Plant I.D, Weld, Reseda luteola
- Thread starter TeeDee
- Start date
A search says Dyer's weed, but I'll wait see what others say?
Edit: using Google lens.
Edit: using Google lens.
Weld is another name for Dyer's Weed - Reseda luteola
Last edited:
Don’t be ashamed, the only stupid question is the one that you don’t ask. I wouldn’t have known that off the top of my head either and by putting the picture out there I’ve learned something new as well.
It's weld. Reseda luteola.
It's one of the trio of native natural dyes that make pretty much any colour.
Blue from Woad
Red from Madder
Yellow from Weld.
They're all strong enough to cross dye properly so you get the entire range of colours; with care
Weld seeds prolifically but likes exposed areas where it doesn't face any competition while it's in it's first year.
Second year it goes up like a rocket
Pigeons love the first year plants and devour them.
Often found in the tracks of old building sites.
It's one of the trio of native natural dyes that make pretty much any colour.
Blue from Woad
Red from Madder
Yellow from Weld.
They're all strong enough to cross dye properly so you get the entire range of colours; with care
Weld seeds prolifically but likes exposed areas where it doesn't face any competition while it's in it's first year.
Second year it goes up like a rocket
Pigeons love the first year plants and devour them.
Often found in the tracks of old building sites.
How would one go about extracting the dye from the plant? Is it a case of boiling up the right parts, or is there more prep work involved?It's weld. Reseda luteola.
It's one of the trio of native natural dyes that make pretty much any colour.
Blue from Woad
Red from Madder
Yellow from Weld.
They're all strong enough to cross dye properly so you get the entire range of colours; with care
Weld seeds prolifically but likes exposed areas where it doesn't face any competition while it's in it's first year.
Second year it goes up like a rocket
Pigeons love the first year plants and devour them.
Often found in the tracks of old building sites.
It's weld. Reseda luteola.
It's one of the trio of native natural dyes that make pretty much any colour.
Blue from Woad
Red from Madder
Yellow from Weld.
They're all strong enough to cross dye properly so you get the entire range of colours; with care
Weld seeds prolifically but likes exposed areas where it doesn't face any competition while it's in it's first year.
Second year it goes up like a rocket
Pigeons love the first year plants and devour them.
Often found in the tracks of old building sites.
So how does one go about making the Dye from it then? Its right on my doorstep ( of work ) so I may as well have a dabble.
And Thank you for advising me of Madder , not heard of it before and know have an interest in finding some.
Weld is one of the simplest dyes.
The whole plant gives good colour, but commercially usually folks only get the stems....well the seller is keeping the best bits for themselves, iimmc ?
So, I leave it to ripen just enough that some of the seeds are falling...give it a chance to spread and pull the whole plant. I cut it up pretty small and let it dry. It dries well, and it keeps for years for natural dyeing.
It is one of those dyes that does awfully well with mordants. So, Iron, Alum and Copper....anyone who uses Chrome or Tin is not really being environmentally safe or friendly.
Copper's easiest, just put some pieces of copper into vinegar or ammonia in a jar and leave it for a day or so.
Iron, just break up an iron tablet in hot water.
Alum, well, pitrock is alum, but it's usual to buy the powdered chemical if you're doing much dyeing.
On it's own, Weld will give really good yellows, strong enough yellows that you can overdye with woad to give green
Simply boil it up in a pot that you don't mind having to really scrub out any staining, and add wool to it. (somewhere in the annals of the forum I have written screeds on dyeing, I'm sure there are links....)
You can dye cotton and linen with it, but it really needs the mordanting, and is better pre-tanned too, otherwise results can be very 'pastel'.
M
Works on paper as well.
The whole plant gives good colour, but commercially usually folks only get the stems....well the seller is keeping the best bits for themselves, iimmc ?
So, I leave it to ripen just enough that some of the seeds are falling...give it a chance to spread
and pull the whole plant. I cut it up pretty small and let it dry. It dries well, and it keeps for years for natural dyeing.It is one of those dyes that does awfully well with mordants. So, Iron, Alum and Copper....anyone who uses Chrome or Tin is not really being environmentally safe or friendly.
Copper's easiest, just put some pieces of copper into vinegar or ammonia in a jar and leave it for a day or so.
Iron, just break up an iron tablet in hot water.
Alum, well, pitrock is alum, but it's usual to buy the powdered chemical if you're doing much dyeing.
On it's own, Weld will give really good yellows, strong enough yellows that you can overdye with woad to give green
Simply boil it up in a pot that you don't mind having to really scrub out any staining, and add wool to it. (somewhere in the annals of the forum I have written screeds on dyeing, I'm sure there are links....)
You can dye cotton and linen with it, but it really needs the mordanting, and is better pre-tanned too, otherwise results can be very 'pastel'.
M
Works on paper as well.
Dyes
Dyes - Found this on a social media feed - is it realistic from the experience of those here who know? What else can be used for dyes and what colours does it produce?
bushcraftuk.com
No need to ask a mod to do that, you have the power to do it yourself by clicking on the Edit button on your original post
Does the mordant alter the hue at all? If so, do different mordants affect the hue in different ways?
Yes, they do.
Alum gives bright clear colours, copper gives green tones to the colour, and iron saddens a colour, but really fixes it.
There are also plant derived 'fixatives' which are really mostly adjustants. Rhubarb roots, or leaves, boiled up and the resultant liquid works well as to stop colour being just a slow fading stain and actually stay as 'dye'.
Alum gives bright clear colours, copper gives green tones to the colour, and iron saddens a colour, but really fixes it.
There are also plant derived 'fixatives' which are really mostly adjustants. Rhubarb roots, or leaves, boiled up and the resultant liquid works well as to stop colour being just a slow fading stain and actually stay as 'dye'.
Sorry , didn't know that . Normally my butler takes care of that sort of thing for me.
And one can store this stuff dried? and it will still give a yellow dye after being stored that way?
It will. It lasts for years.....I've used stuff an elderly friend gathered and dried, and Joyce was sure it was fifteen years old. It worked fine.
