Indigo - from fresh leaves to powder
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- Learn about using fermented fresh indigo (Persicaria tinctoria) leaves to create indigo powder.
Edited - Many people have asked about or had troubles with the hydrated garden lime that I mentioned to make your solution more basic in pH. To be more specific, powdered Calcium Hydroxide is what you are looking for. Other types of lime or calcium compounds won't work well, if at all. Also, if your calcium hydroxide is old or has been sitting in the garden shed for a while, test it in plain water first to make sure that it will bring the pH up. Sometimes, it doesn't work well if it is old.
Have fun!
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I'm always amazed at how someone figured out how to get indigo dye from this plant.... it's a process.
This is such a generous offering of information. I'm so grateful!
Process of making is much harder than it is available in market. Thanks for showing us the process in detail. I always wondered how Indigo were produced by torchering our farmers during 1780's in West Bengal. But the acidity measurement has to be taken with care... If you make a mess with it, it can create whole product into a waste
i think this is the first youtube video I've ever commented on, but had to just let you know this is the best how to for indigo powder that I've seen. I feel daunted by the process but less so after watching this. I'm going to try!!
Wow, thank you!
The book The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd made me curious to see the process of indigo making. Love your video!
Thank you! I really enjoyed that book, especially the description of the indigo making process!
So did i! Loved the book
I've just grown my first proper batch of indigo here in England. I was looking up how to harvest and found your film. It is fantastic - informative but also calm with the process too - it makes me feel less daunted about the next step. Thanks SO much for taking the time to make it. Julia x
Thank you! That is so wonderful to hear! It makes me very happy to hear when people are experimenting with their own batches of indigo and feel less daunted by it! Enjoy your harvest!
I just ordered seeds
@@rebeccadees2300can you please tell me from where? I really need the seeds. Please how can I get them
@@NinjaChickens I have found this video and I love the way you teach how to get that beautiful indigo powder ❤ thank you very much.
I have a question, can I use this same method with dehydrates indigo foliage?... I was gifted big bag (over 10 kilos) of dehydrated indigo leaves and I really want to get the pigment from them. I am a soap maker and use only natural colorants in my soaps, I would love to use indigo too.
If there was a Love or absolutely adore button, I would have pressed it! People are so secretive about how they get Indigo powder and I don't know why, because honestly, how many people are actually going to grow it and try it?? Well I am planning to especially after reading "Indigo Girl" It is a challenge where I live as I will have to import the seeds and experiment a bit as NOBODY grow it in my country!!! Watch this space :-D Maria you are my muse and I bless the day I found your videos!
Thanks for sharing. You are very generous with your knowledge.
Thank you, Erika! You are very kind! I can't wait to hear how your indigo growing goes!
Hi, I found your message interesting. I did this process in Scandinavia in 2015, with about 160 plants I grew from seeds imported from California (Persicaria Tinctoria). I had to sow the seeds indoors in February, and transplant into pots in a greenhouse around late May because I was in a particularly cold climate zone at the time. I moved the plants out into the garden in June I think and fertilized them with chicken manure for nitrogen. Harvest was around 7th September, and gave several heaped wheelbarrows. Fermenting took place in the greenhouse, in two or three 205litre water butts, with loose lids, and covered with black re-used plastic bags to get them warm enough. I used rainwater. Garden lime wasn´t available, so I was lucky and got some builder´s lime, which is very uncommon here. The aeration of the vats (water butts) was the most magical thing I´ve ever done with the water going from sickly anti-freeze colour to a dirty middling sort of blue, which stayed that way for a long while. Then all of a sudden, like flipping a switch, the first vat I was whipping turned an impossibly dark blue, like a navy uniform. It reminded me of developing photographs in the darkroom and suddenly seeing the motive appear. The result was 350 grams, if I remember correctly, of dried indigo powder. I crushed, sieved, and swirl-cleaned (precipitated) about half of it, which ended up that same very dark blue, nearly black. The rest I still keep as dried chunks of a slightly lighter blue with tiny white lime specks. I think this batch can still be cleaned of the remaining lime, even if it has turned into chalk by now. I hope you did get to grow your own indigo plants this year, it´s extremely rewarding. The more systematic and thorough you are with it, the better your results will probably be, indigo is challenging, although not really difficult to grow.
