Indigo Instructions

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Indigo, Magical Indigo!Indigo is one o the oldest dyes used or coloring abrics and the one

still used today to color blue jeans. Indigo dye comes rom a plant. Tebeautiul blue dye is made rom the leaveso the plant through a process o ermenta-tion. Indigo is grown in subtropical climatesincluding some southern states o the UnitedStates. Troughout history indigo wasrevered and sought aer as a valuable com-modity. Fabrics dyed with indigo were notonly used or ashions but also or religious

rituals and to distinguish social or politicalstatus. Te procedure o dyeing with indigohas changed little throughout time. Tisdistinctive blue dye still provides one o themost wondrous and rewarding dyeing expe-riences available to any dyer.

Dyeing with indigo is unique comparedto other dyes. In its natural state, indigo

is insoluble in water. Tereore it must go through a process where it isreduced and put into a liquid state with the oxygen removed. Althoughrecipes or dye vats vary, all are based on reducing the indigo into a water-soluble orm. In the reduced state the indigo dye liquid is a yellow greencolor and in this orm the indigo will be able to penetrate the bers othe abric. When the abric is removed rom the dye vat it is initially thissame yellow green color, but begins to turn blue as the oxygen in the air

reacts with the indigo. As the indigo oxidizes it becomes trapped withinthe bers, making the dye permanent. Te indigo dye in this kit is 60%reduced. raditionally, indigo would be pasted up with some denaturedalcohol and heated to get it to dissolve into water. Jacquards Pre-ReducedIndigo easily mixes with water and thereore makes setting up an indigovat practically eortless.

HistoryIndigo has been used or dyeing cloth throughout history in many

cultures. For many centuries it had been used primarily in those climateswhere it could be grown, such as in India, Indonesia, Japan, China, Egypt,Arica, Central and South America. Indigo has a newer, but quite interest-ing history in Europe where it became a valuable trade item and in the


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United States where slaves were used in the cultivation and processing oindigo in the south. Quite an extensive history o indigo can be ound onany one o these geographical areas or topics.

Early examples o indigo have been ound in manuscripts and tombs

rom many cultures. Tere is evidence o indigo dyed cloth ound withEgyptian mummies going back 5,000 years. It has also been ound inarcheological ruins rom Peru, Guatemala, China, Japan and Arica. Mosto these cultures developed a tied resist technique to create patterns withtheir indigo dyeing and each has their own unique characteristics.

India is credited or being the oldest center o indigo dyeing whereindigo was rst domesticated. Te Indian indigo industry was describedby explorer Marco Polo in his travels in the latter part o the 13th cen-

tury. India was the primary source o indigo or most o Europe, wherethe climate was not suitable or growing it. Prior to the opening o traderoutes, most o Europe used woad, a plant rom the mustard amily, toachieve a blue dye. Woad, however, was inerior in quality to indigo andas indigo gained in popularity, woad armers and industrialists (called theWoadites) elt they had to protect their livelihood. Indigo was outlawedor a time in England, Germany and France around the end o the 16th

century. Indigo was very expensive as it had to go by caravan land routesthrough Arab traders. It was not a viable trade item rom India until thesea routes were opened. With the demand or indigo high in the 16th cen-tury, the Dutch and British East India Companies imported large quanti-ties o it and the growing o indigo in India began on a large scale. In thelate 1700s the British established large plantations in India or the com-mercial cultivation and production o indigo. Other British and Europeancolonies established indigo plantations in South America, Jamaica, South

Carolina and the Virgin Islands to help keep up with demand.In Japan, indigo became important or dyeing cotton when silk was

outlawed in the Edo period (1603-1868). Indigo dyes cotton particularlywell and other dyes available at that time did not. Te Japanese have takenindigo dyeing into an art orm o their own. Te Japanese patterns o tiedand paste resists are highly rened, detailed and complex.

In Western Arica there are many tribes that use indigo in their own

way. In Hausa, the specialty is a shiny almost black indigo cloth. Teabric is overloaded with dye and then beaten or a burnished eect. Tiscloth is highly prized and used as turbans by the uareg nomads o theSahara Desert. Arican tied resist patterning is oen characterized bylarger motis some imbued with spiritual signicance.

