NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY

Green Fashion: A report on Natural

Dyes

Submitted by:
Shachi Sheth
Fashion & Textile Design
Semester-3

This paper highlights the importance of natural dyes in todays fashion world. It
states the different kind of dyes, sources of colors and its advantages and
disadvantages. Furthermore, natural dyes are gaining an increasing popularity in
different market segments, namely fashion and food-processing, due to the rising
awareness of the consumers on the harmful effects of chemical dyes.
For thousands of years, the art and craft of natural dyeing has connected our creative
urges with the inner workings of the natural world. As humans dyed fibers and then
turned them into textiles and a range of other useful everyday objects, they transferred
color from the plant and mineral kingdoms into human material culture. The dye
processes that have evolved through the centuries are an outcome of both human error
and conscious creation.
The cave paintings of Lascaux, the red woven strands of Native American
basketry, and the bright fuchsia tones of Aztec cotton robes all attest to the eternal
desire to express ourselves through the use of color. In fact, it seems as if natural dye
processes are as ancient as the origins of human creativity.i
Today's fast and stressful life is not enough; there is environmental pollution
everywhere to aggravate the health problems. We do physical exercises, opt for a
healthy diet, try to follow a stress free life, and then also suffer from one or the other
ailments. In such a situation, textile industry has also become somewhat conscious
about its negative contribution to the environment pollution through the textile chemicals
uses in its various manufacturing processes. As a result many textile manufacturers
have opted for non-polluting ways of producing textile and garments. One of these
solutions is using natural dyes. No chemicals are used in its dyeing process.
Consequently, the market for natural dyes in the fashion industry is experiencing
resurgence. Western consumers have become more concerned about the health and
environmental impact of synthetic dyes in manufacturing and there is a growing demand
for products that use natural dyes. The European Union, for example, has encouraged
Indonesian batik cloth producers to switch to natural dyes to improve their export market
in Europe.ii

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Natural dyes
Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The
majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plants source roots, berries, bark,
leaves and wood and other organic sources such as fungi and lichens. iii
Natural dyes also come in almost all the colors and shades. Naturally dyed textiles help
us in fighting many common and prevalent diseases such as hypertension, heart
ailments, asthma and diabetes.
Types of natural dyes
Natural dyes can be sorted into three categories:
1. Those obtained from plants.
2. Those obtained from animals
3. Those obtained from minerals
Although some fabrics such as silk and wool can be colored simply by being dipped in
the dye, others such as cotton require a mordant 1.Not all dyes need mordant to help
them adhere to fabric. If they need no mordant, such as lichens and walnut hulls, they
are called substantive dyes. If they do need a mordant, they are called adjective dyes.
Common mordant are: alum, iron, tin, blue vitriol and tannic acid. iv
Colors
Through natural dyeing a wide range of colors can be obtained. Following are the color
ranges and their source:
Name

Shade developed
Purple, Maroon.
Beet-Root

Therapeutic Benefits

It cures Anemia
Circulatory
Disorders
Skin Disorders
Dandruff, etc.

1 A mordant is an element which aids the chemical reaction that takes place between the dye and the fiber so that
the dye is absorbed.

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Anar Orange, Anar

Yellow
Pomegranate
.

Yellow, Orange.

Hrdya (cardiac
tonic)

Rocana
(appetizer) and
constitutive.

Cures tvagdosa
(skin diseases)

asra(vitiation of

Turmeric

blood)
sopha (edema)
and vrana (ulcer).
Catechu Brown, Katha
Brown
Catechu

Yellow, Pale Yellow

Harda

Cures krimi
(parasitic infestation)

javara (fever)
vrana (ulcer)
svitra (leucoderma)

kandu (itching)
and kustha (obstinate
skin diseases including
leprosy).

Purifies blood
Tonic
Expectorant
Nevine.

Rich Red Brown, Dark

Brown.

Helps in the
treatment of baldness.

Indigo Blue, Indigo Light

Blue.

Cures moha
(unconsciousness)

Henna

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Indigo

Earth Maroon, Saffron

Red.
Madder Root

Light Brown, Dark

Brown.
Haritaki

Kesu

Kesu Orange, Dhavadi

Cream.