@@andregranum7896 Andre thanks for this reply. My growing was not very successful but I did harvest a lot of seeds. I am going through Cancer treatment so the garden has not been a priority, but hoping for a better season this coming year
eeek! I'm now at the PH balancing stage!!!!!! So excited xx
thank you very much this tutorial is very informative thank you again greetings from egypt
Nice demystification of a complex process, I'm inspired to harvest my Indigo now.
Today I ground the indigo in my nut/seed grinder and then made the paint. Whew! It's pretty stinky! So expensive too! I hope I like it!
Wow!!! Paint for your walls, or canvas? How are you liking the color??
@@NinjaChickens So far just stones. It's cool. Thanks for asking.
This is so cool! watching this made me so happy I love how you have so much patience and put care into every steep!
Thank u so much..You literally cleared all my concepts that I was literally wandering around.
Love from India!
WOW! I'm so glad I could help!
me too bro
Thank you so much for this video. You made it seem easy to do. This is the first year I grew my own indigo and hope to have a homegrown vat soon!
Thank you ma'am for showing this indigo miracle. From nature green to awesome blue color.
Thank you for your explanation which made me discover the method of extracting the pigments of my favorite color. and I wish you a good continuation!
You are an amazing artist and person! This was SO very interesting to watch! I've never watched this done before...so was really cool
So many leaves and so less powder but I watched it thoroughly.. liked it 😊👍🏻
Loving the way you are so easy in front of the camera/phone, love ur video and ur so down to earth, i also have the same feelings about the "whole process" i have been a spinner of wool and when i first started, I wanted to go see the shearing, with friends, i ended up buying a whole fleece that i watched being done and brought it home the same day, love the process, i'm still spinning this wool, and believe it or not, it was a black sheep and i have 3 cloth bags full~~!!
I may have a couple of fleeces in my stash for that very same reason! :-) But, these yarns will become something that both of us will treasure wearing!
youre very nice to go through so many of these comments and give additional advice!
Your tutorials are always so clear and easy to follow. Thank you so much for posting them! I'm so glad Nicole introduced me to your podcast
INCREDIBLY HELPFUL video! I can't even express how wonderful, educational and exciting all this was. Thank you so much for this!
I was searching for a video to show to my mum, and ended up coming across this video. Mom left midway, and I could just not peal my eyes off till the video got over :) It was amazing to see you turn those fresh green leaves into that blue powdery indigo! Thank you for sharing!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!
Please call me +919704359996
WOW! I am growing here in South Georgia my first crop of South Carolina Indigo, and so excited for my next
Step. I love your easy video and I am going to use your video steps to process my first powder. Many thanks.
Wish me luck.
How exciting!! And Yes, GOOD LUCK! I'm hoping to harvest my first leaves for a fresh indigo ice bath this week!
What is south Carolina indigo??
@@instant_mint I imagine they are referring to Indigofera suffruticosa which was commonly used historically in South Carolina for their indigo crop.
@@NinjaChickens Oh okay! Thank you I didn't know that
I love this video, love the patients into making the indigo. I think I would love to show this to my friends, because they love indigo! lovely work!!!
Thank you so much! It's almost that time again this year and I'm looking forward to playing with the plants!
I've been wanting to learn how to do Woad/Indigo for a WHILE...this was a lovely tutorial
Thanks so much for mentioning the PH! Everything I've seen or heard just says to add "some" lime.
Great video! One idea I had while watching this - I also do homemade mead, and they make auto siphons for that which would probably be fantastic for removing the water from this without stirring it up too much. In mead making they are used to get the liquid away from the "lees" which are thrown away, but I would imagine the process would be great for the reverse too.
