Definition of "mordants" []

• Plural form of mordant. (noun)

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• "These coloured bodies are called "colour lakes," and the metallic compounds used in connection with their production "mordants," hence often the dye-stuffs applied by this method are termed "mordant dyes"."
• "By and by, however, it was found possible to render some of the dyes more permanent, probably in the first instance by the application of certain kinds of earth or mud, as we know to be practiced by the Maori dyers of to-day, and in this way, as it appears to me, the early dyers learnt the efficacy of what we now call "mordants," which I may briefly describe as fixing agents for coloring matters."
• "Printing on textiles with colored dyes to produce the ever-popular calico prints, for instance was even more challenging—requiring thickeners, mordants, and solvents in multiple steps—and often took the dyers weeks to complete."