Black walnut, Osage orange and eastern redcedar sawmill waste as natural dyes: effect of aluminum mordant on color parameters

Citation: Doty, K., Haar, S., & Kim, J. (2016). Black walnut, Osage orange and eastern redcedar sawmill waste as natural dyes: effect of aluminum mordant on color parameters. Fashion and Textiles, 3, 16. doi:10.1186/s40691-016-0074-9The triple bottom line can be impacted in both positive and negative ways by the use of tree sawmill waste as a natural dye. Trees contain a biomordant in the form of tannin which may eliminate the need for metallic mordants, thus reducing water, thermal energy, residual waste, and exposure to a mordant chemical. Dyeing with mill waste provides an economic option for an existing timber manufacturing byproduct. This research analyzed the impact of potassium aluminum sulfate (PAS) on dye concentration, hue, and colorfastness to light and laundering for three regional dyewoods (black walnut, Osage orange, and eastern redcedar) on wool yarn. Dye concentrations were pre-tested to find a standard depth of shade between mordanted and nonmordanted yarns. Tests for colorfastness to light and laundering were performed according to AATCC methods. Resulting colors for exposed and unexposed specimens were rated using CIE L*a*b* values and descriptive statistics were used to examine directional relationship within independent variables mordant and exposure (light and laundering). Two-sample t test was performed to investigate the effect of a PAS mordant versus no mordant on overall color difference between specimens exposed to light and laundering. Findings indicated that dye absorption was improved with the use of a PAS mordant. For yarns premordanted with PAS the dyewood colors became warmer. A PAS mordant slightly improved colorfastness to light for black walnut and eastern redcedar, but did not influence Osage orange which had a color change from bright yellow to warm brown after exposure to light. Colorfastness to laundering improved only for Osage orange with a PAS mordant

Eco prints: dyeing and printing with plants

Sustainable fashion is part of the growing design philosophy of sustainability, with goals to create systems which can be supported indefinitely in terms of environmentalism, economics, and social responsibility. Growing natural dyestuffs is beneficial to the environment, provides an alternative to petro-chemical based dyes, and supports the sustainable tenets of slow design, small scale production, and regional expertise (Fletcher, 2008). Information on dyeing solid colors with flowers is available; however, there is less information regarding multi-colored effects from dyeing with flowers. Therefore, my scholarship focuses on low tech, hand methods of bundling, pressing and hammering to create multi-colored textile surface design from regional flowers using solar and decomposition methods to extract the color. I grow over 30 types of dye plants in my garden, however, many trees and plants in the wild are appropriate for dyeing. In addition, some plants that do not produce good dye bath colors, work well for other color extraction techniques such as hammering. Garment designs are informed by the eco printed fabrics with a consciousness of minimizing waste; therefore, use of the draped square and rectangle are prevalent

Studio practices for shaping and heat-setting synthetic fabric

Heat-setting of synthetic fabrics is an industrial stabilization process that has been adapted by designers to create dimensional textures through shaped-resists and non-industrial heat-setting methods. The article overviews heat-setting properties, physical resist techniques, and presents an experiment to determine best practices for heat-setting physically resisted polyester fabric. Two polyester fabrics, organza and lining, were gathered and secured to a wooden dowel and heat-set under four heating conditions: steaming in a pressure cooker, boiling in a pot of water, dry heat in a conventional oven, and radiation waves in a microwave oven. Pre- and post-treatment lengths were analyzed using GLM for two-way ANOVA and post hoc tests. Based on results from the statistical analysis and visual evaluation, steaming in a pressure cooker is recommended for sheer fabrics such as organza and dry heat from a conventional oven for lining weight fabrics

Perspectives on Group Quiltmaking in Nebraska

Profiles of Nebraskan quiltmaking groups and quilts made by those groups between 1880 and 1989 were developed using data collected during twenty-seven Nebraska Quilt History Days and information garnered from telephone interviews. Quiltmaking by Nebraska groups peaked in the 1920s and 1930s and again in the 1970s and 1980s when American quiltmaking enjoyed its first and second twentieth century revivals. Most of the groups were non-church affiliated organizations. These groups included sewing clubs/quilting groups or guilds, social clubs, municipal groups, Cooperative Extension clubs, fraternal associations, and senior center groups. Group membership was between 15 to 24 members until the 1980s when membership increased to over 50. Most groups consisted of female members, had officers, met once a month in a member’s home, and were active from 1 to 24 years or 50 to 74 years. Nebraska groups most often made pieced quilts and embroidered quilts. The four most prevalent pieced quilt patterns were the Friendship Chain, Dresden Plate, Nine Patch, and Friendship Star. Most quilts were made from new cotton fabrics and contained embroidered inscriptions bearing dates and names. Most group-made quilts were hand quilted in an outline quilting pattern. The average number of quilting stitches per inch was 6.6 stitches. Quilting of group-made quilts was undertaken most often by the group which constructed the quilt top. The largest quilts were made in the 1970s and 1980s. The most common purposes for making group-constructed quilts were special occasions, special persons, or fund-raising. Advisor: Patricia Cox Crew