Yes! Fabulous idea! Not long after this video, I discovered an aquarium 'vacuum' that I use to clean my snail's water. I bought a second one to siphon off water when I'm making pigments from my natural dye baths. It would be great for indigo, too!
The most helpful video I've seen on this process. Thanks for sharing!
I am going to buy a Kit with Indigo, calcium hydroxide and Fructose. Neat video.
Thank you so much for this tutorial! Gonna see if I can do this small scale
wow, just what I wanted to see!! Thank you for the completeness. Was thinking how a good river rock would crush so much easier in that bowl
What I really need to buy myself is a nice big mortar and pestle! :-)
Thanks so much for sharing your process...inspiring!
p.s. another person used a siphon to remove water...
This is such a great video of this process. Clear. I am extracting my very first batch of indigo and this video has been very helpful. Thank you.
I am so glad you found it helpful! I hope your first extraction goes well!
Thank you for your video... it's very helpful ❤ and I love it you want to m be part off of the whole process. It's the journey that counts, not the finished product 🤗
Yay, I just found some wild indigo. Going to keep some and will try this method someday.
Wow, that was pure magic! You are magic! I feel so special that I got to witness that.
Great video! Im inspired to grow my own indigo plants this year! Thank you 💙
wins my favorite video of the month, if not the year award! TY!!!!!
Awww! Thank you!!
This was so much fun to watch! Thank you for sharing your process.
Interesting. I didn’t know indigo came from plants. I learned something new today!
Your video clarifies for me what seemed a mysterious process. My one question: In your edited notes under the video, you say to use calcium hydroxide. All of the garden lime that I could find (not the same brand in the video) is dolomitic calcium. Google told me that calcium hydroxide is the same as the pickling lime you buy for canning pickles, so that is what I used. I'm waiting for the pigment to settle out. I'm a little concerned that it is too cold, even though my container is on a seed starting heat mat. Also, my indigo was flowering, so I'm assuming I won't get as much color, but still hopeful for some.
I was working on a story about the Indigo Revolt (in India) and wanted to know more about the process. Found this among the other videos and it really helped me out. Thanks ^^
Oh wow! I'm so happy I could help! I would love to read your story when it's done!!!!
Thank you! Now to find plants...
Absolutely thrilling. Love the blue hands they must have felt great, so part of the process. I also read Indigo Girl and loved it.
Inspire a lot, very fun, informative video 💙💙💙💙 thanks.
Such a pleasant and informative video! Thank you!
Great video ma'am. Lotsa patience in getting blue out of green. Jussojuan
Thank you VERY much for sharing this, it is absolutely perfect! ✨💙✨
fantastic, and a beautiful smile too.
Hey nice presentation.
great video I remember buying dark jeans in the '60s and hey smelled slightly fishes for a couple washes
I had no idea. I need to grow indigo now! Great video.
Thank you! It's a very fun process!!
This is incredible! Thank you for sharing
WOW that is really amazing
Really cool!👍🏼
It is great lesson.
Thanks from Bangladesh.
Excellent!
Beautiful process, thanks for sharing
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I am in Florida and have grown a few nice rows of indigo this year. Now that I have my powder (following your video :) I have tried to turn it into a vat for dying using a fermentation method, but can seem to get anything to ferment. :/ How do you like to make you indigo vats? Do you have a video you can recommend to me on the process?
Superb Video. Thankyou so much for sharing such a wonderful technique. Please can you teach us how to extract color from Indigo's dried leaves powder.
Thank you Anurita. I'm not making videos anymore, but this might help. slowfiberstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NDWIV-Dried-Leaf-Indigo-Extraction-Recipe-1.pdf
Love your work👍
Very informative video... Thanks
Thank you for your clear tutorial!
