The dyeing experiment

The history of dyeing

“Dyeing in its simplest form consists of the immersion of the textile fabric material in a solution of the dyestuff in water. When the temperature is raised sufficiently the dyestuff passes from the solution into the textile material and colours it uniformly” (Miller, 1994, 11). After the technique of weaving had been discovered c. 7000BC it was inevitable that attempts would be made to colour fabrics using the wide range of pigments that were available. “From the early beginnings in the bronze age, dyers discovered many natural dyes from the plant and animal kingdoms” (McClaren 1983). It may be that some dyes were discovered from accidental staining from fruit juice or mud. Plants such as madder, woad, indigo and animals such as shellfish were all exploited for their dye. Our first firm evidence for this comes from the grave of ‘Queen Asa’, second wife of ‘King Girded’ who lived c 800BC. Found in her grave - on the bank of Oslo fjord were various weaving implements and receptacles. Some were identified as woad and madder (Brunello 1973). Basic necessities for dyeing material are “a water source, a container, a heat source and dye materials” (Cannon, 1994, 11). We know that the early Celtic tribes of Europe dyed their clothes. Documentary evidence such as Posidonius’ accounts of Celtic people and their clothing habits leads us to believe that dyeing clothes was a normal practice among Celtic people. Posidonius wrote “They wear a striking kind of clothing-tunics dyed and stained in various colours, and trousers...they wear striped cloaks thick in winter and light in summer picked out with a variegated small check pattern” (Tierney 1960). So it seems that dyeing was also a bronze age innovation - rather like fulachta fiadh.

Preparations for dyeing

After I had finished drying the washed fleece I began to make preparations for the dyeing. The most important factor was the dyestuff. I had to choose something that was around in Ireland during the bronze age. I had to find something that would produce a good strong colour. There were also the actual mechanics of dyeing to consider. It is just not enough to choose a dye. You have to chose a dye that does not need additives to make it work. Dyeing is actually a very complex process and one that needs explaining before I move any further.

The mechanics of dyeing

It is easy to pick a dyestuff. Most leaves from plants and barks from trees will produce a fine colour. Most of these natural dyes are fixed by chemical bonds within the structure of the fibres. Some are known as substantive (or direct or non-mordant) dyes and are absorbed without further chemical treatment - onion skins are a good example of this. The majority of dyes however, need additional chemical treatment to promote their absorption and to prevent fading and bleeding of colours. These dyes are known as adjective (or mordant) dyes. The chemicals used are called mordants and these fix the dye to the wool fibres. In previous centuries the following substances have all been used as mordants and they may be employed with equal success today (Goodwin 1990):

Wood ash (in solution)
Stale urine
Vinegar
Salt
Sumach
Sorrel roots
Raw Alum
Oak Galls
Willow or Oak Bark
Copper Filings.

There are three ways to mordant a fibre. Premordanting involves dissolving the mordant before dyeing and adding it to a bath containing water. The fibre is then added and they are all slowly boiled. The fibre is dyed at a later date. Simultaneous mordanting involves adding the mordant at the same time as the dyestuff. After-Mordanting involves adding the mordant in the final minutes of the dyeing process. So as you can see there is a lot to consider before choosing a dyestuff.

My choice of dyestuff

As I only want to demonstrate that fulachta fiadh can be used a centres for textile production I decided to use a simple non-mordant dye. To keep the experiment true I also wanted to find a dye that was present in Ireland from the Bronze age onwards. These objectives narrowed down my search. There is really only one dye that fits into this category. Ivy (Hedera helix) is native all over Europe and Western Asia and is widely cultivated. It is a woody evergreen climber that clings to almost anything. Its leaves are dark green and leathery to touch. The ivy plant produces berries and flowers at certain times of the year. Ivy leaves have proved to produce yellow or green dye. Ivy gum or resin which is found on ivy stems has been used in the production of a red dye. The berries can also be used as a dye source. Unripe berries picked in January produce pinkish grey and greens, while ripe berries picked in march produce a dull fawn colour (Cannon 1994). The most important thing to note is that the berries do not need a mordant. They were ideal for my experiment.

The dyeing experiment

Stage 1: I began 2 days before the experiment by gathering my dyestuff. Ivy berries are common around the area where the experiment was taking place (Plate 20). The general rule when dyeing with a fruit is “equal weights of fruit and fibre are needed, but sometimes it may be necessary to increase the proportion of fruit to fibre” (Cannon 1994, 12). I decided to collect extra in the event that I needed it. By the end of the afternoon I had some large bucketfuls of Ivy berries (plate 21). I then soaked the fruit for 48 hours in soft water. “The riper the fruit the more easier it will break down” (Goodwin 1990, 48). As the berries soaked in the water it turned a blackcurrant colour. On the morning of the experiment I crushed the berries with a large piece of wood to try and release any further colour (plate 22).

Stage 2: The stones were taken out of the trough where they had been left after the last experiment. They were blackened and some were cracked. One had completely shattered into three pieces. I then started about making the fire. When building the fire we put some turf and sticks as a base and piled the stones on top. More turf and sticks were piled on top of them. This was quite effective as the stones were fully heated within 2 hours (plate 23). While the stones were heating I filled the trough with a mixture of water and the dyestuff. As only a small test-piece of fleece was being dyed the trough was only filled half-full. The water was a dull purple colour and the berries could be seen floating on the top. I then began to add the heated rocks using the lifter. I placed ten in the trough in quick succession, placing five at either end leaving a space in the middle for the fleece. As there was not that much water in the trough it began to heat up quite quickly. The water and berries began circulating around the trough and a white foam began to gather on the top (plate 25). The water was brought up to simmering point and was kept at this temperature until no more dye appeared to be coming out of the berries. This took about an hour. I then began to strain the berries out of the water with a household sieve. I used this just for convenience. A stretched piece of cloth would have done the same job. When all the berries were removed I placed the fleece into the water.

Stage 3: I fully immersed the fleece in the dye mixture. Within seconds it began to colour. I stirred the fleece with the stick and lifted a small portion out. It was clearly turning a dull green colour. I placed the rest of the stones in the water at regular intervals over the next hour to keep the water at simmering point. After an hour I left the fleece to cool down in the dye mixture. When I came back five hours later most of the dye mixture had seeped out of the trough leaving only the wool and burnt stones. When I lifted the fleece out to hang it on the rack, steam rose up to meet me, so obviously the stones were still giving out some modicum of heat.

Stage 4: I hung the fleece out to dry on the rack. It took several hours to dry. On examination, it had turned a dark green colour. There were still some Ivy berries lodged in parts but most of these were removed by simply picking them out. The rest would be removed during spinning. This was the next process. I compared my three pieces of wool. The raw unwashed wool, the washed wool and the dyed wool. It is obvious that the washing and dyeing process worked as they are all completely a different colour. The raw wool is quite yellow compared to the washed wool (plate 26). Now that I had variety of wool to chose from I went on to start my spinning experiment.