Comparison of aluminum mordants on the colorfastness of natural dyes on cotton

Two mordanting agents, aluminum potassium sulfate and aluminum acetate, in three concentrations (5%, 10%, and 20% owf) were evaluated for colorfastness to laundering and light of natural dye extracts (madder, weld, and coreopsis) on cotton print cloth. The type of aluminum mordant had a greater influence on colorfastness to laundering, whereas dye type had a greater influence on fastness to light. Aluminum acetate at 5% owf concentration gave slightly higher Gray Scale ratings for colorfastness to laundering of coreopsis and weld. All treatments had negligible to no staining on cotton. Weld had slightly better colorfastness to light ratings than the other dye types with 20% aluminum potassium sulfate rating highest. Even though the aluminum acetate mordant improved the colorfastness to laundering on weld and coreopsis at the 5% and 10% owf concentrations, it did not improve fastness to light and resulted in slightly lower fastness to light grades on coreopsis

Pounded plants on cotton: Methods, outcomes, and colorfastness of post-treatments

Citation: Haar, S., & Doty, K. (2017). Pounded plants on cotton: Methods, outcomes, and colorfastness of post-treatments. Peer reviewed Proceedings Paper published in The 10th International Shibori Symposium Official Proceedings 2016, Oaxaca, MX, Luximon A. (Ed.), pp. 59-66. Berkeley, CA: World Shibori Network. ISBN: 978-1-5323-3312-5. Available: https://10thiss.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/10iss-press-kit_proceedings.pdfPlant pounding is the transfer of plant pigment onto textiles through the mechanical force of hammering. The resulting image can mimic the original petal or leaf. A challenge can be poor colorfastness. Even though this is a popular technique with several writings on the process, we could find no research examining colorfastness properties. Thus, we examined orange cosmos petals and purple sweet potato leaf pounded onto cotton print cloth for colorfastness to laundering and light exposure following AATCC procedures. Fabric was scoured and mordanted with aluminum acetate. Following pounding, three post-treatments were applied, including steam, a sodium silicate fixative, and a cationic dye fixative. CIELab color coordinates were taken with a spectrocolorimeter. Cosmos exposed to laundering and light had considerable color change with steam having the most similar color ratings and appearance to its standard. Purple sweet potato leaves had noticeable color change following laundering, with steam retaining original color and imagery best. Conversely, colorfastness to light was poor for all treatments. Overall, a steam treatment is recommended to assist with color and image retention for pounded plants onto cotton fabric that is scoured and mordanted with aluminum acetate

Identification and Validity of Accelerometer Cut-Points for Toddlers

The purpose of this study was to derive ActiGraph cut-points for sedentary (SED), light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in toddlers and evaluate their validity in an independent sample. The predictive validity of established preschool cut-points were also evaluated and compared. Twenty-two toddlers (mean age = 2.1 years ± 0.4 years) wore an ActiGraph accelerometer during a videotaped 20-min play period. Videos were subsequently coded for physical activity (PA) intensity using the modified Children's Activity Rating Scale (CARS). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were conducted to determine cut-points. Predictive validity was assessed in an independent sample of 18 toddlers (mean age = 2.3 ± 0.4 years). From the ROC curve analyses, the 15-s count ranges corresponding to SED, LPA, and MVPA were 0–48, 49–418, and >418 counts/15 s, respectively. Classification accuracy was fair for the SED threshold (ROC-AUC = 0.74, 95% confidence interval = 0.71–0.76) and excellent for MVPA threshold (ROC-AUC = 0.90, 95% confidence interval = 0.88–0.92). In the cross-validation sample, the toddler cut-point and established preschool cut-points significantly overestimated time spent in SED and underestimated time in spent in LPA. For MVPA, mean differences between observed and predicted values for the toddler and Pate cut-points were not significantly different from zero. In summary, the ActiGraph accelerometer can provide useful group-level estimates of MVPA in toddlers. The results support the use of the Pate cut-point of 420 counts/15 s for MVPA