Vegetal Dyes : Colorfast, fugitive color, What Guarentees?
In the termonolgy of vegetal dyes, one speaks of colorfast "grand teint" and fugitive color "petit teint".
The colorfast plants have been listed differently by each epoque, according to detailed regulations. They are a bit numerous.
In general, the plants of our regions known as "grand teint" plants are :
Weld, for yellow,
Woad, weaver's-woad and indigo for blue,
Safflower and madder for red,
And the tannin plants, like nuts or numerous barks.
In the past, the exigence was great, because the search for dyes was first and foremost motivated by the value of the tapistries, which had to retain the intensity of the colour over the course of time. The greatest enemies of vegetal dyes are the sun and daylight in general.
When one realises that some tapistries required the work of 5, 6 or even 10 people, during several months, one understands the need for this strict regulation.
The dyes for clothing do not need to last for centuries.
I do my best to use the most resistant dyes possible, even if they are not always colorfast, by oxigenating the dye bath to the open air for a day before dying the fibres or material. I then add a bit of a colorfast plant to the dye.
A colorfast added to the dyeing bath of a fugitive color plant increases the colour fastness.
If at anytime you find that the colour of a naturally dyed product bought from this site has faded, I invite you to contact me to find a means of compensation.
I cannot guarentee exactly the same colour. In adddition, vegetal dyes vary with the seasons...
I can, nevertheless, offer you another product or the re-dyeing of said product.
You can visit the results of dyeing process at here
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