Description: Rubia Tinctorum
Highest quality Persian origin.
High alizarin and pseudopurpurin dye content. Makes deep red dye for textiles.
For manufacture of madder lake pigments.
Persian Madder has been used since ancient times as a red dye for leather, wool, cotton, and silk.
Madder is a perennial plant with evergreen leaves and yellow flower that is cultivated for its 1-2 metre length rhizomes from which the active dye compounds, alizarin and pseudopurpurin is drawn. The plants must be at least three years old before their roots are selectively cut from the plant. The outer red layer gives the common variety of the dye, the inner yellow layer of the refined variety.
Although generally used to make red dye colours, the use of mordants and other dye bath techniques allows for the creation of yellow, orange, pink and purple shades.
The dye is fixed to the cloth with the help of a mordant, most commonly alum.
Madder can be fermented for dyeing as well (Fleurs de Garance).
Production method:
Grown and harvested by Iranian farmers across a number of local villages, the roots are carefully harvested to maintain the crop for future years. After careful selection, the roots are washed, left to dry naturally and finally powdered.
Product code: 4143
How to dye with Madder
Ensure your fibre/fabric has been properly scoured before use.
Depending on the effects required, different mordants may be used.
Soak the roots for 24 hours to draw out unwanted brown dye content. Throw away the coloured water afterward.
This can be repeated 3-4 times to make as clean final dye shades in the following process.
100gm madder roots will dye approximately 100gm of fibre for strong red tones.
Place the roots into a pot and cover with hot water. Ensure your fabric/fibre has plenty of room easily for even uptake of the dye. Bring the dye bath to 60-70 degrees Celsius (140-160 F) and maintain at this temperature for an hour. Add your wet/damp fibres and keep the dye bath at 60-70 degrees Celsius for a further hour. Do not allow the temperature to get too high else brown or dull-red colours result.
Allow the dye bath to cool for several hours or overnight, stirring occasionally. If the desired shades have not been reached, you can reheat and cool again.
Orange shades: Fibres/fabrics can be dipped in a citric acid solution or water with vinegar added after dyeing.
Salmon, earth-reds and browns shades: Add copper modifier.
Pink shades: Add alkaline modifier.