Amazing journey of indigo from plant to powder along with you, learned a lot through how you explained. Hope you get your big mortar soon. Thanks a lot. Do you have a video of how you use the powder to make paint or dye?
Hey Stephanie! Thanks for asking but I don't have any tutorials on paint or dye making right now. I hope you were able to find some good ones.
Top !
Thank.you so much for sharing!
Love from Brazil❣
I used the wrong kind of garden lime and ruined a batch! Things were fermenting along swimmingly until i added pelletized lime (brown pellets) instead of hydrolized (the white stuff) lime! Ugh. Now I know. And hopefully i will have another batch grown by frost time up here in WI. Loved the video anyway!
Oh no!! I'm so sorry this happened! I'm putting a note about using Calcium Hydroxide in the info box right now. A few others have used the wrong lime as well. What happened with the pelleted lime?
@@NinjaChickens it is coated in a brown substance that makes everything Brown. I think I'll have another batch before Frost so I'll try the white stuff then. I think the brown stuff is there to encapsulate the white powder so it's less toxic or at least less floaty in the air
@@genevievefoskett9506 Oooooh! Yeah, I bet that made it look pretty nasty. Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed that you'll get another big batch before fall!!
Love this video! New subscriber here x
Just wondering, do you still add hydrated lime when dyeing fabric with this powder? I'm just not sure because I've watched other tutorials using store-bought natural indigo powder and adding lime powder to make it soluble - but since you already used lime to make the powder, I'm not sure if it's still necessary. Hope that makes sense! For a clearer question - how do you dye fabric with this powder you made? :) thank you in advance!
Hello! Yes, your question totally makes sense. When using this powder, I start without adding any lime. If it looks like the vat isn't 'blueing' up correctly, and the pH is staying too low, then I will add some. But, start without it since there is already a good bit mixed in with the indigo powder.
Ninja Chickens yay alright, thank you so much! ♥️
What a great video. Thank you!
thank you. video is pure pleasure *)
Was interested in indigo to apply to some of my carvings after my attempt at ochre failed. Nice job but from growing to soaking to harvesting....lotta work and time. Think its on to the next natural dye attempt for me...
Your video is brilliant! Thank you. Can you just tell me when is the best time to harvest? Before flowering or after?
Definitely before flowering. The first harvest of the year usually yields the most blue. If you time it right, you can get two or three harvests out of it. Once it's about a foot tall, trim it just above the third node on the stem. You can ferment what you've cut off and the plant will grow more from the nodes that you left.
Thank you so much ! 😊
I loved your video. I grew some indigo last year and didn’t have any luck with the process. I have been researching it and your video is the best I’ve seen. This year my plant was healthy and tall ( I only have one in a big pot.). Everything I’ve read says to cut it right before the flowers open. Is that right? I don’t think the video said anything about when to cut. My other question: does well water really make a difference? I cut mine today and filled the plastic container but I just used the house water (rural water - but it probably does have chlorine in it). I started to use lake water but I thought that if there was anything stirred up in it, it might make the paste come out green. I especially liked your video because, as an oil painter, I am only interested in getting the pigment and making oil paint with it. I hope it works! Thanks again.
Hey Gwen! As far as water, I imagine the chlorine could make a difference. If you want to use the house water, I would just let it sit overnight to let some of the chlorine evaporate off.
As far as cutting the indigo, I get 2 to 3 harvests each year. Once the indigo is tall enough that it has at least 3 nodes on the stem, you can cut the leaves above the third node. This actually causes the indigo to become more bushy and you will get a bit more pigment from the leaves earlier in the season. You can also put that cutting in water and it will grow roots, then you have another plant! It might be a bit late in the season to trim the plant to make it bushier (depending on where you live. Here in NC, I just did my last harvest. I'll probably let it go to see now so I can save the seed for next year.) But, yes, if you are waiting to just have one harvest, I would harvest it before it starts to send up flowers.
