What Do You Use to Eco-print or Botanical Print?

(from Facebook Printing Botanicals group)

TOOLS & EQUIPMENT (solely for dyeing - NOT to be used for food again)

 Large stainless steel or aluminum or copper pots/pans.

 fish kettles can often be picked up very cheaply
 Pressure Cooker
 Propane cooker – if working outside
 Electric hotplate - if you want to work inside but not in your kitchen / on your food cooker
 Large electric roasters
 Crockpots

MORDANTS & MODIFIERS

 Alum - available on Ebay or possibly ordered from your chemist (pharmacy)

 Copper pipe offcuts to make copper water or roll fabric around
 Iron water - (use rusty iron objects such as nails, pipes, steel wool pads)
 Oak and knopper galls
 Rhubarb leaves (but only if you boil up outside as fumes may be toxic)
 Soya milk

FABRICS are either protein or cellulose - and need to be dyed slightly differently

A. Protein fibres/fabrics come from animals (this includes silk worms):

i.e., silk, wool,cashmere
Protein fiber likes its dye bath acidic (below pH 7.0) which is why vinegar or citric acid is used as
a pH modifier. Do a pH test on your water to see if you should add vinegar/citric acid to lower
the pH.

B. Cellulose fibers/fabrics come from plants:

i.e., cotton,linen, bamboo, hemp
Cellulose fiber likes its dye bath alkaline (above pH 7.0) which is why an alkali like washing
soda or lime is used as a pH modifier. Do a pH test on your water to see if you should add
washing soda/lime to raise the pH.
“BACKGROUND DYES”

 Acorn
 Indigo
 Onion skins
 Sumac Berry
 Turmeric
 Walnuts - in green skins

SUPPLIERS

FABRICS

 (AUS) Beautiful Silks http://beautifulsilks.com

 Jumble sales, yard sales, garage sales
 Charity shops, goodwill, opshops,
 (UK) Whaleys http://www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk
 UK George Weil- silk
fabrichttp://www.georgeweil.com/Craft/Silk%20Painting/Silk%20Fabric%20Lengths/BrowseCate
gories.aspx?Ref=1,85,1224,-1
 (USA) Dharma Trading Company http://www.dharmatrading.com
 (USA) Opulent Fibers http://www.opulentfibers.com/flora-tinctoria-eco-printing/#.VjvJ1a7hD-Y
 (Canada) Maiwa http://www.maiwa.com/home/supply/index.html

BLANK SCARVES

 (AUS) Beautiful Silks http://beautifulsilks.com

 (USA) Dharma Trading Company http://www.dharmatrading.com
 (UK) Silkcraft http://www.silkcraft.co.uk
 (UK) George Weil- silk items http://www.georgeweil.com/Craft/Silk%20Painting/Ready-
made%20Silk%20Items/BrowseCategories.aspx?Ref=1,85,1225,-1
 (Canada) Maiwa http://www.maiwa.com/home/supply/index.html

MORDANTS, ETC.
Wild Colours (UK) http://www.wildcolours.co.uk/html/mordants.html

USEFUL LINKS

Natural History Museum (UK) http://www.nhm.ac.uk/resources-rx/files/urban-tree-survey-key-

69444.pdf

PLANTS
The leaves and flowers of many plants will work well in locations across the globe, however,
some will be found only in specific regions of the world. Some only print well from leaves
collected at the end of their growing season. The fabric, mordant and methods you use may
provide widely varying results at any point in time. Even the water you use will affect your
printing results.
 This is a list of common plants that many have had success with:

 Baptisia (false indigo)

 Black Cohosh or Black Snakeroot (Cimicifuga racemosa)
 Bramble (blackberry)
 Causurina spp. (Ironwood, otherwise known as Australian pine)

 Eucalyptus spp. incl E. cinerea (Silver dollar tree) E.niccolai, E.populous & E.Parvula.

 Grevillea (various species)

 Maples (Acer spp.)
 Oaks (Quercus spp.)
 Peony
 Prunus (rose family: plum, cherry, apple, crabapple, etc.)
 Rose (Rosa spp.)
 Sumac (Rhus spp.) (DO NOT use poison oak or poison ivy!!)
 Smoke bush (Cotinus spp.)
 Sage (Salvia spp.)
 Sycamore (Platanus spp.)
 Walnut (Juglans spp.)
 Woad

 Mordants
 The following are links to pages with information about mordants and their uses.

 Mordants and Dyeing: The Great
Depbate: https://alpenglowyarn.wordpress.com/2014/11/11/mordants-and-natural-
dyeing-the-great-debate/

 John Marshall: Works in Fabric: Mordants: http://www.johnmarshall.to/H-
DyesMORDANTS.htm

 Maiwa's Guide to Natural Dyes (includes 3 chapters on
Mordants):http://maiwahandprints.blogspot.ca/p/guide-to-natural-dyes.html

 Mordanting for Natural Dyeing: http://www.earthguild.com/products/riff/rmordant.htm


 Dye Mordants and Modifiers: Introduction to Modifiers, Mordants and Assistants:
 http://www.wildcolours.co.uk/html/natural_dyes_mordants.html
Links to Botanical Printing / Eco-printing Teaching Resources
(This document is the place to list resources available for free or for purchase.)
 Kathy Hays Designs: http://www.KathyHaysDesigns.com Here you will find my streamed
video called Eco Print Workshop, for silk and wool. This video is two hours in length and
explains the process step by step. You will experience success if you are new to eco-print or a
seasoned printer. Coming June, 2016 an Eco Print, Indigo and Rust video will be available.

 Merina Lanari: I make tutorial manuals where I teach you how to ecoprint on all natural fibers. If
you would like to see all my work and purchase my booklets, visit my FB and send me a friend
request. Versions available in Spanish and English. See my Facebook page
(https://www.facebook.com/merina.lanari)

 https://wendyfe.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/slow-clothworks-curing-washing-and-rinsing-eco-
prints/

 https://wendyfe.wordpress.com/what-if-eco-print-artists/