In this episode of Plants to Dye for season 2, we're dyeing with logwood. The heartwood of the logwood tree (Haematoxylum campechianum) produces beautiful shades from red-purple to orchid-blues. Using mordants and additives, you can push the color to shades of brown, blue, navy, and even black. The logwood tree grows in Mexico, Central and South America, Madagascar, and India, and has been a valued dye since the 16th century.
I purchased logwood chips online from Maiwa Textiles located in Vancouver, Canada. Maiwa recommends using 10-15% Weight of Fabric (WOF) for logwood. Unlike some dyes, logwood does well in hard water. If your water is soft, you can add calcium carbonate in the form of finely ground chalk, or an antacid tablet (such as Tums or Rolaids). Soda ash, ammonia, or wood ash water can also push up the pH. Logwood is colorfast, but is only moderately lightfast; you can add iron to the dyebath (rusty nails or similar) to improve lightfastness.
Logwood chips
The weight of fabric for this project is 308 grams (or about 10.8 ounces), for four white cotton dish towels. Fifteen percent WOF for 308 grams is 46.2 grams of logwood, or 1.6 ounces. Fabric should be scoured and mordanted. We used a gallnut mordant, followed by a brightener bath of 15% WOF alum and 2% WOF soda ash. See Scouring your Fabric (Soaking Method), Mordanting Fabric (Oak Gallnut), and Mordanting Fabric (Alum Brightener).
Outdoor studio with basic equipment
For this project you need basic dye equipment, and a well-ventilated workspace. You need a soaking pot, a dye pot, a heat source, and a candy thermometer to keep the dye bath at a consistent temperature. You need strainers, and a jar in which to store the dye bath. For safety, wear a face mask when working with fine powders, and rubber gloves when working with soda ash. Logwood comes with strong warnings that it can cause serious skin, eye, or respiratory irritation.
Pour enough boiling water over the logwood to make a dye bath.
Soak overnight.
Pour off this liquid and use for the dye bath.
Boil about a gallon of water, enough for the dye bath. I'm using tap water for this project. Measure out the logwood chips, and add to the dye pan. Pour the boiling water over the logwood to make a dye bath. Color is released immediately. Optionally you can add calcium carbonate or other additives. Our tap water is mildly acid (pH 6), so I’m adding one antacid tablet. Let the logwood chips soak overnight.
Boil water
Pour boiling water over logwood chips and soak overnight
The next day, pour off this liquid and use for the first (and strongest) dye bath. Strain it through cheesecloth and a strainer to remove the pulp from the dye. The resulting liquor is deep red-purple. Keep the pulp. You can soak the logwood chips again and use the second extract for lighter shades. Repeat until no more color can be extracted. I’m freezing my pulp for later use.
Presoak your prepared fabric in a bucket to ensure the fibers absorb as much color as possible. This time I soaked the towels overnight in an alum and soda ash brightener bath, squeezed out the towels, and added them to the dye bath without rinsing.
Bring dye bath to a simmer (between 170-180º F)
Simmer fabric for an hour
Pour the strained logwood dye into the dye pan. I used about a gallon, which is plenty for four dishtowels. I can always add more water as needed. Bring dye bath to a simmer. Add wet fabric. Stir to loosen the fabric. Add additional water to cover if needed. Simmer fabric for an hour, keeping the temperature between 170-180º F (77-83º C).
Soak fabric for an hour or overnight
Continue to stir periodically for even dyeing, turning the fabric frequently while simmering. Turn off the heat and let the pan cool, leaving the dish towels in the dye bath. Maiwa gives contradictory information about the benefits of soaking logwood overnight in the dye bath (one citation recommends, another does not). Since I love saturated color, I decided to soak overnight as I usually do, and then decide for myself.
Squeeze out as much dye as possible
Squeeze out excess dye from the dish towels (but save the dye bath). Rinse the dish towels in cool water until the water runs clear. I used a combination of agitating the fabric in buckets of water, and rinsing under a stream of tap water. This can take a lot of time and water for these strong colors. Run the dish towels through the washing machine rinse and spin cycles without soap.
Rinse the towels until color runs clear
Rinse and spin cycles
Let the towels air dry. In a couple of weeks, run the towels through the washing machine using Synthrapol and an extra rinse. Include a piece of white cloth to test colorfastness. Air dry again.
Air dry the fabric
Keep the dye bath
Preserve the dye in glass jars to use in future projects. The dye color may be less intense, but it is still usable, either for a lighter shade or mixed with another color. Logwood can be used in combination with other dyes, such as osage, fustic, cochineal, cutch, and indigo. Adding iron can produce shades of gray or black.
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