Pale yellow, Light

Orange
Sewali
Flowers

plihan (spleen
disorder) and vatarakta
(gout).
Cures visa
(poisoning)
aksi sula (pain
in theeye)
kustha (obstinate skin
diseases including
leprosy
It cures Anemia
Circulatory
Disorders
Skin Disorders
Dandruff, etc.
Antidiarrheal
Astringent
Febrifuge.

Eye Diseases

skin diseases
Body0ache etc.

Eye Diseases

skin diseases
Body0ache etc.

.
Light Brown.
Fruits of
SILIKHA or
Myrobalan
Tree

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Figure 1 shows examples of few of the shades that can be derived from Haritaki,
Turmeric, Indigo, Maddar, and Promogranate.
Figure 1: Shades
derived from different
herbs (from left):
Haritaki, Turmeric,
Indigo, Maddar, and
Promogranate

The process of dyeing

The essential process of dyeing requires soaking the material containing the dye
(the dyestuff) in water, adding the textile to be dyed to the resulting solution (the dye
bath), and bringing the solution to a simmer for an extended period, often measured in
days or even weeks, stirring occasionally until the color has evenly transferred to the
textiles.
Some dyestuffs, such as indigo and lichens, will give good color when used alone;
these dyes are called direct dyes or substantive dyes. The majority of plant dyes,
however, also require the use of a mordant, a chemical used to "fix" the color in the
textile fibers. These dyes are called adjective dyes. By using different mordents, dyers
can often obtain a variety of colors and shades from the same dye. Fibers or cloth may
be pretreated with mordents, or the mordant may be incorporated in the dye bath.
In

traditional

dyeing,

the

common

mordents

are vinegar, tannin from oak bark, sumac or oak galls, ammonia from stale urine, and
wood-ash liquor or potash (potassium carbonate) made by leaching wood ashes and
evaporating the solution.
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We

shall

never

know

by

what

chances

primitive

man

discovered

that

salt, vinegar from fermenting fruit, natural alum, and stale urine helped to fix and
enhance the colors of his yarns, but for many centuries these four substances were
used as mordents.
Salt helps to "fix" or increase "fastness" of colors, vinegar improves reds and purples,
and the ammonia in stale urine assists in the fermentation of indigo dyes. Natural alum
(aluminum sulfate) is the most common metallic salt mordant, but tin (stannous
chloride), copper (cupric sulfate), iron (ferrous sulfate, called copperas) and chrome
(potassium dichromate) are also used. Iron mordents "sadden" colors, while tin and
chrome mordents brighten colors. The iron mordents contribute to fabric deterioration,
referred to as "dye rot". Additional chemicals or alternates may be applied after dying to
further alter or reinforce the colors.
Textiles may be dyed as raw fiber (dyed in the fleece or dyed in the wool),
as spun yarn (dyed in the hank or yarn-dyed), or after weaving (piece-dyed). Mordents
often leave residue in wool fiber that makes it difficult to spin, so wool was generally
dyed after spinning, as yarn or woven cloth. Indigo, however, requires no mordant, and
cloth manufacturers in medieval England often dyed wool in the fleece with the indigobearing plant wood and then dyed the cloth again after weaving to produce deep blues,
browns, reds, purples, blacks, and tawnies.
In

China,

Japan,

India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Gambia,

and

other

parts

of West

Africa and Southeast Asia, patterned silk and cotton fabrics were produced using resist
dyeing techniques in which the cloth is printed or stenciled with starch or wax, or tied in
various ways to prevent even penetration of the dye when the cloth is piece-dyed.
Chinese ladao is dated to the 10th century; other traditional techniques include tiedye, batik, bandhani and leheria.
The mordents used in dyeing and many dyestuffs themselves give off strong and
unpleasant odors, and the actual process of dyeing requires a good supply of fresh
water, storage areas for bulky plant materials, vats which can be kept heated (often for
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days or weeks), and airy spaces to dry the dyed textiles. Ancient large-scale dye-works
tended to be located on the outskirts of populated areas, on windy promontories.

Advantages of natural dyes

The shades produced by natural dyes/colorants are usually soft, lustrous and

soothing to the human eye.

Natural dyestuff can produce a wide range of colors by mix and match system. A
small variation in the dyeing technique or the use of different mordant with the
same dye (polygenetic type natural dye) can shift the colors to a wide range or

create totally new colors, which are not easily possible with synthetic dyestuffs.
Natural dyestuffs produce rare color ideas and are automatically harmonizing.
Unlike non-renewable basic raw materials for synthetic dyes, the natural dyes are
usually renewable, being agro-renewable/vegetable based and at the same time
biodegradable. In some cases like harda, indigo etc., the waste in the process
becomes an ideal fertilizer for use in agricultural fields. Therefore, no disposal

problem of this natural waste.

