Indigo Cakes (Indigofera Tinctoria)

Indigo Cakes (Indigofera Tinctoria)Our indigo cakes are sourced from a new supplier in Tamil Nadu, India, where workers benefit from improved working conditions. The result is a high quality indigo (approx. 50% indigotin content) that stores well and reduces beautifully in the vat. Indigo is the legendary source of colourfast blues, celebrated for millennia across cultures from Asia to Africa and Europe. Unlike most dyes, indigo does not bond through mordants but through a reduction

Our indigo cakes are sourced from a new supplier in Tamil Nadu, India, where workers benefit from improved working conditions. The result is a high-quality indigo (approx. 50% indigotin content) that stores well and reduces beautifully in the vat.

Indigo is the legendary source of colourfast blues, celebrated for millennia across cultures from Asia to Africa and Europe. Unlike most dyes, indigo does not bond through mordants but through a reduction process, yielding blues that range from the palest sky to near-black navy.

Did you know? Indigo is the only natural dye that develops its color on the fiber after dyeing. The fabric comes out yellow-green from the vat and turns blue as it oxidizes in the air. 

Main dye compound: Indigotin (aprox 50%)
CI Natural Blue 1

Shading Tips

• Multiple dips  build up depth from pale blue to rich navy
• Longer oxidation  deeper, clearer blues
• Overdye with weld or fustic  brilliant greens
• Overdye with madder or cochineal  purples and deep plums
• Iron vat  muted, smoky blues
• Fructose or natural fermentation vat  softer, more organic shades of blue