03-21-2013, 05:35 AM
I followed the advice here for making a dyebath. Weight of fabric is used to determine amounts, but horse hair has less surface area than wool - I still went with the high-end recommendation because I didn't want an orangey-pink crest. The madder contributes the orange and rusty tones in the colour, and the cochineal is responsible for the vibrant red. Cochineal is expensive, but the dye specialist told me to strain the beetles out of the dyebath and re-use them. The other important consideration is temperature. If you want red from madder you need to control the temperature carefully. If it overheats you will get closer to brown. Also, neither madder nor cochineal require mordant to strike well, but it is recommended for increased vibrancy and colourfastness.
I used traditional materials because it tickled my fancy, but there are certainly easier, cheaper ways to dye hair if it just the result you are interested in.
-Hildebrandt
I used traditional materials because it tickled my fancy, but there are certainly easier, cheaper ways to dye hair if it just the result you are interested in.
-Hildebrandt
