Colour gamut of pad-steam dyed cotton fabric from natural extracts of Rubia tinctorum and Rubia cordifolia

Until the 20th century, natural dyes were widely used and traded.1 These were the only available source for colouring textiles. However, modern dyeing rarely uses them and their application is limited to craft dyers and specialist companies. The word “natural dye or colourant” is used for all such dyes which are obtained from sources such as vegetables, animals and minerals. These dyes are derived from such sources without any chemical processing. Most of the dyes used in textile dyeing are nowadays synthetic. It was in 1856, when new colouration techniques were introduced by William Henry Perkin with the discovery of so called basic dye (synthetic) from coal tar.2–4 These dyes were different in many respects from the already established natural colourants and were low cost, brilliant and independent of vagaries of agriculture.5 Under all these circumstances, natural dyes at the industrial level have nearly become obsolete but amongst craftsmen and hobbyists their popularity still exists.