Permanent colours that fix to media including textiles, leather, paper , derived from plants, flowers, leaves, roots and stems of dye yielding plants are called plant colours.

Yes, at times, plant colours are also called natural dyes as plants are found in nature. Generally, the term “natural dyes “ includes colours derived from sources such as animal pigments and earth pigments.

Plant based colurs are not usually available in a standardised form (powders, liquids etc) and need to be extracted from raw dye stuffs (dried/fresh flowers, stems, leaves). After colour extraction, a dye bath is created into which the medium to be dyed is immersed and dyed (Textiles, leather). Due to this, some may find plant based colours difficult to apply.

Plant colours are not usually extracted and stored readily in shops in a standardised form (powders, liquids etc). They are usually freshly extracted from sources and therefore they may be difficult to find.

The Cirana website will curate producers and manufacturers of
standardised, plant colours.

Producing repeatably, consistent shades of high quality is a result that is very difficult to achieve when using plant based colours. Results vary depending on the quality of dyestuffs and mordants, season , technique, experience of dyer and also on local water quality. Many manufacturers and brands use unique and often times, proprietary processes, after much experimentation and expense to achieve consistent, durable shades. Although this is a universal problem, consistent results are also what sets certain manufacturers and brands apart from others in the marketplace.

Interaction and trust are two intangible ways in which a consumer can be sure that a brand uses pure plant based colours. Cirana tries to achieve this result by interacting with players in the plant colours space and listing their details through contact forms.