Day 16 of 21
Craft of Cloth · Colour chemistry · One dye, many colours
Mordants — The Fixer
Day 16 of 21. The same root can give pink, brown, or near-black. The mordant is the quiet fixer that decides which — and makes the colour hold.
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Today's Lesson Begins
One natural dye, many colours — and the fixer that holds them
⚗️
THE FIXER BEHIND THE COLOUR
Day 16 · Week 3 · Colour
Mordants — The Fixer
No mordant, no lasting colour. Different mordant, different colour.
The Idea
A mordant is the mineral that bonds a natural dye to the cloth. Most plant dyes will not hold on their own — wash the cloth once and the colour runs out. A mordant (usually alum, iron, or a plant tannin like harda) grips the fibre and locks the dye in. The clever part: the same dye gives a different colour depending on the mordant. Madder root with alum turns warm red and pink. The same madder with iron turns brown and dull purple. With rust water it goes almost black. One dye pot, many colours — the mineral decides.
Honest test: a workshop that shows many soft, earthy colours — rust, brown, dusty pink, grey — from a small set of plants is almost always using natural dyes shifted with different mordants. Bright, identical, flat colours are usually lab dyes.
The colour shift
One dye, four mordants
Same madder-family dye each time — only the mordant changes. Watch the colour move from light to deep.
Madder + which mordant
Colour washes out, stays pale
Fades
Warm red and pink, the common fixer
Bright
Richer, sets the ground for darker tones
Holds
Browns, dull purples, near-black
Deepest
No mordant = no lasting colour · alum brightens · iron darkens
Side by side
The four common mordants
When a tag or maker names a mordant, here is what it does to the colour.
✨
Alum
Mordant
The bright fixer
Safe, common, lifts colour
Brightens
🌿
Harda
Mordant
Plant tannin
A base coat before dyeing
Pre-fix
🟤
Iron
Mordant
The darkener
Saddens and deepens the tone
Darkens
🪨
Rust
Mordant
Near-black
Old iron water, deepest shade
Deepest
In a customer DM
How to explain the colour
When she asks “will this natural colour stay, or wash out?”
Natural colour does not vanish in one wash when it is properly mordant-fixed. Explain that, and explain how it ages.
“This is a natural dye, ma'am, fixed with a mordant — that's the mineral that locks the colour into the cloth. It won't run out in one wash. Natural colour softens slowly over years, it doesn't disappear. Wash it cold, dry it in shade, and it will age beautifully rather than fade flat.”
Today's anchor: A mordant is the mineral — alum, iron, or tannin — that fixes a natural dye to cloth so the colour holds. The same dye gives different colours with different mordants: madder with alum is red, with iron is brown, with rust is near-black. The fixer is the magic.
Day 16 Quiz · 3 Questions
Answer to mark your attendance
One dye, many colours. Get all three right and you stay in the running for the top-3 craft gift. Answer before 9 PM tonight to stay near the top.
Question 1
What does a mordant do?
A
It bleaches the cloth before dyeing
B
It fixes (locks) a natural dye to the cloth so the colour holds
C
It is a type of cotton
D
It makes the cloth softer
Question 2
Madder root dyed with an iron mordant gives roughly what colour?
A
Bright neon red
B
Pure white
C
Brown and dull purple, towards near-black
D
Sky blue
Question 3
A customer asks “will this natural colour wash out?” — the honest answer:
A
“It's a natural dye fixed with a mordant, so it won't run out in one wash. Natural colour softens slowly over years — it ages, it doesn't vanish. Wash cold, dry in shade.”
B
“Natural dye never changes at all, ever.”
C
“Yes, it will be gone after one wash.”
D
“Natural dye is the same as chemical dye.”
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