This web page started out as a question: did anyone dye linen red in the 18th century? We know they dyed woolens and silk fabrics red, but the evidence for red linen was sparse. It eventually turned out (thanks to some digging by a fellow reenactor) that there is a little evidence for linen being dyed red, but it doesn’t seem to have been as common as some other colors.  On the other hand, one finds plentiful references to cotton, wool and silk being dyed red.   Most modern people’s experience with natural dyes is of a home-made, occasionally blotchy or spotty, uneven product. In the 18th century, dyers were professionals – they…