The mermaid water should be oxygenated BEFORE you add the lime, otherwise the flocculated indigo particles are broken up and it take longer to settle. Also filtering all the leaf bits and debris before oxidizing and flocculating prevents the smells and purer pigment.
Thanks so much for this! I'm in northern Thailand and working with an indigo plant that is called Ma Hom up here.
A question. How long do you think saving the finished indigo kept as a paste can last in a container of some sort? i.e. without drying.
Would refrigerating or freezing it help keep it longer? or perhaps detrimental?
Cheers and all the best
Cath
Hmmm.... That's a good question. I've never tried it, but I would imagine that it would keep at least 6 months to a year if it were an airtight container. Probably more. It's so alkaline, I don't imagine it would grown mold, even if you kept it at room temperature. If you try it, let me know what you find.
@@NinjaChickens thanks for your thoughts. I was thinking it might be much the same. I will dutifully report back! :-)
That was lovely. Thank you :-)
Hi Ninja, so grateful for this video. Wondering if you can help me with some advice - long story short, I had to proceed with this process sooner than expected due to some oversights by people doing work on my property, wherein some of my indigo plants were in the path of a bleach based roof cleaning spray (affected leaves turned indigo). Wanting to salvage what I could, I initiated the fermentation process before having the proper PH test strips in hand - I've been trying to make-do with pool testing strips. I also mistakenly purchased Garden Lime instead of hydrated lime, so the water became very brown and when trying to aerate I was not seeing any blue bubbles. I re-watched your video and read through all the comments and realized I needed hydrated lime - so I went out and got some and mixed in a couple spoonfulls of that, at which point I did start seeing blue bubbles, although my water is now like an olive green/yellow/brown color. My proper PH test strips should be coming in a couple days. My question is - can I still impact any adjustments in a couple days time if I find the PH still isn't as high as it should be, or will the window have closed? How much of the blue bubbles should I be seeing? Thanks so much - I really appreciate the knowledge you've shared!
Hi Cassandre! I'm sorry it has taken so long to get back to you! What did you decide with the indigo?? Were you able to get it to work?
How neat! Thank you!
So cool! Thank you for this. A question: do you think washing soda could replace the garden lime?
It could, but washing soda isn't as strong as lime, so you might need a lot of it. Let me know how it works if you try it!
Thank you for posting this video. :)
Yeah! It needs lots of hard-work...nice video!
From India😊
thats very nice way it worked out for me
Hi! What an amazing process. I purchased some seeds on a whim and hopes to use the dye in my soap making. Is this the process I would use to create a powder to use in my soaps? Thanks so much!
Yes! You could totally do this for powder for your soaps! Just remember that the end result of the powder will be high in Calcium Carbonate (Lime) and you may need to adjust your recipe accordingly if you add more than just a bit of indigo powder for color.
You are too cool that was amazing
wow This is wonderful. I want to know if powder can be used as natural hair dye ?
Thank you. I wouldn't use this powder as a hair dye. During the process of creating it, you raise the pH up to a level that could damage your hair.
What an excellent tutorial! Thank you.
I heard you saying that you used to make soap; that must have been enormous batches since you used the huge mortar blender to mix the soap batter. 🤣
I hoped that you would have used the indigo powder to colour the soap (I searched for a soapmaking video immediately)
I'm not overwhelmed with the result of using indigo for soap colouring (more grey than blue) and I wondered if you might know the best method. (in the lye water, making an oil macerate, adding the powder directly to the soap, making a slurry with hot water and let it rest for a day ....?)
May I ask your opinion on this? (or probably do a soap making video using indigo.)
Thanks in advance.
Unfortunately, I can't be of much help here. When I use to make soap for my business, I wasn't a natural dyer and most soaps on the market were fairly plain. (This was 25 years ago.) Soap making has come such a long way since then... so much more variety in designs and recipes. I've used madder a number of times in soap, but get purple instead of red because of the high pH when the soap is poured. I don't know how I could change that because there will always be a period in the soap making where it is very basic/alkaline and that will alter the color of the dye (also turning the indigo to a grey). If you discover a way to keep the colors neutral, I would love to know!! Thanks!
