[Sca-cooks] saffron dyeing

[Stefan li Rous]

 AEduin asked:
> In trying to make a new (not reserved :-) ) yellow protege belt I decided
> to try to saffron dye the leather.  This is the initial part of the note
> that I took in the process:
<snip>
>
> I was trying for a more natural looking yellow than the screaming neon/Big
> Bird yellow that you get with the current commercial paints.  What I got
> was a muted yellow/gold color similar to a buckskin.  I  like the color but
> have a couple questions.  Would doing something slightly different make it
> a little more yellow? And, will the color leech out onto garb and if so,
> what can I do to fast the dye?

You said "powdered saffron". Did you create this powder from real saffron?
Or buy it that way? We've discussed previously that one advantage of
buying the whole spice is that you can see that what you are getting
really is the real thing.
Do you have any evidence that they used saffron to dye leather in period
as opposed to fabric? There may be a reason they used it for one and
not the other (if that is the case).
You might want to look through this file on possible mordants:

mordants-msg      (17K)  7/30/98    Info. on mordants. Period and modern.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/TEXTILES/piled-fabrics-msg.html


I have already saved your message on this experiment for my dyeing-msg
file. I'd love to get any additional reports you make on this subject.
--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas         StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****