Making the colour indigo - more easy than you think.

Kathryn and Eric in El Salvador using handmade indigo dyes.

Our time in El Salvador was spent between two destinations and the bus upon which we got there.  I did a blog previously on the ruins of the Maya temple and mentioned I would discuss indigo dye another time.  That's this blog.

Making natural indigo dye is relatively easy, but can only be done through a particular process.  The first part is to obtain the leaves of an indigo plant.  The odd thing about the indigo plant is that the leaves are green, regular green, with nothing seemingly special about them.  That is, until you take the next step.

Here you need water and time.  You place the leaves in water and let them sit for a few days.  It ferments while stewing, naturally, without the addition of any heat, chemicals, or action.

Then the leaves are removed and dried in the sun.  The fact that the tropical sun is hot and intense may make a difference; I will have to look that up.  When the leaves are dried, they are crushed into a powder.  A dark blue powder.  Indigo.

The dried powder is taken and dissolved in water.  Now you can dye your fabric.  Your hands.  Any part of your body you want to.  In fact, just about anything.  And they will come out a deep blue colour.

We were given cotton sheets, perhaps 18" square, that were bound with elastic or string the way you do tie-dyeing at home.  We dunked the fabric into the dye for a few minutes, making sure the dye made it into the heart of the cloth.  After wringing it out, we repeated the action.

After washing it in several clear water baths, the fabric was ready.  We let it sit in the sun for a few hours.  You can see our work in the image to the right.

I don't know if this can be done in northern climates, but it was really neat.  Imagine filling a bathtub with the stuff.  You'd look like a guy from X-Men.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com