NATURAL DYES
NATURAL DYE EXTRACTS
Shepherd Textiles offers a range of more than 40 colorful textile dyes extracted from natural sources like roots, bark, flower petals, fruits, and resins. Our dye extracts are trusted by woolen mills, fashion designers, university laboratories, history museums, indie yarn makers, and countless artists and home dyers. Check out each page for helpful tips to make the most of our botanical colors.
The root that frustrated and fascinated dyers for centuries. Check out our tips for perfect Turkish reds.
An exceptional lac dye that produces burgundies, lilacs, and scarlets, Kusumi Lac might be the finest natural red on silk.
A new form of cochineal extract rich in highly soluble carminic acid. For crimsons, scarlets, and lilacs on all natural fibers.
Made in our own studio from a recipe dating to 1874, Lana Rosada Pink Cochineal Paste gives nature’s richest pinks.
The same bold palette as cochineal, but from a plant-based source. Yummy cherry reds or deep mulberry purples.
A traditional African dye, red sorghum produces deep, rusty red shades reminiscent of desert canyons and terracotta.
Bright canary yellows and neon oranges: Flavin™ is made from the buds of the pagoda tree and may be nature’s strongest yellow.
A classic dye from the south of France, Persian Berry gives warm yellows with hint of gold on protein fibers like wool and silk.
As much of a tannin as a pure dye, myrobalan gives fibers a warm, color-fast yellow before overdyeing with other colors.
A European dye used as far back as the Iron Age, buckthorn bark gives warm golden yellow shades that shift to pink with an alkali.
A special logwood extract formulated for deep indigo blues on wool, sky blues on cotton, and slate blues on everything else.
The classic natural brown dye, Cutch gives a range of sandy tans and even dark chocolate browns. High in tannins and color-fast.
A cutch dye extracted from the seeds of the betel palm, Bombay Cutch holds the potential for rosy shades of brown.
An ancient dye with roots in the Pharaonic era of Egypt, henna gives sandy shades of brown and soft olive greens.
More than just a resin. The bark of the Gum Arabic Tree is rich in natural tannins, and it gives warm tans and khaki browns.
The winter treat that’s packed full of tannins. Use chestnut bark for soft, tan shades, or to pre-treat cotton so dyes look darker.
A unique dye made from the tannins in unripe persimmons, kakishibu applies without heat and darkens in the sun.
A rustic oak gall extract perfect for tanning cotton and linen fibers before mordanting them. Especially good with iron.
A refined oak gall extract containing only lightly-colored tannins. Ideal for dyeing cotton and linen bright and vivid hues.
An older form of cochineal extract first described in the 17th century, carmine doesn’t hide its bright red shade.
The bug that makes shellac also makes a red pigment to go with it. Dark merlots, rich burgundies, and all the colors of red wine.
Those beautiful spring flowers pack a punch! Dye natural fibers bright shades of lemon and sun yellow.
The yellow of Medieval tapestries and Persian rugs. Grown organically in the Languedoc region of southern France.
A popular dye during the Late Middle Ages, this forgotten fustic dyes rich orange-yellow shades on all natural fibers.
From the heartwood of a tropical mulberry tree, Old Fustic gives rich, golden yellows that apply easily to all natural fibers.
A Korean dye extracted from gardenia seeds. Gives bright yellows on wool and cotton and exceptional golds on silk.
Goldenrod flowers give soft yellows that shift to yummy sage and olive greens with the addition of a little iron.
The perfect extract for cooks who forget to save their onion skins, Onion Peel gives mustard yellows, even without a mordant.
Not the rhubarb you eat with strawberries. The roots of the Himalayan Rhubarb give deep golden colors and rich brick reds.
A Western wildflower that gives deep shades of pumpkin orange, perfect for warm autumn colors.
The secret color of pollo asado and cheddar cheese. Use annatto for beautiful but ephemeral red-oranges on wool and cotton.
The strongest source of natural blue, but also one of the most complex to use. Read our guide to help get your indigo vat going.
A new and improved Gardenia Blue made from cape jasmine seeds, for ocean blue shades without a reduction vat.
One of the only natural blue dyes besides indigo comes from the fruit of the Cape Jasmine, a.k.a. the gardenia in your garden.
