A method utilising soxhlet extraction process, was standardised for the extraction of natural dyes from small textile fibres, and thin layer chromatographic methods were developed for the analysis of red and yellow natural dyes. The methods developed were utilised for the analysis of 70 representative samples from the textile specimen of the Calico Museum, Ahmedabad, Gujarat (India). The results of the studies have been published in the Studies in Conservation, 33, 1-8 (1988).

Yellow Dyes Adsorbent layer: Nano plate Sil 20. : Chloroform:ethyl acetate:methyl ethyl ketone:formic acid :: 15:5:3:1 Detection: Viewing under UV light of 366 nm Red Dyes Adsorbent layer: Cel 300 AC 10 Eluent: Ethyl acetate:tetrahydrofuran:water :: 6:35:47 Detection: Viewing under UV light of 366 nm The identification of dyes in the samples was accomplished by comparing TLC data of the samples with the TLC data of the reference standards prepared by the NRLC. Analysis for indigo in the samples of blue, violet, turquoise, green and blue-black shades, were identified by micro-chemical test.

The results, giving the dyes along with the various shades of samples in which they were identified, are summarised below: