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Sun printing on cyanotype fabric by blue print technic. Related posts. Promoting sustainability by examining the possibility of using bio-mordants in natural coloration with teak dye extract Textile Today October 16, Archroma reveals aniline-free denim indigo dye Textile Today June 4, Some can be used to derive some colour for food or textiles but the blue colour is not long-lasting.
Indigo, on the other-hand, is the only natural source of long-lasting blue colour for textiles. However, indigo the colour does not occur in nature. The plants from which we derive indigo do not show any blue in their leaves, stems or flowers. Rather the colour indigo is achieved by fermenting the leaves of certain plant varieties to create indigo dye. You can also check this video to see how one farm in India creates natural indigo dye in a traditional way.
It involves very precise chemical processes to ferment the leaves of indigo plants to create the blue dye. Furthermore, unlike other textile dying processes, the fabric does not turn blue in the dye pot. Exposure to the air is required, so that a drying piece of dyed fabric will slowly turn from yellow to green, to a deep dark blue.
But this process is also very fragile, and skilled artisan is needed to ensure success with indigo dying. Too much fermentation, or not enough, or the wrong level of heat can destroy a whole batch of dye. For example, in parts of Indonesia, indigo dying is considered a sacred process that only women can take part in.
Mothers traditionally teach the dying process to their daughters. Although interestingly, exceptions have been made for homosexual men. Before the advent of chemical dyes, indigo dying was practiced throughout Europe, most of Africa, the middle East, most of Asia, and South and Central America. The European plant used to create indigo dye- Woad- created a far inferior colour to the plants that grew in the other indigo producing regions. For this reason, trade driven by European colonisation soon destroyed the local European dying industry.
At certain points in the 17th Century, indigo dye mainly from the plant Indigofera Tinctoria was the most valuable import into the Europe. Basically, wherever indigo was traditionally used, the colonising power would look to profit from the booming demand in indigo. In West Africa, indigo textiles were considered so valuable that they were exchanged as currency. In fact, traditional Asian indigo textiles were shipped to West Africa by the European powers and used to exchange for slaves, who were then shipped on to work on indigo plantations.
This plantation dye from the colonies would then be shipped to Europe. The global history of this dyed was thus tied up in the processes of slavery, exploitation, and colonisation. What once was a revered material became a source of misery for countless plantation workers and slaves. One commentator in , E. The water and lime must be beaten for about 20 minutes — dipping the bowl in and out — oxidizing the mixture.
The water changes from murky green to peacock blue to a frothy navy color. When the mixture turns frothy and navy-colored it is almost ready. After the indigo paste precipitated to the bottom of the bin overnight, we carefully removed the brown water from the top. The paste is then collected by pouring it over mesh collecting debris then though a fine cotton cloth. This is natural indigo paste, which can be stored in plastic bins for one to two years and used for dyeing later.
Notice the beautiful variations in color. Dyeing takes place in the green form of indigo which is known, confusingly, as white indigo. The paste is mixed with ash water, fruit sugars or rice whiskey, and left to ferment. Keeping an indigo vat alive is tricky, but Patricia has continually nurtured this vat for 25 years. Tie dye and Japanese Shibori are created by tying, rolling, stitching, and folding white cloth before dyeing.
The tied-up portions of cloth remain white while the exposed areas turn blue in the indigo vat. Cloth coming out of the white indigo vat has a green appearance but quickly turns blue with oxidation. Creating a light or a dark blue cloth requires multiple dips as indigo platelets are layered onto the cloth or yarn. Contribute a Story.
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