Natural Dyes

Many people believe that in order to look medieval, you can only use very plain, natural colours. It is actually possible to produce a myriad of colours using natural dyes, and even very bright ones.

The most difficult colours to dye are greens and very bright red, thus these colours were more expensive. Pure black and pure white were also very uncommon, where “black” is usually very dark with a brown or blue tinge and pure white can only be obtained through ', 'extensive treatment and sun bleaching.

A Viking black was created by mixing three of the most expensive dyes: cochineal, woad and weld. The Vikings also had their own method of creating brilliant white, however again it was very expensive.

If you are portraying a Byzantine peasant then you will wish to avoid purple. It was considered an imperial colour, and culturally only worn through special privilege and rank. A very wealthy Byzantine persona may consider wearing a small piece of purple cloth.

Other colours to avoid are very bright fluorescent colours; however some bright blues and yellows can be obtained. The image below demonstrates many colours that have been obtained using natural dyes that were available during the medieval period.

Dye Equivalent Colours
The following table highlight a selection of some of the more commonly known colours and a modern dye equivalent for obtaining this colour.

Dye	Paterna	D.M.C.
Indigo from murex	540	7319
Shellfish (non-specific)	300	7895
Weld and alum and urine	711	7784
Weld	760	7473
Madder over Woad	723	7767
Madder	861	7920
Madder and alkali	930	7184
Madder and copper	871	7446
Woad	524	7692
Woad over weld	691	7769

Additional Information
Black in Period
Craft of Natural Dying
Dye Equivalent Colours by Regia Anglorum
Medieval Dyes