Stinging Nettles and info on mordants
Today I visited Cherrie Corey’s garden and we gathered stinging nettles from all around her garden. Now I am boiling the leaves and roots separately, with no mordants right now. If this doesnt work, I’ll try a copper mordant with the leaves and maybe tin with the root…
Some good info I found while researching stinging nettle root dyes:
Mordants: water-soluble chemicals, usually metallic salts, which create a bond between dye and fiber thus increasing the adherence of various dyes to the item being dyed
| Alum | Brightens the colors obtained from a dye source |
| Iron/Coppers | Darkens/saddens hues, produces blacks, brown, gray |
| Copper vitriol | Improves likelihood of obtaining a green hue |
| Tin | Produces bright colors especially yellows, oranges, reds |
