Dyes

Years before the settlers were able to go to a country store and buy a package of 'Putnam' dye for ten cents, they had to make their own dyes from various plants, tree bark and certain household products.

It usually took several days or perhaps longer to prepare a batch large enough to dye material for a quilt covering, blanket or for the family clothing.

A mordant had to be used with the dye in order to 'set’ or fix the color to prevent it from fading. The most common mordants were vinegar and salt. When available, copperas, a green sulphate of iron and alum was used. The vinegar was especially needed for red. Potassium bichromate for yellow shades, however, very seldom was a mordant used for browns.

To obtain brown shades, black walnut hulls were used. They were poured into a boiling pot. The roots of the walnut tree could be used also. It was necessary to heat the roots first, then peel the bark. The shade of brown depended upon the amount of hulls or root bark used. The more hulls used, the darker the color.

Before a batch of sheep wool could be used, it was necessary to boil the oil out of it. This was quite a process.

To get a nice golden color, many would use coffee grounds and tea leaves. Lighter shades of yellow could be obtained from boiling dandelion blossoms. Onion skins also produced a nice yellow color. Our North American Indian used the yellow root or golden seal long before the white man came to these shores. ( He even used this solution for sore eyes.)

Clover leaves and blossoms would produce a pale pink. This was set with vinegar. Black was available from the bark of witch hazel bushes. This liquor had to stand for several hours.

Usually the dyeing process requires a large iron pot or kettle expressedly kept for this chore.

To obtain a rose color, the women would go into the mountain areas and gather madder roots. A rust or tan shade came from the bark of the maple tree. Copperas must be used in the liquor. When the desired color was reached, the material was removed and washed in cold water. Boiled broomsage would produce the same shades.

The settler's wife also knew that gray moss from the oak and apple tree would give her a nice shade of yellow and orange. The moss was boiled in her iron kettle for several hours. To this she would add quantities of salt.

Yellow shades are available from the field golden rod. It was known as the dyers weed. The outside of the hickory tree bark, plus a small amount of alum gave her a nice yellow. For a darker shade, she used potassium bichromate.

Blue colors were obtained by boiling Indigo roots as well as the inside and outside bark of the maple tree. After boiling the bark for several hours, copperas had to be added.

A cinnamon color came from the use of the red root plant.

Many used the familiar poke weed berries. About a gallon of berries to a ten-gallon kettle gave you a red to a maroon color. Blackberries, grapes and other berries were used to get various degrees of red.

Green came from the boiling of oak leaves. Here salt had to be the mordant.

It is interesting to note that after the sheep wool was free from oils, it was dyed yellow, then immediately dipped in a blue indigo solution. The settlers found that by using the yellow first, the blue would take out the color.

Yes, the first settlers learned many secrets from the Indians to dye their home spun materials.