Natural Indigo is perhaps the oldest dye known to man. The oldest historic texts speak of it, for example, in the colours chosen for the Tabernacle of the Arc of the Covenant. The oldest fragments of cloth are dyed with it. It is known to all cultures of the world.
Natural Indigo is one of the fastest dyes known to man. It was the original dye of "Levi's" blue jeans, a trademark colour for durability. It is the only natural blue dye of permanence.
The dyeing process for Natural Indigo is different from that of other dyes. Most Natural Dyes are affixed using a metallic salt (a mordant), in a two-step process. Natural Indigo is fermented, then dyed in a process that affixes the Indigo as it oxidizes in the air.
As a result, Indigo bonds to the fibre differently than other dyes do. It is held electrostatically within the fibre molecule, just as iron is held electrostatically in our red blood cells. This gives Natural Indigo one of its features, 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 produce a lovely dark blue that will work up beautifully, with a minimum amount of rubbing.
Indigo blue may be hand-washed. Expect a slight show of colour 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 colour of your Indigo-dyed fibre art.
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 colour. 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.
Hand-dyed in small lots in Aurora Silk’s Natural Fermentation Indigo vat. Natural fermentation allows the production of really deep and rich dark indigo blues. (In all her forty years as a professional natural dyer, Cheryl Kolander has never used any other method!)
The colour is built up in four or five long "dips", which makes for a very even, very dark blue. Hand dyed. Five yard dye lots, so orders for more than five yards will be done in two or more dye lots.
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