WOAD
This short piece was submitted by Green Frog.
Woad growing in the vegetable plot Photo by Bobcat
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I decided to dye some fabric with woad. Woad is called indigo in the form
that we can use for dyeing but unlike manufactured indigo, which uses 3 toxic
chemicals in the processing, woad indigo is entirely natural.
I bought woad pigment dye from the Woad-inc website : http://www.woad-inc.co.uk/index.html.
They grow all their own woad and sell products they dye with woad and woad
seeds.
They sent instructions on how to make a dye bath with the pigment.
We were not able to get the dye fixative they suggested so we improvised at
the advice of our local ironmongers shop and used soda crystals and dye salt
in a bucket.
You have to soak the fabric in cold water first and then plunge
it into 60 degrees C water which we worked out was just about the same as
our domestic hot tap water. The important thing is not to let the fabric drip
as it oxidises the process too fast and it won't work.
We had no idea how long to leave it in for, so we guessed! I
think it was about 20 minutes. The longer you leave it the darker it gets.
The fabric goes green and then, as you expose it to the oxygen, it gradually
turns blue. You can effect the tone but choosing the tone of pigment you buy
- there are 3 (light, medium and dark) - and by how long you leave the fabric
in the bath/bucket!
I would encourage anyone to have a go!
