15 Jun DYES THAT CAN ALL WORK TOGETHER?
There is a scientific reason why natural vegetable dyes work well together. They are not pure colours. Within each natural dye are the elements of all the primary colours.
For instance, Rubbia, the mountain rose herb also called matter root, is used to produce brilliant red. However, it also reflects blue and yellow but the red is dominant. Our brain sees red, blue and yellow but we register it only as red. Because natural plant dyes have all three colours within them, it is thus easy for them to harmonize and work well together.
The same is not true for synthetic or chemical dyes that were designed to be monochromatic and flat. That is, a red synthetic dye only has red and does not contain the yellow and blue elements that would be found in a natural dye.
Carpets produced using natural dyes have a character that cannot be reproduced using synthetic dyes. That is why we love them so much and why we stand in awe at the beautiful colours and patterns that we find in these priceless historical treasures.