Pre-reduced indigo dye powder – cleaner to handle and easier to dissolve in water! Use for Shibori techniques or Batik work.
Although this type of indigo dye is referred to as “pre-reduced”*, it is in fact small pellets of 60% synthetic indigo mixed with 40% soda ash. In this form it is easy to disperse in water compared with 100% indigo powder which is hydrophobic (does not wet easily and tends to form clumps when added to water).
How to use Pre-reduced Indigo
- Add two heaped tablespoons of the pre-reduced Indigo grains to 4 litres of water at 40°C.
- Carefully stir in two tablespoons of Soda Ash and 4 teaspoons of Thiourea Dioxide. The bath should look greenish yellow in under one hour.
- Rinse your fabric until fully wetted and squeeze out excess water.
- Gently add your fabric, immersing it in the bath for 1-2 minutes, squeezing it gently but thoroughly.
- Slowly remove from the dye bath and watch the colour change.
- Repeat steps 4 and 5 to intensify the colour.
The dye bath is re-useable provided you cover it closely to ensure it is air-tight and until the dye is exhausted.
* By way of explanation, pre-reduced is clearly a misnomer since, should the indigo be reduced it would immediately return to indigo by exposure to oxygen in the air.
