Indigo (Indigofera tinctoria) for plantdying
This indigo powder is very clean and therefor it has a good dyepower and give deep color.
1a quality from El Salvador
We do use it ourself for dying our cloth, yarn and accessoires.
You do need less as for a cheep and more dilute on and so less new dye for a dark blue.
Indigo is diluted with potasium to make it more powdery.
The potasium directly take the blue color of the indigo, so you do not see how many potasium is in there.
To find out what quality your indigo is you need to dye it.
Decoration is not included in the delivery.
Many people use an indigo recipe with colour-remover or something similar. This is actually unnecessary and introduces impurities into the vat, which just adds to the chance of the vat losing condition.
(Our experience shows that a vat made with colour-remover gives about 5 good dips, whereas our recipe, using the same amount of indigo, will allow for 12 good dips).
The simplest indigo recipe only needs:
1 shot of denatured alcohol.
Ammonia
Hydrosulphite
Quantities
Indigo 10g
Hydrosulphite 36g
Ammonia 86ml
You can divide or increase these amounts in proportion to the quantity of indigo.
Hydrosulphite and ammonia have exactly the same effect as fermentation with urine. It forms a strongly alkaline, oxygen-free liquid.
The hydrosulphite effectively removes all the oxygen from the liquid. The ammonia changes the pH and dissolves the indigo.
The indigo itself is not water soluble and should be stirred into a thick paste with denatured alcohol (methylated spirits or similar high-pecentage alcohol).
Fill water into a suitably sized vessel and heat to 40°C.
Then add the ammonia and hydrosulfite to the vessel.
Do not stir, just swirl the water very gently.
Now add the indigo solution, preferably strained through a cloth. This filters out any undissolved lumps that would cause blotches in the dye process.
Now the vat should be left to develop the correct condition. This will take at least 45 minutes, during which time the temperature should not exceed 55°C. The conditioning of the vat can be recognised by a change in colour, as the dark blue fluid changes to a greenish-yellow. The surface remains blue, since it is in contact with the oxygen of the air, and so is already oxidised.
The surface itself is an indication that the vat is ready, since it has oxidised to blue.
Tiny blue bubbles arise. This is the last of the escaping oxygen that gathers together on the surface into blue blooms.
If the surface is covered in these blooms, they should be removed by spreading a light cloth on the surface to absorb them. Then check the colour of the vat.
If it is ready, the dyeing can start.
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