1. Colorants. Beyond the recipe
This is the first video in Michel Garcia’s acclaimed series From Plant to Dye — a comprehensive introduction to the world of natural color.
In this rich and immersive course, Michel shares his deep knowledge through lectures, practical demonstrations, plant profiles, and tried-and-tested recipes. You'll follow him through real studio processes and outdoor exploration, gaining insight into the chemistry, botany, and cultural heritage of natural dyes.
Whether you’re a curious beginner or a seasoned dyer, this course offers essential foundations and fresh perspectives.
Includes:
🎥 Approx. 280 minutes of video
📘 A detailed 25-page handout with key concepts, techniques, and plant data
Language:
🎙️ Narrated in English
🔤 Subtitled in French, Italian, Spanish, and German
Classification of colorants and biodiversity
Many plants on Earth produce coloring matters. However, only a few of them yield colorants, which can be extracted and worked out to be economically usable.
Anthocyanins: false friends
Anthocyanins are called “chameleons between plant pigments” because they are too pH sensitive
Chemistry of flavonoids
Flavonoids represent a giant group of colorants which give colors from lemon yellow to orange. They are subdivided in several groups. Michel gives a lecture about chemistry of flavonoids. What is the secret of their lightfastness, how can we manage it?
Pagoda tree: extract, lake and printing paste
Demonstration and recipes
Neoflavonoids. Logwood demo
Logwood is very popular, but it is a versatile dye. How can we stabilize it? The secret of Logwood dye stabilization.
Quinone dyes
Quinone colorants are extremely valuable for the dyer. Michel gives a lecture about alizarin, the famous colorant present in madder roots.
The secret of beautiful madder red
Demonstration and recipes
Cochineal: extract and lake
Theory and demonstration
Safflower: selective extraction
Let's learn how to separate desired colorants from non-desired
annato, alcanet, sandalwood...dyes not soluble in water
Special cases: colorants poorly soluble in water
Indigo, the king of color
Michel talks about the chemistry of indigo, about lime and maintenance of the vat.
Indigocarmin, a promising blue colorant
From saxony blue to indigocarmin. Demonstration and a bit of theory
Turmeric: a fugitive dye
Turmeric demo.
Lichens: alternative source
of colorants
Demonstration
