Threads & Fabric

Textile Dyeing

2 articles

Editorial illustration for Making Dye Stay: How Mordants, Post-Treatments and Irradiation Deliver Colorfast Textiles
Sustainable Stitch

Making Dye Stay: How Mordants, Post-Treatments and Irradiation Deliver Colorfast Textiles

Achieve durable textile colors through deliberate dye fixation, exploring three main methods: mordanting with metal salts, chemical post-treatments, and modern irradiation techniques. Understanding these processes is key to colorfastness and managing consumer expectations.

Sofia Rios·November 5, 2026
Editorial illustration for Natural Dyes Are Not Automatically Greener: The Real Trade-Offs in How We Color Cloth
Sustainable Stitch

Natural Dyes Are Not Automatically Greener: The Real Trade-Offs in How We Color Cloth

Natural dyes are often perceived as environmentally friendly, but they present their own challenges, including pesticide use, high resource demand, and effluent from mordants. Synthetic dyes, while linked to fossil fuels and water pollution, offer consistency and vibrancy, meaning neither is automatically greener.

Sofia Rios·October 27, 2026