Indigo was grown in the Americas long beore the Europeans estab-


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lished their plantations. Te French introduced indigo into Louisianawhere or a while it was the number one export. Native Americans whowere enslaved were the earliest workers on the indigo plantations andmany o them died. It was thought that diseases were caused by indigo

processing and that Arican slaves would not be susceptible to suchdisease. It is also possible that Arican slaves were brought to the southbecause o their knowledge o indigo production as ew Europeans hadexperience with it. Aer several years o indigo crop inestations at theend o the 18th century, armers in the south turned to sugar, cotton andtobacco.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney is credited with cultivating indigo in SouthCarolina. She shared her knowledge with many other armers and greatly

contributed to that states leading economy in the mid-1700s. Around thistime indigo was also the main export crop rom British East Florida andwas also grown in Georgia and other southern states. Indigo became thedye or the blue coats o the American Revolution. When the paper cur-rency o the colonies became worthless, cubes o indigo replaced money.

In 1897, Johann van Baeyer rom Germany, developed a syntheticindigo or which he won the Nobel Prize or chemistry in 1905. Te

synthetic indigo could be produced in a lab with a consistent quality anda price that was competitive with natural indigo. Within 10 years theproduction o natural indigo had dropped 90 percent. While maintainingall the characteristics o natural indigo, today most o the worlds indigo issynthetic.

Instructions

Beore you start, read through the instructions and gather all o theitems required and prepare a work area. You will need:Rubber gloves5 gallon plastic bucket with a lidStir stick long enough to reach the bottom o the container without

having to submerge your handsOther items helpul to have on hand are:

a small container or removing and storing the fowera shallow pan to place your abric in while oxidizinga piece o plastic or the foor covering the area where you will have

the indigo vat.Remember, never use utensils that have been used or dyeing or oodpreparation.


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Setting up the indigo vat:

1. Fill the ve gallon container with 4 gallons warm tap water.2. Empty the indigo dye packet into the water. Stir.3. While stirring, slowly empty the Soda Ash and Tiox packets into the

water.4. Gently, but thoroughly stir the vat in a

one direction circular motion. Oncethe vat is well mixed slow down andreverse the direction o the stirring asyou drag the stir stick along the outeredge o the vat beore slowly removing

it. Cover the vat with a lid and allow itto settle or at least 15 minutes to 1/2hour. For best results, wait one hour.

5. Aer the vat has settled, remove thelid. Te top o the dye bath will becovered with a layer o oam called thefower or bloom. Gently push asidethe fower to check the color o the

liquid. Te dye bath should be a clearyellow or yellow-green color under the fower. I its not, wait another1/2 hour and check again.

Dyeing:

1. Fold, tie or bind your garment or ber. (See Pattern Ideas below)2. Toroughly wet or soak your abric in water.

3. When you are ready to begin dyeing remove the cover rom the vat.Wearing gloves, use a small container to gently scoop the fower romthe top o the vat. Set it aside.

4. Squeeze excess water and air outo your abric.

5. While still squeezing your abric,slowly submerge your piece intothe dye vat. Once submerged

gently manipulate the piece toensure that the dye will penetratethe unbound parts evenly. Youmay work the piece in the vatunderneath the surace or oneto several minutes in this way.


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Do not drop the abric in the vat and let it sink to the bottom. Terewill be residue that has settled on the bottom o the vat and you dontwant to stir that up while you are dyeing. Te residue can cause spotson your dyed piece.

6. When you are ready totake the abric out o thevat, squeeze it just belowthe surace as you slowlyremove it rom the vat. Youwant to prevent splashingas this introduces oxygenback into the vat. Te ab-

ric will be the same yellowgreen o the vat. Slowly, theabric will begin to turn blue as the oxygen in the air contacts it. Placethe cover over the container.

7. Set aside the abric to allow the piece to completely oxidize. You maywant to turn the piece and open up any areas that you want to turnblue. Let oxidize or about 20 minutes.

8. Once the item has oxidized you can either repeat steps 4 - 7 toachieve darker shades o blue or you can rinse excess indigo rom thepiece, untie, and wash with a mild detergent and warm water.

