SETTING UP YOUR FIRST INDIGO VAT
The eternal blue of indigo, one of the most ancient dyes. From sky- to deep sea blues, it is so versatile, over-dye it with madder for lasting purples and weld for greens.
Making an indigo vat can seem like a daunting task, but trust me, once you get it done once, you will be doing it way more often. For setting up this indigo vat I used the ingredients of our Indigo Starter Kit, that has enough ingredients to set up and maintain your indigo vat.
WHAT DO WE NEED?
First of all you will need Indigo powder. Most of the available indigo is produced from Indigofera Tinctoria. Other species are Indigofera suffruticosa which is native to the tropical and sub tropical Americas, and Persicaria tinctoria (Japanese Indigo) which grows well in Asian countries and Eastern Europe. You will need something that will remove the oxygen from the water, in order to make the active dye component Indigotin soluble in the water. For organic vats you can use henna, dates, fructose, but we are making a vat using Hydrosulphite, which is easy and very stable to use. The third ingredient is soda ash, which makes the water alkaline, a must for the proper reduction of our indigo.
Indigo Vat Ingredients
25 grams indigo powder, that is enough to dye a kilo of textile a medium shade of blue.
50 grams sodium hydrosulphite 100 grams of Soda Ash
Warm Water
This is to set up your initial vat of around 5 litres + maintenance, we will not need all of this immediately.
A word about hydrosulphite; it has a limited shelf life of about a year, shorter if kept in daylight or in a warm room. If you see your powder has a yellowish tint, it is probably working less and you will need more powder to get the same result.
HARDWARE 1 mason jar of another glass jar of at least one liter a metal teaspoon a water boiler or other source of HOT water. a little bowl for mixing
A bottle of vinegar
A larger container (5-20 litres depending on how large your projects will be) with a lid to store your indigo vat. I have a stainless steel bucket so I can re-heat my vat directly on the gas stove if I want to.
GREAT EXTRAS I RECOMMEND
digital thermometer plastic (disposable) gloves
THE PERFECT RECIPE (NON FAIL)
Unlike other natural dyes, the amounts are not measured according to the weight of fibre but according to the total amount of water you want to use in your vat.
Strong vat; Per 1 liter of water; 5 grams of indigo = 1 lightly heaped table spoon of indigo powder
5 grams of Spectralite or Thiox = 1 teaspoon 12 grams of soda ash = 1 + 1/2 table spoon
If you have a digital measuring spoon always use that over eye-balling with a spoon.