Reds: Madder and Cochineal

The two classic natural reds come from a root and an insect, and both are bought from dye suppliers ¹.

Madder

Madder (Rubia tinctorum) is the ground root of the madder plant, cultivated for dye for centuries. The ancient Egyptians used it and the Moors grew it in Spain; in 1935, most of it came from the Netherlands. Because of the beauty and fastness of its colors, and the range it gives with different mordants, madder was once considered the most important dyestuff of all. It lost its commercial value when it was replaced by alizarin, a coal-tar product identical to madder’s own coloring matter ¹.

On alum-mordanted wool, madder gives a lacquer red, very fast to light and washing ¹.

Lacquer red, for 1 pound of alum-mordanted wool ¹:

1. Soak 8 ounces of madder in a little water overnight.
2. Bring it to a boil and pour it into 4 gallons of water.
3. Put in the wet wool, heat slowly, and boil 45 minutes. Rinse and dry.

Dark lacquer red: use twice as much madder (16 ounces), and don’t boil. Keep the bath at 140–160°F, stirring constantly, for 2 hours. Let it cool in the bath, then rinse and dry ¹.

That second recipe is the one to learn from. Earth Guild says madder should never be heated past a simmer, because boiling releases brown dyes ². A thermometer is the difference between a clear red and a brick brown. On cotton, madder gives a dark red, good to light and fair to washing ¹.

Cochineal

Cochineal is made from a dried insect, Coccus cacti in the bulletin’s naming, found in Mexico and Central America, and sold by dye suppliers ¹. It’s a powerful dye: an ounce colors a pound of wool. On wool, its colors are good to light, and most are fast to washing too, though some turn slightly bluer without running ¹.

American beauty red, for 1 pound of alum-mordanted wool ¹:

1. Soak 1 ounce of powdered cochineal in water for an hour, then boil 15 minutes.
2. Strain, and add cold water to make 4 to 4½ gallons.
3. Put in the wet wool, heat gradually, and boil 1½ hours. Rinse and dry.

The USDA rated it good to both light and washing ¹. The bulletin’s other cochineal recipes, a rose-pink, a flag red, and a purple, used tin, oxalic acid, nitric acid, or chrome; skip them. And cochineal isn’t a satisfactory dye for cotton ¹.

Reds from yellows

You can also build a red-orange from a yellow. Goldenrod or oak-bark yellow, top-dyed in a weak madder bath, gives terra cotta. That’s in the last lesson.

Try it

Order 4 ounces of madder root from a dye supplier. Dye one 4-ounce mordanted skein with 2 ounces of madder held at 140–160°F, and a second skein in the same amount brought to a hard boil. Compare the two reds side by side.