Tie-Dye at PTRI

A couple weeks ago, we used the lab facilities at the Philippine Textile Institute for a hands on trial at dyeing fabrics using natural dyes. We used the natural dyes extracted from the barks of mahogany trees and achuete (what is achuete in English?) pellets. Natural dyes require mordants which help the dye to bond with the fabric for a good colour even through washings and exposures to light.

Fabrics must cotton and always be washed before dyeing to remove any present traces of finishing treatments it may have. Then tie it in places using polyester yarns or plastic ropes. Rubber bands might melt and cotton yarns might let the dye seep through.

Now on to the mordanting. Weighed the amount of mordant needed according to the weight of fabric being dyed. We used copper sulfate. This is the tied fabric boiling in the solution.

Mahogany bark.

Achuete pellets.

Boiling in dye.

one of Sonja’s