and harvested in Iran. Safflower can give a lovely warm red, but it doesn't dye red on wool. Knead the safflower in water for a long time, discarding the yellow dye regularly until the water turns red. It will dye Linen, Cotton and other plant fibres. Basic Dye Recipe:

SAFFLOWER DYE ~ lovely soft yellow and red

*Grown and harvested in Iran

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant. It is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds. Plants are 30 to 150 cm (12 to 59 in) tall with globular flower heads having yellow, orange, or red flowers. Each branch will usually have from one to five flower heads containing 15 to 20 seeds per head. Safflower is native to arid environments having seasonal rain. It grows a deep taproot which enables it to thrive in such environments. (wikipedia)

Safflower can give a lovely warm red, but it doesn't dye red on wool. First you have to knead the safflower in water for a long time, discarding the yellow dye regularly until the water turns red. It is a long process, but worth the effort. It will dye Linen, Cotton and other plant fibres.

Colourfastness: poor - medium
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Basic Recipe for yellow

100g dye, soaked in water overnight.
100g mordanted yarn/fibre (Alum 15g)

Bring pot with dye to simmer For 1h. Strain through cloth, add yarn/fibre and dye bag to dye bath for 1h. Rinse.

Oak Gall - harvested from the wild in Turkey

Oak Gall, also known as oak apple was and is still used for making ink. We use it as a fibre Mordant, due to its high tannin content. Unlike other tannin, it doesn't stain the fibre.

Oak Gall is available as whole, cut or ground.

LOGWOOD ~ Available Cut or ground and as extract*

(Bois de Campeche, Campeachy Wood)

*Collected in the Wild (foraged) in Haiti

Logwood is a natural dye wood from Central America, used for producing blues and purples on wool, black on cotton and wool, and black and violet on silk.

Logwood is PH sensitive.

It is called by old dyers one of the Lesser Dyes because the colour was said to lose all its brightness when exposed to the air.

Colourfastness: poor

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Basic Recipe:

65g bark, soaked in water for 2 days.

100g mordanted yarn/fibre (Alum 10g)

Bring pot with dye to simmer For 2h.

Strain through cloth, add yarn/fibre and dye bag to dye bath for 1h.

Rinse.

The logwood chips should be put in a bag and boiled for 20 minutes to 1/2 an hour, just before using or soak overnight, bring to the boil in the morning for 1h, strain and bind into bag.

* When using extract you only need to use 5-10% of the weight of your dry fabric. Logwood is one of the more excessive dyes - a little goes a long way - especially when using extract.