The natural dye project was a long and arduous project riddled frustrations and miscommunications and yet, it was incredibly beneficial. As a Fashion Design major, the ability to possess knowledge on how to dye fabrics in a manner that is not harmful to the environment is very advantageous. My interest in sustainability should be portrayed though every aspect in my life, including fashion.
I chose Tumeric, a scented root with an intense bright yellow color. Naturally, I thought the Tumeric would result in a saturated, mustard yellow and so when mixed with water, the color diluted but still kept its vibrant quality. Due to the intensity of the tumeric color, I was not expecting much of a color change between the pH changes from alkaline to acid but veritably I was very surprised. The colors remained on sort of the same spectrum when they were dyed without any mordants regardless of whether they were washed or not. Yet once the wool and cotton hit the Alum, I noticed the color become even more saturated and intense. 
The alum gave the yellow a thick richness and solidity to the color. When mixed with the Soda Ash I noticed that it soon follow to turn into a blood red as well as have a thicker consistency. The color also quickly stained my fingers. With Iron, the bright yellow became muted and turned into a darker dusty brown. With the Tartaric Acid there was not much of a change, it seemed like the acidity of the mordant held no impact to the Tumeric.
In terms of color, I noticed that the wool would absorb more water than the cotton, thus translating more vibrant colors. The wool samples were very saturated in comparison to the cotton that only seemed to be tinted with the color.
The list of things that the water has picked up that will travel down the drain is: wool pieces, cotton pieces, alum, tartaric acid, iron, soda ash, tumeric. And yet despite the contamination of the water that will travel down the drain, it still has the capability to become clean. Water can be recycled and purified through the means of filtration and chemical adjustment of pH levels. This soften occur in water filtration factories. Yet even further, there are natural filtration that occur on the planet too. Natural filtration can occur when dirty/contaminated water passes through gravel, sand, pebbles and more. This naturally filters the water but does not purify it, and thus although the color and heavyweights of the water are gone, bacteria is still present.