Many plants thrive on wastelands. Thus, wasteland utilization is an added merit

of the natural dyes.

Dyes like madder grow as host in tea gardens. So there is no additional cost or

effort required to grow it.

This is a labor intensive industry, thereby providing job opportunities for all those
engaged

in

cultivation,

extraction

and

application

of

these

dyes

on

textile/food/leather etc.
Application of natural dyes has potential to earn carbon credit by reducing

consumption of fossil fuel (petroleum) based synthetic dyes.

Some of its constituents are anti-allergens, hence prove safe for skin contact and

are mostly non-hazardous to human health.

Some of the natural dyes are enhanced with age, while synthetic dyes fade with

time.
Natural dyes bleed but do not stain other fabrics, turmeric being an exception.

Despite these advantages, natural dyes do carry some inherent disadvantages, which
are responsible for the decline of this ancient art of dyeing textiles.

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Disadvantages of natural dyes

It is difficult to reproduce shades by using natural dyes/colorants, as these agro

products vary from one crop season to another crop season, place to place and

species to species, maturity period etc.

It is difficult to standardize a recipe for the use of natural dyes, as the natural
dyeing process and its color development depends not only on color component

but also on materials.

Natural dyeing requires skilled workmanship and is therefore expensive.
Low color yield of source natural dyes thus necessitates the use of more

dyestuffs, larger dyeing time and excess cost for mordant and mordanting.
Scientific backup of a large part of the science involved in natural dyeing is still

need to be explored.
Lack of availability of precise technical knowledge on extraction and dyeing

techniques.
The dyed textile may change color when exposed to the sun, sweat and air.
Nearly all-natural dyes with a few exceptions require the use of mordant to fix

them on to the textile substrate.

While dyeing, a substantial portion of the mordant remains unexhausted in the

residual dye bath and may pose serious effluent disposal problem.
With a few exceptions, most of the natural dyes are fugitive even when applied in
conjunction with a mordant. Therefore, sometimes their color fastness
performance ratings are inadequate for modern textile usage. v

Conclusion
In conclusion, natural dyes are being put to use by many designers and companies to
help save our environment from being maltreated. Aura herbal wear is one such
company which has made influential growth in the market of herbal fashion. Nowadays,
there is increasing awareness among people towards natural products. Due to
their non-toxic properties, low pollution and less side effects, natural dyes
are used in day-to-day food products. Although the Indian subcontinent
possesses large plant resources, only little has been exploited so far. More
detailed studies and scientific investigations are needed to assess the real potential
and availability of natural dye-yielding resources and for propagation of species
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in great demand on commercial scale. Biotechnological and other modern

techniques are required

to

improve

the quality and quantity of dye

production.

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References

10 | P a g e

i Natural home and Garden. 2012. Retrieved on 4th July 2012. http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/greentechnology/introduction-to-natural-dyes.aspx?page=2

ii Fiber2Fashion. 2012. Retrieved on 4th July 2012. http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/25/2486/herbaltextile1.asp

iii Natural dyes- Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. 2008. Retrieved on 5th July 2012.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_dye

iv Quilt History. 2008. Retrieved on 6th July 2012. http://www.quilthistory.com/dye.htm

v Zutsvi Gain from each other. 2009. Retrieved on 7th July 2012. http://www.zutsvi.com/Product/Inorganic-Dyes-andPigments/Vat-Dyes/Natural-Dyes-Advantages-/-Disadvantages/i115c117.aspx
vi
Status of natural dyes and dye-yielding plants in India-Scribd. 2007. Retrieved on 7th July 2012.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/14281677/Natural-Dyes-Review
vii

Foulds, John, Dyeing and printing: a handbook, ITDG Publishing, 1989.

viii

M.L Gujrajani, Deepti Gupta. Dyeing and printing with natural dyes, Nodal Centre for Upgradation of textile Education,
2001.
ix

Rita. J. Natural dyes and home dyeing. Dover Publication Inc, 1971. New York

Bijoy Chandramohanty, K.V. Xhandramouli, H.D. Naik. Natural Dyeing process of India. H.N Patel, 1993. India