Indigo Dye Scarf: Batik Print

• 100% Cotton
• Dimensions:Â 74" x 46"
• Hand Dyed
• Hand Woven
• Hand Printed
• Origin: Thailand

Thai Indigo Dye

A Thai cultural heritage, Indigo dye is a natural dye extracted from plants. Many Asian countries have used indigo as a dye for centuries.

In Thailand, there are two species of indigo plant grown and used. One is indigofera tinctoria, known locally as Kraam which is most widely used. The other type, mostly grown in the hills, is known as strobilanthes flaccidifolius, known local as Hom.

Four months after planting indigo seeds, the leaves start turning dark green which indicates a good quality. A powder is then extracted from the leaves through a multi-step process. The powder is then mixed with various other substances to produce different shades of blue and purple.

Batik Printing:

Batik is a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to whole cloth, or cloth made using this technique. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a canting, (also spelled tjanting), or by printing the resist with a copper stamp called a cap  (also spelled tjap). The applied wax resists dyes and therefore allows the artisan to colour selectively by soaking the cloth in one colour, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if multiple colours are desired.