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Couleurs de Plantes Natural Dye Extracts
The natural dyes we use on our organic knitting wools and prints come from Couleurs de Plantes in France. These high quality dyes are the result of a 10 year research and development project into the sustainable production of natural dye extracts. Many of the plants used are grown in France, others are grown under managed schemes with conservation and environmental considerations in more tropical regions. Use with usual mordanting methods on natural fibres. Although they may seem initially far more expensive than the raw or dried material, do not forget to factor in the following points:
- Time and energy saving – the powder is mixed with a little water and added straight to the dyebath with no additional boiling and straining needed.
- Concentration – can be used at 10% WOG (cochineal 5%) instead of the usual 100% or more.
- Repeatability – colours do repeat quite consistently, provided of course that you weigh out carefully and attend to your record keeping!
- Storage - the powder takes up a fraction of the space that dried material would.
- Colour mixing – easy to experiment by adding the different colours to the dyebath.
- European production and growing where possible – reducing transport costs.
- rich madder - for good reds
- standard madder – for pinks
- sorghum – terracotta
- broom, weld and fustic – range of yellows, golds and greens
- coreopsis – warm yellow/orange to gold and bronze
- gambier – tans and grey browns
- oak – cream to greys
- cochineal – cerise and purple, pinks, lilacs
- brazilwood – pink-reds and plum colours
- indigo – traditional for blues
Extracts are supplied in double, resealable plastic bags. The air must be expelled before sealing to keep out moisture – we have not experienced any hardening of the powder using this method of storage.