Swimming in Indigo

On indigo, alchemy, and the slow work of becoming

“Blue lips, blue veins,

Blue, the colour of our planet from far far away.

Blue, the most human colour.”

- Regina Spektor

Inky blue with depth and complexity, a funky smell of fermentation and life; indigo is an alluring dye for many reasons. The colour is so alive and yet it is a rarity; finding a source of blue in nature is not very common. The two famous sources of blue are indigo and woad - its European counterpart. Unlike other natural dyes which require a mordant (something to help colour adhere to the fibres), once the fabric is cleaned, it is ready to go into an indigo dye vat for repeated dips until the desired colour is achieved. One dip and you’ll get a mottled light blue. Two dips, the colour deepens and shifts the patterning. The more layers added the darker it gets and the more uniform the colour is.

The reason for this is that the colour adheres to the outer layer of the fibres, so a longer submersion makes for a lighter and less enduring dye compared to multiple dips with rinses in between. It feels like an important life lesson - rather than doing something in one big haul, there is a depth that can only be achieved through time, rest, and repetition.

From white cloth to rich indigo blue

Indigo is so hands-on, rather than just submerging cloth in the dye and leaving it there except for an occasional stir, indigo wants you to be a part of every step of the process. Your hands turn blue, and you step into a rhythm of soak, rinse, soak, rinse, soak, rinse…

To work with indigo is to witness alchemy. The pigment dissolved in water becomes yellow-green, while the oxygen that interacts with the top of the vat oxidizes blue. When the cloth is initially pulled out of the indigo vat, it is a green/teal colour that morphs into blue as it oxidizes. This is true nature wizardry.

To set the colour, the dyed fabric is placed in the sun for a day, then soaked in fresh water overnight, and placed in a sunny spot once more.

Once you dye with indigo - you want to put everything in the vat; your clothes, bedsheets, and body… to swim in the inky vat and transform yourself into the most human colour…