As well as spinning yarn using wool, alpaca, mohair, silk and other fibre, The Natural Fibre Company also specialises in dyeing natural fibre and can closely match a customer's requirements. Follow the link for our latest price list.

Since the dye plant was commissioned in 2008 it has developed a range of specialist colours which are used in Blacker Designs and Blacker Yarns products. The dye plant also opened up new markets and offered unlimited design opportunities for its customers.

If you are looking at dyeing for the first time, it may help if you think of dyes in the same way as paint. Browns and greys, for example, go with a range of different things; blues match greys, golds match browns; pink, turquoise and purple go with either.

Due to the time and work required when matching specific requirements, we have to charge £15 per colour, and since natural wool varies considerably, we reserve the right to charge more when using deeper-colour dyes on certain yarns.

Dyes approved for use with organic wool

We use acid-reactive dyes. In addition to hot water, all they need to complete the dyeing process are an acid and wetting and balancing agents.

All our dyes are organically approved to the Global Organic Textile Standard. Effluent from the dye vats is almost colourless as the fibre absorbs all the colour. We are able to dye either organic or non-organic yarns, but obviously these have to be done separately.

Try a one-hank sample

If you have no experience of dyeing it may be best to start with a small quantity enabling you to make a pattern with the natural and dyed colours running together. You could, for example, dye perhaps 10% of a weaving yarn batch to add a few stripes or checks which will lift the natural colours.

Try beginning with a one-hank sample, the smallest quantity we can accept. This would become part of a batch of 10kg or 25kg. To help you, we are prepared to combine yarns from several different customers to make up a batch.

Each yarn will take on its own unique shade because of the individual characteristics of the fleece and fibre. This means that although we will do everything possible when dyeing natural fibre, we cannot guarantee that dyed colours from different batches will match. We are looking into dyeing for cones, but at present we can only do hank dyeing.

Prices

Up to 1kg: £25

1-10kg: £20 a kilo

10-25kg: £15 a kilo

For larger quantities, space dyeing and specialist small batches, prices on application.