Natural Indigo Fermentation Vat kit
Everything you need except a plastic bucket with a lid and a way to keep the vat at 100°F.
It takes about a week for the indigo to reduce and be ready for dyeing.
The vat may be recharged after the initial dye session by adding the included fermentation assists and letting it rest overnight.
Indigo fermentation vats are living entities and require basic care (a stable environment, a temperature of 100°F, stirring daily, rest and recharging periodically). The ingredients in our kit are of the highest quality. We can not be responsible for individual results but we are happy to offer technical support via email.
Joybilee
Farm Indigo
natural fermentation kit
-- indigo the way it has been used in culures around the world for centuries.
-- indigo the way it has been used in culures around the world for centuries.
Similiar to making sour dough bread, kefir or yoghurt, natural indigo fermentation requires warmth, and a stable environment. Indigo is insoluble in water and needs to be reduced to its soluable form -- leuco-indigo (Indigo white) before it can be used for dyeing. Our natural fermentation kit is based on the recipe used by dyers for centuries to reduce indigo and make it ready for dyeing.
Unlike chemical indigo vats, natural fermentation vats allow a deep blue to build up on the fiber. This blue is permanent and can be burnished for special effects.
You can keep the vat going indefinitely by keeping it warm and feeding it with madder, and bran or recharging it with indigo as needed. The vat needs to be stirred daily. Allowing the vat to cool will slow down the fermentation process allowing you to take a rest from dyeing. Don't let it get too hot or it will die.
Natural indigo is uniquely suited to surface design techniques such as shibori, devoré, ikat, and batik.
Our kit makes a wonderful gift for fiber artists, weavers, felters, knitters, dyers and homeschoolers.
There is enough indigo to dye 2 to 4 kg. of fiber, yarn or any textile made with natural fibers. Get together with friends, a guild study group, a school class or a 4H group and have fun experiencing an ancient art.
100 grams of natural indigo, finely ground -- $19.00
100 grams of madder, finely ground -- $6.00
The following fermentation assists may be less costly if purchased locally. We offer them for your convenience.
100 grams of bran -- $4.95
300 grams of soda ash -- $4.95
100 grams of organic, natural indigo, finely ground (excellent quality)
100 grams of madder, finely ground -- fermentation assist --
100 grams of wheat bran -- fermentation assist
300 grams of soda ash -- pH shifter
A special devoré shawl ready to dye.
2 pair of latex gloves so that you can dye with a friend.
Complete instructions
Technical support via email
Natural Indigo Fermentation Vat kit -- $75