Natural Indigo is perhaps the oldest dye known to man. The oldest historic texts speak of it, as in the colors chosen for the Tabernacle of the Arc of the Covenant. The oldest fragments of cloth are dyed with it. It is a dye known to all cultures of the world.

Natural Indigo is one of the fastest dyes known to man. It was the original dye of the "Levi's" blue jeans, a trademark color for durability. It is the only natural blue dye of permanence.

Natural Indigo is dyed in a manner different than any other dye. Most Natural Dyes are affixed with a metallic salt, in a two-step process. Natural Indigo is fermented, then dyed in a process that affixes the Indigo as it oxidizes in the air.

Rubbing: Indigo is thus affixed to the fiber in a different manner than other dyes. It is electrostatically held within the fiber molecule, just as iron is electrostatically held in our red blood cells. This gives Natural Indigo one of its characteristics, for as you work with it, it may slightly "rub" onto your hands. This "rubbing" is characteristic of the dye.

By carefully controlling my Indigo vat, I provide beautiful dark Indigo-dyed Blue which will work up beautifully with a minimum amount of rubbing.

Indigo Blue may be hand washed. Expect a slight show of color for the first wash or two. This is excess dye which hand rinsing cannot completely remove. This small amount of "show" will not affect the beautiful deep color of your Indigo dyed fiber art.

Dyelots: Each skein of silk is individually dyed in the Indigo vat. For dark blue, each skein is re-dipped four to five times to build up the rich deep color. Because the Indigo vat is a living process, the amount that can be dyed in one day is limited.

My vat currently can dye up to one pound of silk a rich dark Indigo Blue per day. Each skein is individually dipped, so technically each skein constitutes a "dyelot". However, in practice, all the skeins dyed in a single day will be indistinguishable. Thus dyelots of dark Indigo Blue are functionally one pound.

There is also a time factor. "Each day" should really read "each dye-cycle". A resetting of the vat must occur after each heavy use. In practice, this means I can dye an average of one pound of dark Indigo blue each week.

More Info and How to Dye

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