After trying a botanical print on a felted scarf, I switched to silk. After reading information on eco-friendly fabric dyeing on the Internet, I decided to try the simplest method. First I needed a mordant. Mordant is dye fixative. It is used to help make quality botanical prints. Without mordants prints will be inexpressive, quickly washed out and faded. The most popular and affordable mordants are aluminum and iron salts. I decided to try homemade iron mordant – rusty water.
First I needed to collect unnecessary rusty iron things such as nails. After collecting a sufficient number of pieces of iron I placed them in a plastic container. I poured a mix of water and 7% vinegar into this container and closed it with a lid. I left the container for 2 days in a warm, dark place. During this time, the vinegar dissolved the rust from the iron nails making the color of water and vinegar mix turn red, and the nails, on the contrary, acquired their original steel color. A rainbow film and foam formed on the surface of the water/vinegar mix, so I filtered the solution.
Then I collected some leaves from the trees near my house and placed that leaves in rusty water overnight.The next day I made a sample of a plant print on a small piece of silk fabric. I dipped a piece of silk fabric in a vinegar solution, put a leaf soaked in rusty water on top of the silk. I covered the sample with plastic and made a roll on a wooden stick. Then I placed the sample roll in a pot with a little bit of boiling water and steamed the roll for 1 hour. After my sample cooled down, I unwrapped the roll. The leaf left a good print. After having success with the sample I was ready to dye a whole silk scarf.
I put the plastic wrap on the table and placed a silk fabric dipped in vinegar on top of it. I spread the wet silk well on the table to make sure it doesn’t have any folds or wrinkles. I came up with a design and laid out the leaves previously soaked in rusty water.
Each leaf had to be dried with a napkin. Here and there I added eucalyptus leaves from a bouquet given to me for my birthday and pieces of onion peel. Eucalyptus leaves and onion peels are not necessary to soak in rusty water; they produce good prints on silk without mordants. I spread the leaves around the edges of the scarf, leaving the middle blank. The scarf looked uninteresting. Then I took a sponge, dipped it in rusty water, and stamped red spots. I placed more plastic wrap on top of the leaves. Next I rolled the scurf on a wooden stick and secured it with some rope. I steamed the roll in a pot for 2 hours and cooled it down.
I unwrapped the roll and saw some interesting prints. Finally I washed my scarf in warm water with soft soap, dried it and ironed.
In conclusion, I assure you that this homemade method by using rusty water works and helps produce nice quality botanical prints.
