Elena Debrauske

Sustainable systems

Natural dye lab

 

Experiment Reflection:

1) What plant material did you choose? Where do you think it was grown? How many chemicals or gallons of water were used to grow it? How far do you think it traveled to the store?

• I chose a blueberry. Blueberries tend to grow the best in warmer climates and places like California, florida, Georgia. Blueberries tend to need 1-2 inches of water each week.

 

2) Was the color different between the oily and clean wool samples? Describe the differences.

• The wool that was not washed with soap a deep purple color whereas the wool that was washed became a lighter color.

 

3) Was the color different between the cotton samples (dyed-not-rinsed, dyed-rinsed, dyed- mordant-rinsed)? Describe the differences. How was the color different between the cotton and wool samples? Propose reasons Why there were differences in coloration between samples. Or google!

• All of the cotton samples came out to be a very rich color before putting them into the different mordants. When putting the washed cotton in the mordants the color became a lot lighter, and changed color based on the mordants. The cotton samples kept the color a lot better than the wool. The cotton pieces were more rich in color whereas the wool lost most of its color when rinsed off at the end. The wool kept a soft hue of the original color. The fibers in wool are very durable and flexible meaning the dye does not hold in the fabric very well in contrast to the stiffness of cotton and the fibers being a lot closer together and allowing it to hold the dye.

4) You dyed two natural fibers (cotton and wool). Hypothesize (guess) how the natural dyes might work on synthetic fabrics such as polyester (or test your natural dye with a synthetic fiber!).

• Dying polyester would be similar to dying the cotton where the fibers are very close together allowing the fiber to hold the dye.

5) How satisfied are you with the outcome?

• I was very satisfied with how the cotton came out. The colors were all very rich and vibrant whereas the wool not so much.

 

6) To do this tiny natural dye experiment, you used water in many different ways and disposed it in a sink. List all the things the water picked up and you put down the drain.

• The water picked up the natural dye from the blueberries, and then all of the different modants which were: alum, iron, soda ash, tartaric acid and then we also used coke. The water, dye and mordants were then combined with cotton and wool fibers which were then all poured down the drain.

7) Is it ok to put your waste water samples in the drain? Why? How is it different than industrial quantities of natural dyes or synthetic dyes?

• Since the water samples were only a small amount, it was okay for us to put it down the drain. Major factories have gallons and gallons of these chemicals which would be really terrible to put down the drain because that could cause a lot of damage. The natural dyes are also coming from natural materials so there is nothing super dangerous in them to be worried about.

 

8) Now think of the tons of fibers that were dyed this year for fashion (see the steps, processes, and chemicals used in this flow chart describing “Wet Process Dyeing”: https:// textechdip.wordpress.com/contents/wet-processing/). Imagine 1 innovation that fashion or home décor designs might do to reduce pressure on clean water necessary for drinking and bathing (what could you eliminate, reduce, change, improve)?

• The bleaching of material is a major chemical producer which we could eliminate. Though we would not be getting as rich of colors because material is not always the purist of whites we are still able to get color without bleaching as shown in this lab.

9) Reflections: Will you do more natural dyeing? Were you surprised? What might you consider if using natural dyes in your own projects/products? What has not been considered? Why do you think natural dyes are uncommon? Do you think natural dyes are safer for the environment? Why or why not?

• I hope to do more natural dyeing in the future. With my major being fashion design I want to try and be as sustainable as possible and hopefully be able to dye my own material and find my own colors rather than have factories produce it for me. I was really surprised as to how vibrant the colors turned out just by using blueberries. Natural dyes are most likely uncommon because it’s a long process and you don’t always get the colors that you want or colors as bright as you want them to be. I believe natural dyes are safer for the environment because you are using resources that are natural and you can grow them yourself and you are doing everything yourself so you know what chemicals are going into it and everything that you are using.