Water quality
The harder the water, the better thecolor. So the story goes, two womenfrom the same Turkish village weregiven the same madder roots to dyeyarn to make carpets. One produceda slightly blueish red; the other abrownish red. Confused, the womenwent to their supplier who was equallybaffled, until he realized that thewomen, although from the samevillage, had drawn their water fromtwo different wells.It also depends on where, and how, themadder was grown. As with the water,the more chalky the soil, the better. Socheck with your supplier to find thesource of your madder roots.If you have soft water, you can tryadding chalk to get the more reddishcolors. During the 19th century inthe Outer Hebrides, urine was addedat the end of the dyeing process toredden the color.
Ingredients used here
The sequence below shows 1tsp. (5ml)of ammonia, per 3
1
⁄
2
oz. (100g) of yarnto take some of the yellow out of thered. Commercial madder from localcraft suppliers is probably only twoyears old. Generally, the older root thebrighter the red. Eight-year-old rootswill give more purplish reds, but if youwant that you’ll probably have to growyour own!
A m wat tmm t a t camv m fl tbat. T lp tu ctt cl.B t bat lwl t t bl. Maku t t at t lqu ta 140°F(60°C) a t wll ult a llw f tcl. Kp t bat at t tmpatuf at lat u—l f pbl. Ltt cl vt t allw t a t fullabb t cl.Tak t a ut f tbat a wll,utl t wat u cla.
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SEE ALSO:
MordAnTing, PAge 16Mixing dye BAThs, PAge 84
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