How To Make an Alum Mordant

Natural dyeing is usually a 2 step process. The yarn or fibre must be soaked in a mordant,
that prepares the fibre to absorb the natural dye substance.

alum mordant

Difficulty Level:

Average

Time Required:

90 minutes

Here’s How:

Use clean, scoured wool or yarn.
Fill a large pot with clean water and heat.
Weigh the yarn or clean, dry fleece.
Using 10% Alum (potassium aluminum sulfate) to weight of fibre, mix the Alum into the hot
water.
Using 5% Tartaric Acid to weight of fibre, add the Tartaric acid to the hot water
mixture.
Rinse the wool so that it is damp.
Add the wool or skeins of yarn into the hot Alum mixture.
Make sure that the wool is all covered by the water, if not, add more water to the
pot.
Simmer the mordant mixture for x-about an hour at 90 degrees Celsius.
Remove the yarns from the Alum mixture.
The Alum mixture can be reused by adding 1/2 the amount of Alum and Tartaric
Acid.

DyeingTips:

If dyeing skeins of yarn, make sure that the skeins are tied securely, but loosely in at
least 3 places, to avoid tangling.
The mordanted yarns can be dyed immediately, or dried and stored for later natural
dyeing.
The alum/tartaric acid mixture is suitable for wools, silks and other protein
fibres.

How To Mordant Cotton and Linen
How To Make a Tin Mordant
How To Wash Fleece
Natural Dyes and Mordant Recipes
MSDS – Aluminum Potassium Sulfate