Title:
Bringing Color to Life (and Tears to Eyes) With a
Natural Dye
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Technology Report.
See text below
Text:
Dye can bring a little color to life. Most clothing
is colored with dyes. Modern, manufactured dyes can
be costly. Natural dyes from plant and animal
products have been used since ancient times. So this
week, we describe a natural way to dye wool.The
advice comes from information written by Jenny Dean
of the Intermediate Technology Development Group in
Britain. This anti-poverty group is now called
Practical Action.There are several methods to put
dye onto material. The vat method, for example, can
be used to dye wool with onionskins. For this
example, use one hundred grams of natural wool. The
wool must be clean. Leave it overnight in water and
liquid soap. Then wash it with clean, warm water.
Gently squeeze out the extra water.A solution called
a mordant is used in the dying process. A mordant
helps fix the dye to the material. Traditionally,
mordants were found in nature. Wood ash is one
example. But chemical mordants such as alum are
popular today. Alum is sold in many stores. It is
often mixed with cream of tartar, a fine powder
commonly used in cooking.Mix eight grams of alum
with seven grams of cream of tartar in a small
amount of hot water. Add the solution to a metal pan
of cool water. Next, add the wool and place the
mixture over heat. Slowly bring the liquid to
eighty-two degrees Celsius. Heat the mixture for
forty-five minutes. After it cools, remove the wool
and wash it.To prepare the dye solution, cover
thirty grams of onionskins with water. Use only the
dry, brown outer skins. Boil the liquid until the
onionskins lose their color, about forty-five
minutes. Remove the skins after the dye cools.Now it
is time to dye the wool. Place the wool into the dye
and heat the mixture. Bring it to a boil, then
immediately reduce the heat to eighty-two degrees.
Now heat the dye for about forty-five minutes or
until the wool is the desired color. Keep in mind
that wet wool looks darker than it is. Once the dye
cools, remove the wool and wash it. Now the wool is
orange or yellow. Or at least it should be. Internet
users can get the full details at
practicalaction.org. Again, the address is
practicalaction.org. And enter the word "dye,"
d-y-e, in the search box. We will post a link to the
site at voaspecialenglish.com. And that's the VOA
Special English Development Report.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
