It has been known that the chitosan pre-treated fabrics can be dyed without the aid of mordanting process. It is due to the fact that chitosan treatment increases the dye uptake. However, the effect of chitosan on the dyeing mechanism has not been elucidated thus far. Following explanations have been presented regrading the action of the chitosan on the dyeing mechanisms: 1. Chitosan absorbs dyestuffs and facilitates dyeing since the chitosan itself has a good affinity toward dyestuffs. 2. Chitosan acts as a metallic mordant between the fiber molecule and dyestuff. 3. Fiber molecules and chitosan form a coordinate covalent bond. This study aims the quantitative investigation on the effect of the chitosan and the effect of sequence of the mordanting, pre-mordanting or post-mordanting, on the dyeing of the fabrics. Cotton fabrics and acylic fabrics were pre-treated with chitosan before dyeing with cochineal dyestuffs. Method 1: Fabrics were, firstly, mordanted with Al, Sn, Cu, and Fe; mordanted fabrics were, secondly, treated with chitosan; mordanted and chitosan-treated fabrics were, thirdly, dyed. Method 2: Fabrics were, firstly, treated with chitosan; chitosan-treated fabrics were, secondly, mordanted with Al, Sn, Cu, and Fe; these were dyed then. Method 2 gave distinguished specific color development with darker shade. Apart from this, chitosan-treated fabrics yielded darker shade compared to the pre-mordanted fabrics without chitosan-treatment.