I have been asked an interesting question, and am not sure how to answer it.... I have been asked about period (pre 1600) techniques for dying pearls??? I have no clue I have been folloowing a reference about pearls were sun bleached.. but have not been able to find any solid leads and I have also heard that pearls are only dyed after the holes are drilled in them..... I really have no clue here.. (so what is new)


this has inadvertently turned into another Idea to recreate peroiod pearl dying methods if I can find them and they are NOT toxic......

any and all help leads uidanc is greatly appreciated.


thanks
Ash

Hi Ash,

Pearls were usually sunbleached if they were mottled and in Venice around the late Renaissance to early Enlightenment (late 1500s to early 1600s) large drilled pearls were soaked in cochenille solution to make them bright red. Venetian pearl traders also used saffron soaks to make cream pearls look golden. The earliest use of silver nitrate to make pearls look black was in the latter part of the 1800s when Empress Eugenie's black pearls were the envy of all European Royalty.

Zeide

[Caitlin]

Hi Ash
Cochineal is a kind of scale insect that lives on prickly pear cactus. We have a great deal of it around Tucson. When you wash the fuzzy white scale growth off the plant, it turns bright red as it washes away. I have always wanted to collect some and experiment with fabrics.

I see wikipedia has a good article, but it came up without an address at the top.

Hi Caitlyn, Zeide


I knew about the sun bleached method. thanks to the all powerful Zeide.

I would love to get a copy of your resources about the rest!!!! I also wondered if you need to have holes drilled in the pearls for the dyeing to take?? and do you need a mordent for the dyeig like you do with dying fabrics such as silks, wools and linnens and cotton???? I also wonder i f I could try boiled onion peels and some other stuff used for dying fabrics in period how that would work in the poearls.... Hmmmm....

Now I want to get out my dying stuff and try it.... ANother thing to put on the back burner for now! I will stillpoke abotu and see what I can find.. ( I have my doubts but I am going to look anyway)

Thanks
Ash

Hi Ash,

Cochenille is also used to dye teeth so it works on pearls just fine. It just works faster when the pearls are dilled because that provides a whole extra surface for the dye to work on. Saffron only works on pearls that have been drilled. For dying with saffron, the pearls are first washed in salt slurry to make them "water starved" and then put to soak in the concentrated saffron solution for months and months. You will have to change the saffron solution about once a week or it will turn bad and you repeat the salt treatment before every change of saffron soak. This method gives you pearls that look very much like Indonesian South Sea pearls of the lighter kind and is very expensive. It was just one more way for rich people to show that they had money to burn. Otherwise, anything that works on eggs will also work on pearls but because pearls contain conchiolin in addition to the calcium carbonate in a way that eggs don't they need to to soak much longer.


Zeide

Okay its official I am banned from the kitchen until after the holidays, Hubby is doing his Seamus' Famous cookis.. so the bannign is relaly a good thing!

anyway I have put the Information Zeide gave into a file on my computer for later! I am very eageer to try these new concoctions. I have some really bad (even by beaders standards) beads I can use!! Happy dance!!!!!!

ThanK you! Thank you! Thank you!

Ashby

Hello,
Does anyone know how & with what I could dye or tint real pearls (freshwater &/or saltwater) pearls at home?? Modern methods/chemicals would be fine with me as long as they are not too difficult or dangerous to use at home (I would not want the fumes to hurt my dogs, hamsters, or my husband!!). I'd like to dye some real pearls a baby blue & also faintly tint some others: very lightly blue, very lightly pink & a pale cream. I own some bumpy freshwater pearls I could experiment on before trying to dye or tint the round freshwater pearls & before I try such on my round saltwater pearls(Akoya).
Can anyone tell me how to do all this, supplies needed, etc., or links to websites that have instructions for me to do this at home??
I would be very grateful for any help with this project I'd like to do!
Until Later,
Lorie in S.W.Ohio USA

Hi Lorie,

Whatever works on easter eggs also works on pearls. It just takes longer. Using modern methods is probably going to safe you a lot of money. Make sure that the egg dying method of your choice does not include adding vinegar or that there is no acid in the packaged dye. After you followed the instructions on the dye package, you take the pearls and dye solution and put them in a new jam jar while still hot. Close the jar and wait a few months. You can start checking whether the color is right after about 6 weeks. You will have to heat the content again before closing each time or you will get some fouling that you definitely do not want.

Zeide