Botanical Inks by Babs Behan

Author:Babs Behan
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Quadrille Publishing Ltd
Published: 2018-03-23T16:00:00+00:00

LOGWOOD

Logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum) is native to Mexico and Central America, especially the Gulf of Campeche, but in 1715 it was introduced to Jamaica and various other Caribbean islands and naturalised.

Visually, you can identify this small flowering tree by its crooked, spiny branches, dark and roughly textured bark, small yellow flowers and the interesting leaf formation of heart-shaped pairs.

The part used by dyers is the inner heartwood of the tree, which is a rich red colour – hence its name from the Greek haima, meaning blood, and xylon meaning wood. The heartwood was exported to Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries for use as a dye material, although now it’s less valuable to commercial exporters. However, it is still widely used for its haematoxylin, which is used by scientists for the staining of plant and animal cells for observation.

COLOUR Logwood offers lovely soft shades of violet, deeper purples and bluey-black. Shades of purple will vary a lot, depending on the type of fibre, water and mordant, and purple can only be achieved when heat is applied, otherwise it yeilds black.

SOURCE Many logwood exports are sourced from an unsustainable logging industry, so if you choose to work with logwood it’s important that you source the material from certified organic, fairtrade and sustainable sources.

You can use either logwood extract powder, or the wood chips, both available online.

TYPE OF DYE / MORDANT Substantive dye.

It’s best to use a mordant with this dye, as it’s not very colourfast. An iron solution used as a mordant is more helpful for extending the life of the colour and for achieving darker shades of blue and black.

MAKING A DYE BATH

Logwood extract powder is potent and you’ll only need a very minimal amount to dye with.

Weigh the fibre after it has been washed, scoured and dried. You’ll need 2% of the weight of the fibre in extract powder – for example, for 400g (14oz) of fibre, use 8g (1/6oz) of logwood. Or for dried chips, use 30% of the weight of the fibre.

You can use less for paler tones, but if you want a darker colour, it’s best to layer dye the fibre to build up the colour.

See for how to make a extract powder or wood chip dye bath.

DYE BATH METHOD Suitable with the hot dyeing method. See follow the additional guidelines below.

Bring the dye bath to a simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, then leave it to soak overnight.

You can dry any left-over plant material to keep for future use.

Do note that logwood is particularly pH-sensitive, so it’s worth considering its suitability for different projects. It may not be the best option for clothing, as small splashes of salad dressing can change your look quite quickly!

MODIFIER Because logwood is so pH-sensitive, it will turn from light purple to brown with an acidic modifier, and move toward a deep purple with an alkaline modifier. Iron gives good bluey-blacks.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.