Flower power! Floral Green™ is a 100% flower-based natural dye blend that gives intense emerald greens on woolen fibers.
Create rich forest greens and dark olive greens, all by using the natural chlorophyll in mulberry leaves.
Famous for intense purples, this ancient Mesoamerican dye can also produce dark blues and deep black.
Fantastic mahogany and chocolate browns from the pressed and steamed leaves of an Indonesian evergreen.
A tannin-rich hardwood from South America, quebracho gives a series of soft, sandy browns and beautiful fawn colors.
Rich in warm ellagic tannins, pomegranate makes the perfect base for saddening with iron to get mossy slate grays.
The clearest natural tannin. Use it to pre-treat cotton and linen so other dyes attach better, without changing the final color.
MORDANTS & ASSISTS
Our collection of mordanting agents and dyeing assistants. We stock a variety of specialized mordants for the cotton and linen dyer, as well as ingredients for making indigo vats and adjusting dye baths. Be sure to check out Nature’s Mordant, the only 100% plant-based mordant for natural dyes.
The aluminum mordant favored by historical dyers for getting bright colors on cotton and linen. Apply with chalk and gentle heat.
A versatile new aluminum mordant for cotton and linen that gives bright colors, with or without a tannin.
Our professional-grade aluminum mordant. Combine with a tannin for exceptionally strong colors on plant fibers.
The standard iron mordant. Delivers good results on all natural fibers. Can also be used to reduce an indigo vat.
A reducing sugar for use in indigo vats, and a natural alternative to industrial chemicals.
An alkaline agent for building indigo vats, including the popular sugar-based organic vat.
Also known as chalk. Used for fixing aluminum acetate and for getting deeper colors with dyes like logwood and weld.
A highly soluble form of calcium used for getting rich colors with calcium-loving dyes like madder.
The 100% plant-based fixative for natural dyes, made from a blend of seed, bark, and rind extracts.
RAW NATURAL DYES
The raw materials of nature’s palette: wood chips, roots, leaves, even lichens. We’ve searched the globe to find the strongest natural dyestuffs that will give the richest colors on fibers and textiles. We import many of our dyes direct from the producers. Click on a dye to view our guide to getting the best colors.
Not the the neon green powder. Our crushed indigo leaf is so fresh it can be blended with ice to give clear sky blues.
The tree that built the West. Osage Oranges make tough living fences and produce a beautiful yellow from their heartwood.
Bright, luminous fuchsia from a humble lichen. Orchil was famous in the 19th century, and all but forgotten since.
Tannin-rich galls plucked from the branches of the Chinese sumac tree. Sadden with iron for deep, rich grays.
Careful, black walnut stains everything! We start with whole hulls foraged in Tennessee and grind them in our studio.
Strong, lightfast yellows on all natural fibers - weld was the favorite yellow of Continental dyers for many centuries.
A classic yellow dye from Korea that contains the same pigment as saffron. Time to try your own saffron-colored silk?
The heartwood of a tropical tree just dripping with purple. Change the mordant to get somber blues and inky blacks.
Chock-full of tannins, this South American hardwood gives golden browns on all natural fibers, including cotton.
A scraggly shrub from the high deserts of the Andes, rhatany gives beautiful shades of coral, rust, and auburn.
A weird, knobby fruit with a powerful orange pigment. Dyes wool and silk with shades of tangerine and flame.
Are you looking for clear golden yellows? Because the heartwood of Old Fustic is how you get clear golden yellows.
For the perfect “millenial pink.” Hand-crafted in small batches, because we can only eat so much guacamole.
Amur Cork does just one thing, but it does it really well: dye unmordanted silk brilliant shades of lemon yellow.
Rusty reds and eggplant purples from one of the most important dyes of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The most powerful of the natural red dyes, and also the most complex. Read our guide for help getting true crimson.
A bug that dyes bright red? Our raw cochineal comes from Peru, and gives brilliant scarlets and maroons.
A dyebath that smells like incense. Red Sandalwood is a rare heartwood from South India that dyes a rich brick red.
One of nature’s most complex roots, alkanet gives lilacs and purples depending on the PH. Pairs well with vodka.