Talking with a friend of this blog we have started to discuss about using of various herbal mixtures as dyes. Aroused my curiosity, I decided to look about the question and I found a world unexpectedly large. The dyeing is a system which allows to give or change the color of different types of materials, from wood to textile fibers, using liquid solutions of the color of plant origin (flowers, leaves, fruits, etc.), animal (like the shell of molluscs) or, currently, chemistry.
Different dyeing techniques are been developed throughout the history of man, often in parallel with the acquired techniques for weaving. But applications of dye are extremely diverse, including the habit of women (but also more men in recent years) to color their hairs.
Dyeing techniques are found since the Neolithic period (about 8000 years ago). Dyes used are of vegetable origins, obtained using leaves or fruits. It is natural, therefore, that the colors used were closely related to culture and local flora. For example, Egyptians used henna (a shrub typically of the region of North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean) together with abundant alum (a potassium sulphate able to avoid rotting of organic materials), used as a mordant. Or in China, where they were developed different (and lost over the time) dyeing techniques of silk, their exclusive market for several centuries. In Mesopotamia, famous for the splendor and bright colors typical of the clothes, they were developed some techniques for coloring textile fibers, especially wool. But the dyers for excellence of the past were the Phoenicians, whom we owe the discovery of the use of different organic substances. It is in this moment that comes the purple color of the robes, obtained using mollusks, which will be famous in different cultures of the Mediterranean basin. In Italy these techniques were imported by Greeks. But, in southern Italy was developed a technique, using a type of lichen along with shellfish, to lower the cost of purple. Among Romans dyers were a real working class, divided for type of color used (yellow, violet or purple). In the Middle Ages there are corporations of dyers, who begin to be professional craftsmen. In more recent times, dyes obtained from local flora were used by South American populations and imported widely in Europe. But from the second half of the '800 started, obtaining the mauve colour from aniline (a chemical compound aromatic discovered in the first half of the same century), the production of dyes from chemicals and at the beginning of 1900, natural dyes are pratically not used.
Different dyeing techniques are been developed throughout the history of man, often in parallel with the acquired techniques for weaving. But applications of dye are extremely diverse, including the habit of women (but also more men in recent years) to color their hairs.
Dyeing techniques are found since the Neolithic period (about 8000 years ago). Dyes used are of vegetable origins, obtained using leaves or fruits. It is natural, therefore, that the colors used were closely related to culture and local flora. For example, Egyptians used henna (a shrub typically of the region of North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean) together with abundant alum (a potassium sulphate able to avoid rotting of organic materials), used as a mordant. Or in China, where they were developed different (and lost over the time) dyeing techniques of silk, their exclusive market for several centuries. In Mesopotamia, famous for the splendor and bright colors typical of the clothes, they were developed some techniques for coloring textile fibers, especially wool. But the dyers for excellence of the past were the Phoenicians, whom we owe the discovery of the use of different organic substances. It is in this moment that comes the purple color of the robes, obtained using mollusks, which will be famous in different cultures of the Mediterranean basin. In Italy these techniques were imported by Greeks. But, in southern Italy was developed a technique, using a type of lichen along with shellfish, to lower the cost of purple. Among Romans dyers were a real working class, divided for type of color used (yellow, violet or purple). In the Middle Ages there are corporations of dyers, who begin to be professional craftsmen. In more recent times, dyes obtained from local flora were used by South American populations and imported widely in Europe. But from the second half of the '800 started, obtaining the mauve colour from aniline (a chemical compound aromatic discovered in the first half of the same century), the production of dyes from chemicals and at the beginning of 1900, natural dyes are pratically not used.
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