The process of Natural Dyeing
Our Natural dye comes for Maiwa. Their policy is to acquire the raw dyestuff in its most elemental form (wood chips, roots, petals) so that we can ensure purity. We then process it into the form (usually a powder). Spoken Weave's favorite so far of natural colour on cloth involves the use of leaves (such as indigo and henna), barks and woods (logwood, osage), roots (madder, alkanet), minerals (alum, iron), and insects (cochineal, lac). These are just some of the classic materials that have been used for thousands of years.
We started with Indigo. The art of Indigo Dying is all about the beauty of learning the process while you’re in the process.
Indigo (natural) – natural indigo powder is an extract prepared from Indigofera tinctoria which is cultivated for this purpose. Indigo is the legendary source of colourfast blues and its ability to produce a wide range of shades has made it the most successful dye plant ever known. Indigo grows all over the world but flourishes best in hot, sunny, humid areas. Indigo can give clear blues that range from the tint of a pale sky to a deep navy that is almost black. Our indigo comes from a farm in south India and is very strong (approx. 40% indigotin). It reduces beautifully in an indigo vat.
Madder – We sell two types of madder Rubia tentorium (Dyer’s madder) and Rubia cordifolia (Indian madder). Madder is one of the oldest dyestuffs. It is used to produce turkey reds, mulberry, orange-red, terracotta, and in combination with other dyes to give crimson, purple, rust, browns, and near blacks. Madder is cultivated and grows wild throughout India, south east Asia, Turkey, Europe, south China, parts of Africa, Australia and Japan. Madder is a complex dyestuff containing multiple colourants. By manipulating mordanting, pH, and temperature many shades can be obtained. There are many historic recipes including one from Turkey which brings out the purpurin from madder resulting in a purple.
Cutch Extract – This powder is an extract prepared from steeping the wood of the Acacia catechu tree in hot water until a syrupy liquid emerges. This is dried and then ground into powder. It is common to most parts of India, Burma, Indonesia and Peru. Indian cutch is by far the most beautiful. It is a good source of colorfast shades of brown - cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Cutch extract contains tannin as well as the dye compound catechu. It is easily soluble in water.
Logwood - The heartwood of Haematoxylum campechianum. Logwood yields deep, rich, red-purples to orchid blues and has been prized as a dyestuff since the 16th century. The logwood tree grows in Mexico, Central America, The Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Brazil, the Guyannas, Madagascar, and India. When mixed with iron, logwood gives good blacks – a color difficult to achieve with natural dyes.
Avocado - dye baths can be prepared using the well washed skins of the avocado or the pits/stones from the middle of the fruit. Each will give a slightly different dye color – or you can mix the two together.