Mastering Mordants

Mordants are metal salts used as fixatives for attaching natural dyes to fiber. Your application of mordants and/or other fixatives directly determines both the quality and depth of your dye outcome, but also its permanence.

In this workshop we will cover everything mordanting! This includes prepping your fabric for dyeing, the importance of pH, fiber characteristics and structures, the chemistry and application of mordants/fixatives, metal mordants, mordant-accumulating plants, tannins, non-mordant fixatives, acid dye processes, dyeing assists, and various mordanting techniques including pre-mordanting, post-mordanting, middle mordanting, citric acid discharge, mordant printing/painting, and iron black applications. As we move through these processes we will also discuss the concept of mordanting within other techniques, such as planning process order in multi-step projects and mixing mordants with indigo resist techniques.

The course will provide students with a solid foundation for further natural dyeing. This class is completely hands-on. Students will create their own swatch cards for future reference as we move through each process as a group. There is plenty of space for personal experimentation, technique development and troubleshooting.

Skills and Techniques:

• Chemistry of mordants and fixatives in natural dye processes
• Mordanting techniques for silk
• Mordanting techniques for wool
• Pre tanning for cellulosic fibers and mordanting
• Mordanting for multi-step dye processes
• Post-mordanting
• Citric acid discharge
• Acid dyeing techniques (metal mordant-free)
• Painting and printing with mordants
• Soymilk fixative techniques – flat dye and printing/painting
• Iron black processes
• Iterative testing and research techniques

Materials Fee: $22 – $52, depending on the number of students. Paid directly to the instructor.

Special Tools or Equipment to bring: Pencils and colored pencils, Pens, notebooks for notes and sketches, aprons, dishwashing gloves if you want double protection, heavyweight textured watercolor paper, a full pad. It’s your choice for size and shape. Order here https://www.dickblick.com/products/fluid-watercolor-pads/

Workshop and Cancellation Policies: Please be sure to read our 2026 policies before registering for a workshop.  https://www.sanbornmills.org/workshop-policies/