DYEING WITH LICHEN

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32031, 4 July 1969, Page 3

DYEING WITH LICHEN

Lichens and leaves, twigs and roots, berries and flowers—they all sound like ideal ingredients for a witch’s brew, but no spells are being cast over the strange potions boiling in some New Zealand cauldrons.

For women who spin their own wool, home dyeing is the latest development in the return to cottage craft. Wool can be dyed a variety of shades with a little imagination and easily obtainable products of nature. Mrs H. R. Clarke, of Doyleston, for Instance, has achieved attractive colours from the use of dock roots, onion skins, parsley, elder berries, walnut husks, Seed pods, and even peach stones. “Lichens are the easiest to gather and dry, and probably give the largest range of colours," she said yesterday. “The only-black I have ever been able to get was from a lichen, and I have tried hundreds of things. Blue and red are the only colours I haven’t achieved with lichens.” The colours produced varied, according to the localities where the lichens were found, said Mrs Clarke. The higher the altitude and the greater the rainfall, the deeper the dye was. BARKS GOOD Barks were the next strongest, and probably the most stable. dye. “You can dry them and be sure of getting fairly near the same shade. With most other things, the dye seems to dry out a. bit,” she said. “The longer you boil the ingredients, the deeper the dye. You can never guaran-

tee getting the same colour twice, so all the wool you want for a garment should be dyed at the same time.”

Different chemical substances (many of which are used in the home) brought out different shades, said Mrs Clarke, and it was necessary to use weight for weight of the dye-stuff and the wool.

She has mounted her experiments on neat cardboard pieces, showing different shades achieved by using ammonia, copper sulphate, soda in enamel, soda in aluminium, vinegar, sulphate of iron, and cream of tartar. Mrs Clarke, who has been

dyeing wool for three years, has found it easier to spin the wool first, to get an even dye. PROCEDURE "Every vestige of grease and dirt has to be scoured out of the wool before you start to dye it. The wool should be soaked overnight in cold wfcter and the next day washed in several lots of detergent or soap flakes until it is quite clean,” she said. “It can then be entered wet into a dye bath with lichens, brought slowly to the boil and simmered gently until you get the shade you like. If you want to dye with other things, most have to be mordanted with chrome or alum and the wool left two or three days before dyeing.” Mrs Clarke has found green, red and blue the most elusive colours, while shades of brown, gold, fawn and green were the most common results of dyeing. “Most of my greens have had copper sulphate in them, the deeper browns and greys have had sulphate of iron, and yellow and blue have had tin crystals,” she said. “Ammonia and vinegar sometimes bring out pinky colours. These are just general rules —there are no hard and fast laws.” Mrs Clarke, who has always been interested in gardening, started to experiment with dyes when her daughter (now married to a West Coast farmer) took up spinning. Soon she turned to spinning herself and the two interests take up her spare time at home.