I was following a discussion about eco printing with Euclyptus leaves and decided to try a little experiment. I used 3 scarves mordanted with alum and wrapped them with fallen Eucalyptus cinerea leaves and a few other ones...rose and red amaranth, all bundled around a bamboo stalk.
I boiled one bundle in a stainless pot, boiled the second in an iron pot, and steamed the third in an aluminum steamer. I cooked the bundles for an hour, let them cool in their pots, and then waited a week, keeping them moist.
The 2 boiled bundled took on a deep red (from the amaranth) which eventually washed out. The rose leaves were most visible on the steamed bundle. There doesn't seem to be much difference between the two boiled bundles. I am still looking for some of the blues others seem to get with the iron.
Scarf boiled for an hour in stainless pot
Scarf boiled for an hour in iron pot
Scarf steamed for an hour in aluminum steamer
I kind of like the third one the most-funny with an alum mordant and in an aluminum pot it seems as if the prints are clearer if not as intense..
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly it. They don't get as wet. Also, the surrounding material tends to not pick up as much ambient color as the boiled ones. I am still trying to figure out whether to keep dampening my bundles or not. Our humidity is about 13% right now, and they dry out fast. Of course, in the winter, I will have the opposite problem...they will never dry.
ReplyDelete