With fall in the air and all this talk about pumpkins, I thought I would take a moment to talk about Madder – Rubia tinctorum. Why? Because madder can produce the softest peachy pinks to burnt orange and strong reds! Mixing madder with cochineal will give you a true red! Madder has been long prized as a dye – both the roots and cloth dyed with madder were traded on the Silk Road. Yes, the color is in the roots and it takes 3-5 years before the roots can be harvested. Madder is both heat and pH sensitive – get the dye pot too hot and you will end up with brown instead of orange, change the pH and go from orange to deep red. The most famous red from madder is known as Turkey Red – a color that took months to make and used many secret ingredients! Dyers’ formulations for Turkey Red were strongly protected. Here at The Yarn Tree we have madder root whole, madder root ground and madder extract available. Why don’t you give this ancient dye a try! #madder #madderroot #rubiatinctorum #orangedye #naturaldye #botanicaldye #ancientdyes #turkeyred #silkroad
Madderlane 