Natural dyes

Often referred  to as vagetable dyes though many of these were obtained from animal and mineral source. Despite the intoduction of good quality synthetic dyes, which are reasonably cheap and plentiful the master dyers in Iran prefer the use of natural dyes.

Natural dyes produce a subtle beauty of tone that has never been equalled by use of even the finest synthetic dyes. The natural dyes come from roots, flowers, leaves, fruits and barks of plants, or from animal sources such as cochineal and or mineral sources such as red soils. The natural dyes had the advantage of being found in abundance in the natural environments. Red is  obtained from the roots of the madder plant ( Rubia tinctorum) and also from the crushed bodies of female insects of the coccus cacti genus. Yellow is made from the reseda plant, vine leaves and pomegranate skins . Blue is derived from indigo plants