The Art and Science of Natural Dyes: Principles, Experiments, and Results

I was so excited to receive this book, and although I haven't fully read it, I have glanced through the content and it looks like just what I was hoping for with lots of really useful info, clear photos and a nice layout. HOWEVER: Amazon's shipping choices were horrible and resulted in damage to the book itself. They shipped this with another heavy and non-book-shaped object in a thin, unpadded bag. The corners of the book are bashed in, and the cover has completely been torn off its hinges. For a book bought in new condition, this is pretty unacceptable.

I’ve already had 3 “AHA” moments, and i’m only half way through. It’s not a book you read once and then sporadically refer to, so fortunately, it’s also spiral bound so it stays open to the page you want. (Terrific, now i have to dig my book/magazine holder back out of the “donate” box….)It’s not so sciencey that it can’t be understood, but it’s also not a skim it and do it manual. It covers the “classic” dyes, none of the usual beets, beans and berries nonsense, so don’t bother if you’re interested only in sauteing up some food waste, throwing in a cute baby onesie and staging artful photos for IG. If you’re serious about natural dyeing, and i don’t mean Total Scientist Mode but are a dedicated hobbyist/artist/small business owner, this is the book to explain WHY things work/don’t/happen. I still recommend Jenny Dean for basic, accurate dye recipes and processes, but this one will give you insights into the many variations that can and are encouraged to happen with skillful, knowledgeable hands.There’s a small section on testing the dye potential of local foraged plants, minimal though helpful, but not the focus of the book. That being said, those tests could lead to work with those plants, following the advice for the classics. It’s all grist for the colour mill!I’m not about to dissect any “recipe” in this reference manual: A. buy the book, i don’t like spreading out the photos of pages i find interesting, as i’d rather you support the authors, and their research and B. the recipes are classic anyways, BUT with much new information that can be digested fully with the book in front of you 🙂There’s a LOT of excitement about this book in the natural dye groups, and rightly so: it also supports all the things i, and others, have said about what constitutes solid, legitimate dyes and the techniques used to create these wondrous rainbows. I have to laugh though in one sense, because i just know that the new catchphrase is going to be “Welllll, Boutrup Ellis says……..”It’s not a cheap book, but then it’s not a cheap book, like so many of the Popular girls are publishing right now. I’m about to settle in with another cup of coffee and a pack of stickit thingies to mark pages, and do a little dreaming and planning.

The best book on Natural Dyeing I have seen. I met Joy at several conference of Surface Design Association. The book goes into depth on the chemistry of Dyeing and provides directions to researching plants. Extremely knowledgeable backed up by science.

I began to explore ecoprint and had so many failures and I thought I'd get this book to have some ideas of what I'm doing. I am seriously impressed with this book. The knowledge, information, as well as how it's written and organized. The book explains the science behind process in ways that are both very informative and easy to understand. It also connects all the dots from reading a blog page here, watching a video there.There are many recipes in this book, such as how to make Aluminum Acetate, which is very expensive to buy. All the recipes are organized in its own chapters, much better than scattered throughout the book. In the chapters pertain to specific recipes, the recipe #s are listed and makes it super easy to find.It's like a textbook but written in ways that is very easy to understand.I don't buy too many craft books as so most are just project-based, which are nice, but they are like cookbooks for making the exact same dish. This book, on the other hand, gives you the knowledge to venture beyond.This book is a must-have if you want to have a cohesive understanding of natural dye process.

I’ve been involved in eco printing and natural dyeing for a few years now. My library contains many books on dyeing but I honestly have to say this is the best book I’ve come across for my purposes. It’s a veritable “how to” on so many techniques...how to print with mordant dyes, mixing and shading colors, dyeing yarns, and indigo printing to name a few. And the authors go a step further by explaining the rationale behind “why” steps and processes need to be followed. It’s a beautiful book as well and bound using a spiral centerfold that insures the book lies flat and remains open to particular sections. I find this very helpful when I’m in my studio following along with the instructions.There’s also a tremendous “recipe” section in the back with over 36 recipes covering a broad range of applications. And before I forget, the book is beautiful...color plates are used strategically to depict before and after pictures, colors of dyes in relation to each other and too much more to delve into at the moment.For me, this is the best book investment I’ve ever made! I’m tremendously pleased with it and can see I’ll be taking it to bed with me for a long time!

Great book so far; but has to take one star out because of the spiral binder. It’s a total mess because the pages come off all the time when I’m reading it! Maybe it’s just me, I don’t know how to deal with spiral binder? Is there special handling that I don’t know? Also, this book came inside a hard cover which was detached from the book and I cannot attach it to the binder. I wish I could just read in peace without having to reattach the pages all the time. Or it could have used closed binder so the pages don’t come off. It’s been very informative and easy to understand .