Overwintered Alder Cone Dye 

One of my all time favourite natural dyes! This spring I dyed a pair of wool pants, a silk slip and a pair of wool socks lovely deep charcoal grey with some iron added in. It also makes wonderful brown-black lake pigment :o)

I read a paper a few years ago that described a late neolithic pot sherd find from southern France that found residue of oak galls and a local diatomaceous clay in the pots. I can't find the paper now, but I seem to remember that they thought the magnesium rich clay might have been used as a mordant. It might be worth a look!

Fabulous video and hope you show us the second attempt!

My understanding is that "bucking" linen involved boiling in lye water, and sun drying (like you just did) repeated several times and can make linen quite close to white! I wonder if boiling the linen and alder dye with a chunk of iron would darken/sadden the color without using an official mordant? I have heard that basketry materials were dyed by using a tannin dye and then burying the still wet material in iron rich dirt to make them very dark, by native peoples here in the Pacific Northwest of the USA?

That's such a lovely warm golden color on the wool! I can't help but imagine going out and getting those cones, and it's late winter, and everything's been basically white snow and shades of mud for ages and ages...and then here is this, this positively sunny color! I wonder if in some forgotten mythology people felt that the sun had truly soaked into such plants, that some portion of summer remained hidden inside the cones and barks and so forth. Certainly there's a hint of magic to the entire process of dyeing fibers, but in this case it really seems magical, to produce this gorgeous delicate sunshine out of "dead" brown material.

Prehistoric textiles. Who knew? Fascinating, so thank you.

I find that even after the cones have fallen they give good colour, when the tree is cut down, the cut parts go a bright orange. :)

Great video! Another interesting thing about alders is that their leaves don't become red/yellowish in autumn like most other trees. They just sort of gradually wither and become grey. Very interesting tree.

Sally, I love your videos! I ALWAYS look at them as soon as I see them available. Thank you so much! : )

I knew I planted those two alder trees in my garden for a reason, that's not counting the seedlings everywhere! That wool is a lovely honey colour.

I always love when you post a new video. Such great info.

Lovely colors. Always fun, to do these kind of experiments!

Pretty darn cool!😎👍👍 Thank you for the inspiration🙏🙏

Wow that wool looks lovely! Thank you so much for you're Videos.🍀

Fascinating. This is one I'd like to try on nettle thread.

Lovely, as always.

mmmm, not quite the sort of color i like. i did get a nice olivey brown/green from black walnut leaves!!!

Thank you for this! 💗

I'm learning so much about the plants around me from your videos, thank you so much. Is there a book you would recommend for natural dyes? I'm in the UK, in case it makes a difference.

Thumbnail made me think Atomic Shrimp!

I live in the western us, so all we have is white alder. Can i use that to do this? Which one r u useing, white or red? Sry if this is a dumb question, i am dont know much about plants/dyes.

Hello, can alder cones be used to dye hair brown?

How does the dye effect of alder cones compare with walnut husks? Also, would not a mordant increase the coloration even with a tannin based dyestuff?

what are good fixatives for the dye

What were people doing to bleech the linen in the past?

flax is a modern crop no? prehistoric fibers would not have been as selectively bred as the flax of today. in order to do a better experiment u should use the nettle fibers youve made videos on. also best to wash and boil in rain/lake/stream water. maybe some minerals in natureal water would have had some mordanting effect... probably very slight though. it is quite a job as u well know so best to get it done with a group i think. perhaps iron from the clay in the pots used to boil the water could have had some mordanting effect? you mention bronze age but only nobility would have had bronzeware pots id guess. maybe craftspeople would depending on the civilization...

Hot tip for alternative hedgerow basket improv: if you're wearing a hoodie; put it on backwards! Was out late last summer and discovered some blackberries and apples walking near a friend's house and with no pocket on my outfit made a very fine job of foraging by filling my hood :)

Love your hedgebothering videos! Thank you.

Wow, I never thought that these cones could produce such a splendid colour. Amazing. And a big thank you fir putting in the small explanation boxes in the corners to help folow you along.

Also, the cone water is a good disinfectant for feet. And other uses.

Wow I love the golden color of the dye

I wonder if ochre would work as a mordant in early dyes. It was already used as a colorant (cave painting and possibly clothing and shells). Because most ochres seem to be metal compounds (as are most mordants), I wonder if it would work. Ochre isn't prevalent in my part of the world, or I would have done the experiment myself. ;)

I live in Ballarat Victoria Australia, and am lucky enough to have an Alder in my front garden. Have got some lovely colours using leaves, catkins and sawdust from a necessary prune of branches. Yet to try the cones, but hoping for more variety. I used moderators of alum, copper, iron, washing soda, bicarb and cream of tartar, on silk yarn and fabric, and wind the threads onto spools l make in my woodturning sessions. Probably embroider, or small weavings with the threads. Thanks for the impetus to continue onto the cones 🙂

How did I miss this video? Ah, well - it's been a busy few weeks for me, but now I've seen it. I had to look up Alder trees, and sadly they do not grow in my part of the US - seems to be mostly a West Coast tree, and I'm in the East. What a lovey dye it makes! Thank you for another interesting, informative video, Sally! Looking forward to more, as always.

Hello from British Columbia Canada As children playing house outdoors we pounded those alder cones into "coffee"

You do the most interesting things (that includes your swim with the cows😊)! I love burdock, though where it grows in my yard it is not wet.

This video's exactly what I needed after the day today was. I'm pleased to see further uses for the lye you made beyond soap.

Your wool came out the exact colour of cooked spaghetti!

👍