Dyes and dying fabrics
From death penalties for wearing the wrong colour, to the invention the search for a cure for malaria, dyes have a colourful past
The history and methods behind fabric dying
From Ancient Egypt to the modern day – for over 4000 years mankind has been brightening up clothing with natural and synthetic dyes. Throughout the ages adding individuality to clothing with colour has been used to denote gender, status and allegiance. It started with natural mineral and plant dyes, but with the discovery of synthetic dyes came a plethora of colour choice. We take a deeper look into the history of dying and what different dyes are made from.
The first dyed fabrics
When the first humans created clothes made from linseed and cotton, the need for dyeing was absent. All the garments were used in their natural colour, which was something close to pale grey or white. After centuries of using these textiles, when the first civilisations were flourishing in the Middle East, in Egypt and in Asia, the need to distinguish gender and class became more pronounced and so the first natural dyes were created. Scientists have even found evidence about the first natural reds and oranges in tombs back to 2600BC.
An important manuscript of the Hellenistic period showing exactly the importance of the dyeing industry in the ancient world is the so-called Stockholm Papyrus. It contains over a hundred recipes for manufacturing dyes and how to apply them to textiles. It is an important source, as it follows the development of the dyeing industry from the Hellenistic to Roman times.