What Does Mordant Mean?
Mordant is a substance used to prepare wool or silk for dyeing. It is a chemical agent that fixes a dyestuff to a fibre. Mordant is added to the dye bath with the dye to help the dye adhere better to the fabric. It is normally used with natural dyes. Different hues and shades from the same dye can be produced with the help of different mordants. Thus it is a colourless dye absorbing substance used in some forms of toning. The most common mordants are alum and iron sulphite. The silver image is converted into a mordant before soaking it in dye. It can be either inherently colloidal or produces colloids. Mordants can be either acidic or basic in nature.