@@NinjaChickens Thank you for your reaction.
I've been making soap for about 15 years now. A lot has changed: there are plenty of soap stable mica nowadays; I remember that using mica was like entering a kind of a sweepstake, never knowing what the outcome may be.- exiting but tyring. LOL
I tested woad, alkanet, indigo, but was not overwhelmed with the results. There is nothing you can do about the pH of CP soap so it is what it is.
I love using natural colourants for fabric dyeing (the chemical reactions are fascinating), just for fun, but mostly I use silk dye to colour roving for felting.
I enjoy your videos - keep up the good work!
Ouawwww ❣️ It's a bit weird to see you in the summer, but the vidéo is amazing ❣️ Thank you 😙💞💞💞💞
Good Job. Thank you.
WELL DONE! Thank you
Awesome. Thankyou
Thank you so much for this video, it's perfect. I am going to remove leaves from my vat today and adjust the ph. I would like to dye both fabric and yarn from this vat. Could you direct me to a good resource on how to go to the next step? Do I need to mordant the fabric first? Thx!!
Of course! You are so welcome! With Indigo, you don't need a mordant (Yay!) Botanical Colors may have some resources for Vat dyeing, but you will definitely find lots out there if you google the steps to dyeing with an indigo vat. have fun!
@@NinjaChickens Grateful!
we all have people here growing indigo and cultivation while i have my history teacher teaching this
You Know, You can use a Ninja Or a High power blender that can grand rocks to fine powder would work.
Oh Amazing
thank you for this! I bought garden lime but its tiny brown pebbles, will this work or do i need a white powdery lime like in your video? Also, can I use caalc. hydroxide instead? ~ thank you!
Fabulous video! Can you dye in the vat before straining?
My indigo paste molded :( I live where it is really moldy. Should it be kept in more water?
What's the next step for using the paste or powder?
I live where it's really humid too, so I decided not to keep it as paste, but to dry it out to a powder. If you don't have the sunshine to dry it out quickly, you could try using a dehydrator. For the next steps, you can check out Botanical Colors. They have lovely instructions. botanicalcolors.com/indigo-instructions/
@@NinjaChickens Thank you very much!
FANTASTIC tutorial. VERY thorough, and easy to watch.
Yes, it is my understanding that lye (Sodium or Potassium Hydroxide) will work, though I've not used it for indigo extraction. Just be very cautious as it is more caustic than garden lime. If you use it to make soap, you already know how to handle it (adding it to the water and not vice versa, and that it will increase the temperature of the water) just take precautions.
@@NinjaChickens So, if I do use SH or PH in stead of garden lye, start small, and work up to the high pH level in small increments? I can handle that. Thanks for your input.
@@SA-vs6nv Exactly! :-)
Hello, thanks for the video! Would just the juice without added lime work to dye fabric?
Yes! If you look up fresh indigo dyeing with salt you will find more information about how to use the fresh leaves to create a light blue.
Thank mom
I planted my first Indigo so will be going through this process next year and cannot wait. Have you done any sort of calculation with how much fresh leaves makes how much Indigo powder?
Yay! I'm excited you will get to play! No, I haven't made those calculations. I imagine it would change a bit depending on when in the season you do this process. Also, since I don't strip the leaves off and the pigment comes from the leaves, you'd have to take the weight of the stem into account too.
Hello, awesome video. can I use garden lime instead of hidrated lime? it says it raises the ph as is safer that hydrated lime
I've not done this, but my understanding is that it takes less hydrated lime to raise the pH than it does standard 'garden' lime (though my garden use lime is actually hydrated) but it will still raise the pH. You will end up with more sediment in your final product, so just keep that in mind when you create you vat.
@@NinjaChickens thanks!!!