A natural colorant was extracted from Coffea arabica L., using water as extractant at 90 degrees C for 90 min. Studies have been made on the dyeing, color fastness, and deodorization properties of cotton, silk, and wool fabrics dyed with Coffea arabica L. extract solutions. The best mordants were found to be FeSO4, CuSO4, and SnSO4 for improving the color strength (K/S) of cotton, silk, and wool fabrics. Mordants MnSO4, ZnSO4, and NiSO4 for cotton (Rating 3), and all mordants except MnSO4 for silk (Rating 3), mordants CuSO4, FeSO4, COSO4, Al-2(SO4)(3), and MnSO4 for wool (Rating 4) were the best mordants to improve the light fastness. It was found that FeSO4 and CuSO4 were the best mordants for the improvements of color strength (K/S) and light fastness for silk and wool fabrics. In addition, it was found that cotton, silk, and wool fabrics dyed with the Coffea arabica L. extract showed good deodorization performance. (C) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 251-257,2007