Organic natural Indigo ~ Dye colour Blue 

[our Indigo is NOT synthetic]

Country of Origin: India 

The advantage in dyeing with Indigo is, that no mordant is needed.  The water doesn't need to be heated to more than 40 degrees Celsius and a little goes a long way. We can dye 3-4 kg of Wool using 50g of Indigo. 

There are many ways of dyeing with Indigo. Below you will find the recipe for a yeast vat.  For a straight forward no-waiting-required approach, you can use Hydros as an oxygen remover. Waiting time approx. one hour.

Colourfastness: Excellent for dark colours, good for lighter colours

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Basic Recipe ~

It is possible to create a vat from indigo, lime (calcium hydroxide) and over-ripe fruit such as bananas or dates that relies on the chemistry of the sugars* rather than fermentation of the fruit. But it’s easier to simply use fructose shared in

Our Organic Sugar Vat Recipe

Or for a more lightfast solution go for the recipe below or for a quick Vat, use the Hydros Vat, but it does use a chemical oxygen remover.

Our Hydros Vat Recipe

Both recipe are also available as dye Kits

FERMENTATION USING YEAST:

For 500gr wool etc. at one time . (amount can be repeated several times using the same bath)

 9l water

dye container with lid
separate pot for the water bath to add the container
110gr sugar
50gr dried yeast with out preservatives etc.
30gr bicarbonate of soda
40gr ground Indigo
thermometer

This Method requires the dye bath to be on a constant 40 degrees Celsius and shouldn't exceed 50 degrees Celsius. Ideally put the dye pot in a water bath on a wire rack to ensure even distribution of temperature. 

1. Fill pot with 9l of water and heat to 40 degrees Celsius. 

2. Mix sugar and yeast and add to the water. Leave until dissolved and bubbly. 

3. Dissolve soda in a glass with hot water and add the dye, stir until smooth. Add to yeast mixture. 

4. Close lid and ideally put into a bin bag, you want it as air locked as possible. Leave at steady temperature for 8 hours. 

5. Lift lid and stir carefully until all the foamed Indigo has returned into the dye. Try to stir as little air into it as possible.

6. Close the pot up again and leave for 48 hours until the water is yellow green.

7. The water will show a metallic shimmer on the surface when ready. Carefully stir it back in.

8. Add the damp but not mordanted wool etc. make sure all are under the water add a plate or a metallic disc to press the wool etc. under the surface. Whatever swims at the top will be unevenly dyed.

9. Close it up and leave for 6 -12 hours. 

10. Remove wool etc. and press out back into the dye bath.  

11. Open wool etc. and leave exposed for at least 60min. All should turn blue. 

12. If you prefer a deeper blue add it to the dye bath again and repeat step 9. 

13. Wash twice with a mild soap, then rinse 4-5 times using vinegar in the last bath. 

14. Hang up and air for a few days or weeks. 

You can repeat this dyeing process using the same dye bath several times.

LOGWOOD ~ Available Cut or ground and as extract* 

(Bois de Campeche, Campeachy Wood) 

*Collected in the Wild (foraged) in Haiti

Logwood Dye is a natural, PH-sensitive product derived from wood found in Central America. This versatile dye is commonly used to produce vibrant blues and purples on wool, as well as deep blacks on both cotton and wool. It can also create a striking black and violet colour on silk. However, its colour fastness is considered to be poor by experienced dyers, leading to its classification as one of the Lesser Dyes. Logwood Dye is often used in combination with other dyes for black dyeing purposes.

 

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Basic Recipe: 

65g bark, soaked in water for 2 days.

100g mordanted yarn/fibre (Alum 10g)

 Bring pot with dye to simmer For 2h.

Strain through cloth, add yarn/fibre and dye bag to dye bath for 1h.

Rinse.

The logwood chips should be put in a bag and boiled for 20 minutes to 1/2 an hour, just before using or soak overnight, bring to the boil in the morning for 1h, strain and bind into bag.

 

* When using extract you only need to use 5-10% of the weight of your dry fabric. Logwood is one of the more excessive dyes - a little goes a long way - especially when using extract.

Black Mallow Rose Flowers, whole also known as Hollyhock
latin: Malvae arbor. Flor. tot.
botanical: Alcea rosea L.

Suitable for eco printing and dyeing. Black mallow will leave some gorgeous purple-blue, violet prints on fabric. I only have used them in eco printing and can confirm that Mallow prints will last for a number of years, depending on light exposure and washing.

Tips:
*use an iron mordant for deep to black prints
** use a standard mordant procedure for overall dye or print
*** only petals/flowers are used

Colour fastness: weak to medium (if a mordant is used and due to the presence of anthocyanin in the flowers)

Dyer's Broom cut

This product, DYER'S BROOM ~ cut, is traditionally utilized for dyeing yellow and green shades. The resulting green hue tends to lean more towards a tan colour.

Colour fastness: medium

Basic recipe:

100% Broom
10% Alum
3% Iron as green option

Mordant as required, extract broom in 85C degrees Celsius for 1h. Remove dye, switch off pot and add your item and leave overnight. Treat with iron as an after mordant. Rinse, wash.

Colour fastness: medium