9. When youve nished your dyeing session, gently put the fower backonto the surace o the vat. Using your stir stick, gently stir the vat asbeore in a circular motion and reversing the direction and centeringthe fower. Place lid back onto vat and let settle or at least an hourbeore using the vat again. Te vat will keep or several days and you

will be able to dye several times.10. When you are ready to dispose o the vat, empty contents down the

drain. Clean up bucket and utensils with a powdered cleanser or soap.

A little more helpul inormation:Te general idea in keeping an indigo vat is that you want to keep thevat as oxygen ree as possible. Tat is why not splashing and squeezing

excess air rom the abric is important.Store the vat in an area where the temperature will remain between 68

- 85 F, a comortable room temperature. Keep out o reach o childrenand animals. Always store with the lid on the container.

Keep in mind that the color is much darker when wet.


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Pattern ideas

One o the most exciting things about dyeing with indigo is thatit is easy to get great resist patterns on abric. Here are some ideas

to get you started.Basic accordion fold:

One o the easiest olds, which can produce endless results, is theaccordion old. Tis simple back and orth old, when clamped withyour wood blocks and rubber bands, will give you an endless variety opatterns.

wood block

folded fabric

wood block


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For another eect, just use the rubber bands around the olded abric.Here are some other variations on the accordion old.

a.) Fold into thirds...

...and then do anaccordion old.

b.) Start the accordionold rom the corner.


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c.) Pivot the olding roma specic point, as inmaking a an.

d.) Aer accordion olding into a strip, old the strip back and orth.

e.) Aer accordionolding into a strip, oldabric into triangles asin a fag old.


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Experiment with other objects to clamp with such as washers, clothes-pins, or paper clips. Some o these common household items can giveyou very interesting patterns. You can also old in one direction, dye,

rinse, old in another direction, and dye again. Tis will give you layerso pattern and increasingly complex ones.

Circles or Spots:

One o the most common pattern motis is a circle or spot o any size.Tis is done by simply pulling up the abric at a point and putting arubber band around it. Tis can be done in a variety o ways. A small

pebble, bean or popcorn can be placed in the tip o the abric and thebind placed just under it.

.) Place your wood block at dierent angles to your olded abric piece.Just a slight variation can give you a completely dierent pattern.


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b.) o make a whiter spot or polka dot, cover the area with the bindingor use a piece o plastic wrap to cap the tip area.

a.) For concentriccircles, place morethan one rubber

band on the pulledup area.

Tese are just a ew ideas to get you going. As you dye with indigo youwill come up with many great ideas o your own. Some other thingsyou might want to try:

Over dye colored, printed or patterned abrics.Combine more than one pattern on a single piece.

ie up some skeins o yarn and dye.ie up parts o a piece and put in a plastic bag to either keep white

or save parts that you like. Tis is a great way to make borders.Stitch abric with a running stitch, pull up and tie to make lines.Wrap abric around a plastic pipe, wrap string around it and

scrunch it down.


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Resources

Miller, Dorothy. Indigo From Seed to Dye. Santa Cruz, CA: Indigo Press,1984.

Sandberg, Gsta. Indigo extiles: echnique and History. Asheville, NC:Lark Books, 1989.

Pettit, Florence H.Americas Indigo Blues. Resist-printed and Dyed extilesof the Eighteenth Century. New York, NY: Hastings House, 1974.

Wada, Yoshiko. Shibori. Te Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dye-

ing. Japan: Kodansha International, 1983.

http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_indigo.htm.

http://www.un.edu/foridahistoryonline.

http://experienceestival.com/a/indigo_dye_-_history/id/1502441

http://bell.lib.umn.edu/Products/Indigo.html

http://www.plantcultures.org/plants/indigo_history.html

Jacquard Products

Rupert, Gibbon & Spider, Inc.

PO Box 425Healdsburg, CA USA

1.800.442.0455

www.jacquardproducts.com

WARNING!! Tis kit contains indigo dye powder, sodium carbonate, andthiourea dioxide. May be harmul i misused. Read instructions and cau-tions on individual containers careully. Not to be used by children exceptunder adult supervision. Conorms to ASM D-4236. KEEP OU OFREACH OF CHILDREN.

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