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Brown from Iron, Sugar and Alum
Rusted Iron (often from old horse shoes) is soaked in a mix of sugar solution (sugar from molasses) and flour made from Tamarind seed. This is left to ferment in the sun for a couple of weeks. The resulting paste produces a rich black, quite different from that made from chemical dyes.


Red from Alum and Alizarin
Alizarin commonly comes from the dried root of the madder plant (though other roots are also used). The Alum (a metal compound) which acts as a mordant is first printed onto the fabric as a colourless paste. When this is immersed into a vat of Alizarin, the two compounds react with each other and turn red.

Green from Turmeric, Pomegranate and Indigo
Turmeric and Pomegranate are used to create yellow dyes which are often used over the top of  an Indigo dyed or printed fabric resulting in an overall green effect. The yellow dyes are light

Indigo

 Blue from the Indigo plant
The leaves are soaked in water for several hours until compounds from them collect in the water. The leaves are removed and the water whisked exposing it to the air, forming the indigo residue which is then used for dyeing and printing.

Yellow from Turmeric and Pomegranate
Yellow dye can be made by boiling the shells of the pomegranate for 48 hours; the liquid is strained and mixed with ground Turmeric in a copper pot.

natural dyes
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