Introduction to natural dyeing: scouring silk and wool.

Scouring fibres or fabrics is the term used for removing dirt or grease through scrubbing or washing them with a detergent, depending on the kind of fibre used. Scouring is needed if you want to dye the fibre afterwards, otherwise the dye will stick to the dirt instead of to the fibre and will be gradually rub off in the future.

If you buy wool slivers or yarn and you are sure that they have been cleaned thoroughly, there is no need to go through the scouring process.

If you use wool fleece, soak the wool in water overnight. The next morning remove the water (you can use it for watering your vegetables). Repeat this until most of the dirt comes out of the wool. Adding a bit of warm water makes it easier, however be very carefull not to create any sudden shock for the wool by putting it from cold straight into hot water. Most wool has felting qualities and it can start felting during the washing process if handled in a rough way or by sudden temperature changes. Next time, add wool washing liquid to the water and let the wool soak for a while. More dirt will come out, together with the grease. You might need to repeat this several times, until the water is totally clean. Rinse and dry the wool or keep it wet if you are ready to start the dyeing process.

Silk fibres, yarn or fabrics need to be degummed. Often it has been done before you purchase the silk, I tend to do the scouring anyway, just to make sure that no residues are left. Gradually heat up the silk in a solution of water and soft soap. Bring it close to boiling and keep it at that temperature for approx. an hour. Boiling takes away some of the beautiful lustre of the silk, so it is better to avoid it. Let it cool down. If the silk is still sticky, repeat the process. Otherwise rinse the fibres or fabric and dry.

Your material is now ready for mordanting, which I will explain in another post.

Preparing fibres for natural dyeing.

Preparing the fibres:
Before dyeing fibres, whether it is for natural or synthetic dyes, we will need to scour them. This means, we need to clean them properly so that there are no residues of grease, dirt or chemicals left. If there is dirt left in the fibres, the dyes will stick to the dirt and will disappear with washing them afterwards or give your hands a nice, but often undesirable colour.

Wool:
For raw uncarded wool straight from the fleece, I soak it for several hours and keep repeating it as long as a lot of dirt comes out (note: you can use this rinsing water for your plants, it is rich in nitrogen). Now add dishwashing liquid to the water and let it soak for a while. You might have to do that a few times and rinse it well afterwards, until the water becomes clean. Be wary to never pouring hot water onto the fibres or handle them roughly , because the wool might start to felt.

Wool slivers are cleaned, washed and carded, so there is no real need to go through this whole process. You will still need to soak them in clean water before mordanting or dyeing. The only risk with the slivers is that they can have residues of chemicals in them, which might interfere with the dyeing. This is one of the many reasons to use organic wool slivers, that have been processed without chemicals.

Silk fibres or fabrics need to be gradually brought to just under the boiling temperature and kept at that temperature for 1 hour. Boiling can damage the fibres. If the silk has not be de-gummed yet, it needs to be heated up with dishwashing liquid. Repeat this process until the silk doesn't feel sticky anymore.

Vegetable fibres, such as cotton, hemp and linen need to be boiled off with washing soda for 1 hour. If the fibres are new and still have wax in them, you will see the water turn yellow to light brown. In that case it could be safe to repeat the process. If you need to prepare a lot of fabric, you can put it in the washing machine at the highest temperature, close to the boiling temperature and add the washing soda to it.

When the fibres are well clean, they can be used for dyeing.