Here is a blog post on dyeing with pre-reduced indigo dye powder and mixes. Today I have tried a pre-reduced indigo dye. I live in the UK there is not much chance of growing my own indigo in my back garden here. Therefore, I relay heavily on store/ online bought indigo. I found out that there are many types of indigo and it was by chance. Surely an indigo is an indigo but apparently not.
This is my second round of dyeing with indigo. I have written two blog posts on indigo how to prepare the equipment and how to dye fabrics with indigo. That pot of indigo that I mixed has since exhausted over time now I need to mix a new one. I bought a packet of pre-reduced indigo from George Weil. Except for the fine print, it looks like another packet of indigo dye. They do sell other types like synthetic indigo, natural turquoise blue indigo dye, and natural indigo powder. Natural turquoise blue dye powder works only on protein fibers. Synthetic indigo is much cheaper and it is use exactly like indigo powder. I have yet to use these two dye powders.
Dyeing with pre-reduced indigo dye
Dyeing with pre-reduced indigo dye apparently it is meant to be much easier to work with compared with natural ones. Personally in my opinion, I don’t find it much easier but about the same. Maybe in terms of mixing yes and that’s about it. The instructions are made clear on George Weil’s website. It says to add 2 heap tablespoon of dye to 4 liters of water at 40 degrees Celcius. Then add 2 tablespoons soda ash and 4 teaspoons of Spectralite to the dye pot and that’s it. Obviously, scour and wet the fabric beforehand. I ended up with a layer of foam on top of the dye pot.
Yes, it is, an indigo dye as it is green then it turns blue. The layer of foam just puzzles me. It is also quite ‘greasy’ like the indigo is trying to bind with the water. There is also a rather much slower reaction compared to my previous indigo dye pot as well. Maybe it is just a VAT reaction as to how indigo dye works. Anyway, the result was amazing so I couldn’t complain. The dyes were very strong. I know plenty of people have issues with dyeing with indigo me not much. I just find the amount of dye obtained from my homegrown woad or Japanese indigo is far less than this. I have got some idigo seeds last year so hopefully I will manage to grow them this year.
Thank you for reading and dropping by.
