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Processing Innovations

Natural Colouration Technology

Natural ingredient dyeing


 

Natural colouration technology works well with wool textiles to produce a superior natural aesthetic quality and look. Wool absorbs natural dyes better than synthetic textile fibres.

Natural dyes are extracted from natural materials such as plants, minerals and even shells and insects. There are two types of natural dyes. Adjective dyes which require a mordant (dye fixative) and substantive dyes which exhaust and fix on the fibres without the use of a mordant.

Plant-based natural dyes include woad, indigo, saffron and madder. Invertebrate natural dyes include Tyrian purple, cochineal and crimson kermes. Other naturally occurring dyestuff alternatives include bacteria derived dyestuff and bi-product dyes (such as dyes from food waste).

Come funziona

Tecnologia di colorazione naturale

Le fibre naturali come lana, cotone e seta assorbono le tinture naturali meglio delle fibre tessili sintetiche. Le tinture naturali hanno dimostrato di funzionare efficacemente con i tessuti in lana per ricreare un aspetto estetico e naturale di qualità superiore.

Se si utilizza una tintura naturale per mordenzatura il tessuto dovrà essere preparato con un mordente prima che inizi il processo di tintura. Se si utilizza una tintura naturale sostantiva, la tintura si fisserà alla fibra senza un mordente.

Una volta che il tessuto è pronto per la colorazione, ci sono una serie di passaggi nel processo di tintura a seconda della tintura naturale utilizzata, del tessuto e della colorazione desiderata.

Woolmark Natural Dye Partners

 

Tintoria di Quarenga

Tintoria di Quarenga has created a natural dyeing processes called NATURALE, that uses more than 200 natural ingredients to create a wide range of colours and shades suitable for dyeing wool and other natural fibres. The Italian dyehouse was the first natural dyer to gain Woolmark certification for this innovative process, which continues to gain industry support as designers, retailers and consumers look to more sustainable options.

Tintoria di Quaregna NATURALE is an innovative yarn collection dyed with 212 different plants, herbs, roots, flowers, and tree bark. Natural materials are sourced from around the world in a sustainable way and 65+% of the materials are from Italy,” explains Anna Mello Rella, co-owner, Head of R&D. “Colours range from delicate pastels to dark blue and black. No chemicals, additives, dye powders or extracts are used in dyeing.”

BioDye

Woolmark partner BioDye seeds a scientific breakthrough using the best of nature to create 100% natural dyes and biodegradable ingredients through eco-friendly processes. The wool yarn and fabrics are coloured with natural dyes using non-toxic mordants to give the whole spectrum of colours that do not fade or bleed when machine washed and BioDye’s natural-dyed wool fabric can offer enhanced UV-absorption.

Strengthening the eco-credentials of using BioDye’s natural colouration technology is the holistic process the dyehouse employs. Its Dye-yielding plants have been identified that can be used to re-vegetate degraded forests and provide income to rural women collecting chromogenic leaves in a sustainable manner. The solid waste is used as manure and the treated waste-water meets parameters for irrigation.

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Woolmark partners using natural dye

Victoria Beckham

Victoria Beckham used Woolmark licensee Tintoria di Quaregna’s natural dyeing process for the luxury label’s latest knitwear collection.

Using flowers, leaves and berries, Victoria Beckham was able to achieve an earthy, warm colour palette without the use of chemical, whilst developing a collection with sustainability at its core.

Blindness, Feng Chen Wang and Richard Malone

I finalisti del premio “2020 International Woolmark Prize” , Blindness e Fita Chen Wang e il vincitore del concorso “2020 International Woolmark Prize”, Richard Malone, hanno utilizzato tinture naturali per le loro collezioni di lana. Blindness ha utilizzato un processo di fermentazione naturale ed è stato in grado di usare il pigmento di tintura indaco dalla pianta e tingere con successo tessuti di lana e filati di lana. Feng Chen Wang, lavorando con un gruppo di artigiani della comunità locale, ha estratto pigmenti naturali da una varietà di erbe e tisane per creare un'alternativa sostenibile, naturale ed ecologica alla tintura chimica, che è stata poi applicata a mano su scorte inutilizzate di lana non trattata.

Working with a society of weavers in India, Richard Malone uses completely organic and plant-based dyes throughout his label. His International Woolmark Prize collection employs handwoven, traditional fabrics with organic and azo-free dyes, from protected farms that employ regenerative initiatives to sustain both jobs and the environment.

Extracts have been taken from the vembadam plant to produce a lilac colour, sky blue is achieved from the clitoria plant, marigold and myrobalan was used to complement the colour from the karungali plant and the wedlia plant produced luscious greens for the collection.

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