Indigo (indigofera tinctoria) species are the world's only source of natural, true, colourfast blue. A magical dyestuff that has been used around the world as a dye since pre-historic times, the culture and wonder that surrounds this plant is immense.
Indigo cannot be dyed in the same way as other dyes, but must be used to create a "living" vat, which is achieved through a sort of fermentation process.
This kit contains the pre-measured ingredients to create one organic fructose vat, with which you can dye quite a bit of fibre - how much a kit will dye depends on a few things, including how dark you want the blue to be, and what fibres you use. But it will dye a lot! As a general ballpark, you could expect to dye at least 5 yards of a medium weight cotton such as a quilting cotton, to a medium blue, and probably more, and darker if you wish.
The vat can remain active for several weeks, depending on how much you use it and how you take care of it.
Indigo can be used to dye any natural fibres, not synthetics. You can dye fabric, yarn, garments, wood, anything that you like. A small amount of synthetic fibre content such as 5% spandex in a garment, or 5% nylon in a sock yarn, is no problem.
The kit also includes comprehensive instructions on how to create the vat, how to use it for dyeing, and how to maintain it.
Contents: 25g indigo, 50g pickling lime (calcium hydroxide), 75g fructose sugar