Making Iron mordant potion n suchnesses....

This brew is one way to crank up the alchemy of work with Eucalyptus and indeed other green folks in creating Plant echoes / Ecodye. Making it is simple, the results from its addition can be beautiful, however don’t expect predictable from this form, that’s not really part of its character. Exploring and play, are….

Take a gathering o rusty objects and pop em in a jar. I have been using a stash of bits from an old thick reinforced water tank that came from a special bushland area, so it’s vibes are part of the story. I popped em in a jar and then filled the remaining space with white vinegar. Yup, the cheap kind that makes your face screw up to taste it.

Allow this to brew for about month is best, but 2 weeks will do.

I add a splash o this to leaves that are soaking in preparation to dye or to the cauldron water to amp things up. Often, I then use some o the soaking brew as the base in my dye pot when cooking bundles or loose fabrics to colour them. How much is a splash I hear some o you ask? A bit be my reply lovelies, I simply don’t work that way. Make a batch and try, see what happens for you. I will say, I soak leaves at least 2 weeks prior generally, and am not stingy with potion added to them, 1-2 cups or so. This combination is what I believe gives stronger colours and clearer prints, mostly working with wools, but also linens and cottons. It can weaken fabrics over time, so work to find your own levels with the mordant you make.

It can also be used to mordant plant fibre fabrics, but can result in a brown streaking effect or stained necklines if not dried flat, or too much is used. Less is enough in this case, talking tablespoon/s here. In this case second hand, or third, fabrics are best. New fabrics have all kinds of 'seals' on them.

Some batches are stronger than others, there’s variation. Once you have a sturdy source of rust, you should get several brews from that, simply by topping up the vinegar in the jar, once you’ve used it up. The best ones have colouration in them, you can see it’s changed and is ready to use.

Injoy!