For my natural dye process experiment I chose to use blueberries. Upon doing some simple research into blueberries the pint that I used was most likely grown in Washington, USA which is one of the highest producers of high bush blueberries. I couldn’t find much information on how many gallons it takes to produce a pint of blueberries but i would imagine probably a similar amount to other berries. Diving into my results, I found the the unwashed wool sample did not have much of a color change most likely due to the contaminants inside of the wool. The washed wool samples all took color very well unlike the unwashed sample. This didn’t surprise me as I had expected that result. Color varied widely between each of the samples. Some got very pink or purple and a couple of grays and blues. I was expecting the color to be relatively similar but most of them were widely affected. The color changes happened almost immediately. I believe that most of the color changes resulted from a chemical reaction to the pigments from the presence of the mordants. I feel these dyes were successful with wool and cotton but would not prove so successful on other synthetic materials due to the processing that they’ve went through. I’m very satisfied with the color changes because some of them turned colors completely different from the original pinkish color
During cleanup I poured water, dish soap, mordants and blueberry down the drain to dispose of them. I believe doing this was relatively safe and didn’t have to much impact on environment. The impact that fashion and other industries have on the environment caused by there production of waste is most likely much greater and serious. I believe one thing that can be done is banning of synthetic dyes and harsh chemicals such as cleaners. This could greatly help stop our impact on bodies of water.
In conclusion, the natural dye experiment was a success. I think that I would try this on a bigger scale but with a less expensive product. Blueberries are typically $2.99 per pint and i would have needed much more to do a full shirt or other garment. However I learned that dying clothes doesn’t have to be industrialized.
