We like to think there is no point in making a B-grade quality product. We want something that's going to wash and wear and last several years before it ends in the land fill. But the good part is that when it does finally end in the land fill it will bio-degrade. It's been a long painful process with dye stuff. Dyes are difficult and dirty and there's no two ways about it.
Fashionable dyes are still in mediaeval areas.
The money in research and development by large chemical companies has been put into synthetic dye stuff and the ones we use on our toys are actually incredibly efficient. They are what they call a direct dye. They use Sibacron LS, a low salt dye which just leaves a mild salty water after we finish using it. The dye exhausts well onto the fabric, it is a synthetic dye, but it's the safest and cleanest one available on the market. We've used some vegetable dyes with varying success.