Two weekends ago, I took my goats for a walk in the woods and noticed that the back of my neighbor's field full of goldenrod. How could I pass that up?
The next day I took a short walk to collect some. Along the way, I passed a couple of busy turtles.
My idea for the goldenrod was to try it in an all-in-one dyebath. This is where the mordant is added directly to the dyepot rather than mordanting as one step, then dyeing as another. It was a common way to dye, once upon a time. Now, the tendency is to do large batches of fiber to have ready for future dye projects. The appeal to the one-pot method is saving on water, time, and energy by doing it all at once.
So that was my plan. HOWEVER, after I got it going, I realized that the time requirement for mordanting was 60 minutes, while the timing for the best goldenrod yellow was only 10 minutes. I didn't think 10 minutes was enough time for the fiber to absorb the mordant, so my dyebath went for the full 60 minutes.
Preparing the dyebath
- Recommended amounts are equal parts flowers to fiber.
- Bring to a simmer
- Simmer for 30 to 60 minutes
- A low simmer is said to bring out the clearest yellow (Dean)
- Let cool overnight
- Strain
Preparing the all-in-one dyepot
- Mix the mordant in a jar of hot water until dissolved
- For 8 ounces of wool fiber I used
- 2 tbsp alum
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- Add to dyepot and stir well
- Add fiber and bring to a simmer
- For goldenrod, both Dean and Buchanan recommend 10-15 minutes for the purest yellow
- Longer simmering is said to bring out the greenish tints.
Results
I'm not sure how accurately that portrays what I got, but in real life, it's a very pretty light yellow, even with the longer simmering.
Modifiers
I divided my dyed fiber into three roughly equal portions for two afterbath experiments: one with iron, the other with copper.
Iron afterbath
I recently purchased
ferrous sulfate (iron) from Amazon and wanted to give it a try!
- Remove fiber from dyebath and set aside
- Mix ferrous sulfate powder in hot water
- Amount: scant teaspoon (one quarter the amount of a regular mordant bath)
- Stir into dyebath
- Add fiber and heat to a simmer
- Simmer 30 to 60 minutes
- Cool overnight
- Remove fiber, wash, and dry
Iron is said to "sadden" color, so I guess green is a sad yellow.
For this one, I first used some of the decanted copper solution I used to mordant fiber for
hardy hibiscus. I was doubtful there was enough copper left in it to make a difference, however. I followed the same procedure as for the iron afterbath.
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| copper afterbath using decanted copper mordant solution |
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| Comparison: original goldenrod on left, same with copper modifier on right |
I debated whether to leave it at that or try a stronger copper solution. The weak solution only seemed to muddy the yellow, which I don't find very appealing and didn't give me good information concerning the potential of the afterbath. So I added an eighth dose of copper sulfate to the copper afterbath and put the fiber back in. It simmered for about 30 minutes or so.
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| second copper afterbath with more copper |
A much more pleasing change of color, don't you think?
Here's a side-by-side comparison of the day's final results.
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| Left: goldenrod, no modifier. Center: iron modifier. Right: Copper modifier. |
