DYE JOURNAL - LOGWOOD *take 3*

Logwood! I’ve got my second extraction as well as all of my modified bundles cooking in this pot.

This is an updated post from one of my logwood dye journals! As I’ve mentioned before, I’ll be going back through some of the dyes I’ve already tried with my new organized practice so that y’all can see a wider range of color from each dyestuff. Here are my results from my logwood tests:

Oooh, what lovely purples! L to R, top to bottom: 1st extraction (unmodified), 2nd extraction (unmodified), alkaline modifier, acidic modifier, iron modifier.

Details:

- Dye method: cooked immersion dye method
- Water used: rain water (pH of 7)
- Mordant: alum sulfate
- Materials to Dye Stuff Ratio (by weight): 20:1
- Materials dyed: 5 small material bundles are in each dye pot. Materials include wool and cotton yarn, cotton silk, cotton lawn, kona-like cotton, organic cotton sateen and Belgian linen.
- Extraction Time: the dye is extracted for at least an hour on active heat (low/medium). Material bundles are added to the pot and dyed for at least 2 hours (still on active heat and sachet bag of dye stuffs included). Materials are left to steep and cool overnight in the bath.
- Modifiers: after my initial dye bath, I modify 3 of the material bundles— one acidic modifier (lemon juice), one alkaline modifier (soda ash) and one iron sulfate modifier. These baths sit on active heat (low/medium) for about an hour.

(one material bundle will remain unmodified and the last remaining bundle will be put into the initial dye bath for a second extraction to test for levels of exhaustion.)

Just stunning! I was pleasantly surprised by the alkaline modifier and how blue it got. Hoping to one day replicate that color…

Until next time, friends!
— KB