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Dyeing with Weld Dye Extract

Buy weld extract

What is Weld?
What colours does Weld extract produce?
How do I use Weld extract?
BFL wool dyed with Weld natural dye extract

How much wool does Weld extract dye?
What is Weld dye extract?

1) What is Weld?
Weld (Reseda luteola) is a biennial plant with long flower spikes which has been used as a dye for thousands of years. Weld dye comes from the chopped leaves and flower stems of the second year plant.

2) What colours does Weld extract produce?
Weld extract produces brilliant lemon yellows. The principal pigment in the weld leaves is luteolin. Over dye it with madder for bright oranges and with woad for a fabulous Lincoln Green.

3) How do I use Weld extract?
Wash and mordant the wool (follow Scouring the wool and Mordanting with alum for details).

Make a paste with 1 teaspoon (5 grams) weld extract and a small amount of warm water. Fill a saucepan with water and add the weld extract paste. Mix about one third of a teaspoon of chalk (calcium carbonate) with a small amount of boiling water in a container and add to the pot with the weld.

BFL superwash wool dyed with Weld extract & pale woad

BFL wool dyed with Weld natural dye extract & over-dyed with pale woad

Add the pre-wetted mordanted fibre. Bring the dye bath to a gentle simmer for weld extract and then keep at that temperature for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring gently from time to time. Leave overnight to cool.

4) How much wool does Weld extract dye?
20 grams of weld extract will dye two 100 gram hanks of Blue-faced Leicester superwash wool to a bright yellow and a medium yellow, respectively, depending on water quality and other factors (see photo). We suggest you experiment as dye colours will vary with the type of fibre, the mordant and the quality of water.

5) What is Weld dye extract?
Our Weld extract is shipped as a dry dark greenish yellow crystalline powder that is very stable and of high colour fastness. It is produced using processes that respect the environment and comply with organic textile certifications. Our Weld dye extract is an approved dyestuff for the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS 4.0) and is of consistent high quality through certified cultivation of a pure plant (Europam: the European certification for medicinal herbs) and a high level of process control during production.

Learn more about dyeing with natural dye extracts:

acacia extract

brazilwood extract

buckthorn extract

chlorophyllin extract