Use dried Cochineal for natural dyeing fibres, yarns and fabric to brilliant shades of red. This ancient natural dye has been used to colour textiles for millennia. The rich red colour, carmine (also known as Crimson Lake), is derived from carminic acid extracted from the dried Cochineal insect.
For best results, boil the Cochineal in water to extract the dye before straining the solution into the dye bath. For bright, vibrant reds, use either Alum or Tin Mordant with Cream of Tartar. At a high concentration (25g Cochineal to 500g dry fibre – 5% WOF), the dye produces rich shades of red, with subsequent dyeings yielding progressively softer shades of pink as the dye bath becomes exhausted.
There are many techniques for dyeing with Cochineal, with silk and wool producing the brightest results. Cotton and other cellulose fibres can also be dyed but require mordanting with Aluminium Lactate before dyeing. Other natural dyes, mordanting techniques and colour modifiers can be used to expand the colour palette. Copper and Iron Mordants produce deeper purple tones, while Citric Acid shifts the colour towards orange. Overdyeing with Indigo creates stunning violet shades, while overdyeing with Marigold produces warm orange and salmon-pink tones. Water quality and hardness will also influence the final colours achieved.
Important Natural Dyeing Tips
Most natural fibres can be dyed using natural dyes. Some natural dyes can be used without a mordant, while others benefit from mordanting to improve colourfastness and help achieve particular shades.
Wool and silk are commonly mordanted with alum, while cellulose fibres such as cotton and linen can be mordanted using aluminium lactate. Another method is to prepare cellulose fibres with a tannin solution followed by an alum mordant. This age-old technique can sometimes affect the final colour of the natural dye through the colour absorbed during the tannin soak – a side effect that may be desirable.
Another use of mordants is to modify the colour using an after-treatment of iron, copper or tin mordant; these will each shift the original natural dye colour. Whether you’re dyeing wool, silk, cotton or linen, natural dyes offer a wonderfully varied range of colours and effects, and many factors can affect the results.
You can find answers to the following questions in our Blog post A Practical Guide to Natural Dyeing – How to Get the Best from Natural Dyes:
- Why do I need a mordant and how do mordants work?
- What is the method for mordanting protein fibres?
- What is the method for mordanting cellulose fibres?
- How much natural dye should I use?
- What colours will I get from my natural dyes?
- How do I modify or shift colours from natural dyes?
We recommend the Fibrecrafts Mordant Pack together with careful note-taking to explore the full potential of natural dyeing with Cochineal.
