Wild Colours natural dyes home

Change text size?

close menu
 

Wild Colours 

 

Handmade cards with natural dyes

Handmade cards

Wild Fibres - natural fibres for felting, spinning & dyeing!

Wild Fibres - natural fibres for felting, spinning & dyeing

Wild Paper handmade paper for printing, artists & gift wrap

Wild Paper - handmade paper for computer printing, artists & wrapping presents

Indigo chemical vats

        Wild Colours - Exciting colours from Natural Dyes

Wild Colours natural dyes > indigo dyeing > chemical vats

 

Indigo Dyeing using a Dithionite or Spectralite vat

natural indigo dye vat
What you need to start:

  • 10 grams indigo dye
  • 20 grams soda ash
  • 30 grams of Dithionite (Hydros or sodium dithionite or sodium hydrosulfite)
    or 15 grams Spectralite (thiourea dioxide or thiox)
  • 5 litres water at 45°C
  • 1 kg fibre (yarns, fabric, etc)

Equipment

  • 10 litre stainless steel saucepan or stockpot
  • thermometer
  • electronic balance or scales
  • pH paper
  • teaspoons
  • 3-4 jam jars or other glass containers
  • stirring spoon

Preparation

Mayan indigo
Buy natural dyes


Follow the usual precautions of wearing rubber gloves, and a face mask when handling chemicals. Keep the saucepans, jugs, spoons and any other utensils just for dyeing and do not use them for food preparation. Weigh the indigo, soda ash and Dithionite or Spectralite in labelled jam jars rather than in the bowl of the balance or scales. Make sure your Dithionite is not too old.

See the Safety guidelines.

Then;

  1. Prepare the fibre (next page)
     
  2. Prepare the stock solution (next page)
     
  3. Prepare the indigo vat (opens a new page)
     
  4. Dye the fibre (opens a new page)
     
  5. Gallery of indigo-dyed cotton samples

Top of page

 

How to contact us:-
Wild Colours natural dyes, Studio 319, Scott House, The Custard Factory, Gibb St, Birmingham B9 4DT, UK

 
Contact Teresinha for enquiries
Tel:    +44 (0)7979 770865
email: info@wildcolours.co.uk

[search] [Contact us] [Ordering] [safety] [Terms] [International] [About us] [Links]


UK Shipping £4.95p on orders up to £95 & free over £95 in UK
[shipping £2.95 on very small orders up to £2.95 in value]
 

Delivery to Europe + rest of World click here
Covid-19 Tracked Airmail only outside Europe

Special & Next Day Delivery

Updated on 04 January 2024
Website & photos by Mike Roberts ©2006-24 Wild Colours natural dyes

 

Site Search Site Search