Dyer's Alkanet is a member of the Borage family, Alkanna tinctoria produces very attractive purple shades. It is often used as a colourant for handmade soaps. The colour produced on fabric and yarns is fugative.

Black Oak (sawdust of the bark of the Quercus velutina). This dye was "discovered" by Edward Bancroft who marketed it as Quercitron (by combining its latin name for black oak with "citron" for yellow). Anxious to promote his find, he claimed the dye to be four times as strong as old fustic and up to ten times more powerful than weld. It is undoubtedly a strong dye, producing attractive yellows on mordanted fibers.

A sawdust shredded from the heartwood of the caesalpinia brasiliensis tree native to Brazil. Brazilwood will produce lovely yellow based reds when dyed at a 20% wof, and can achieve startling variations from bright orange to blue reds when the ph level of the dye bath is manipulated. We only sell brazilwood obtained from reclaimed wood (no harvested woods).

Cochineal dye consists of whole dried insects of the species Dactylopius Coccus. This dye yields fuchsias to purples on most natural fibers. Although it is expensive it has a high dye content and goes a long way. You will need 3-5% bugs to wof for medium depth of shade.

An extract prepared from wood of the tree Acacia Catechu. It is a good source of colorfast browns such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Cutch contains tannin as well as the dye compound and is easily soluble in water.

An extract prepared from the heartwood of a tree from the Mulberry family. Fustic produces a range of colors from yellow to gold to orange and makes a good underdye with indigo to make greens. The extract is highly concentrated and ready to use directly into the dye bath.

Henna, Lawsonia inermis, produces a brown colour tending toward a red-orange. The dye bonds well with protein, and hence is used to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool.

Perhaps the most famous dye, indigo is an extract prepared from cultivated plants of Indigofera Tinctoria. Indigo can give the clearest blues of all values from pale sky blue to the deepest darkest navy.

Lac is an extract from the Coccus Lacca insect. This dye yields burgundy reds to deep purple. 4% dye to wof is all that is needed for a medium depth of shade

Logwood is an extract from wood of the Hematoxylon Campechianum tree. This dye yields red purples to orchid blues with 3-5% dye to wof.

Madder dye is the ground root of mature plants of the Rubia Tinctorum. This dye produces salmon pinks to deep lacquer reds which are extremely permanent. 35-60% root is required for medium depth of shade.

This dyestuff consists of dried and ground flower heads. It yields rich vibrant yellows and oranges with 15-20% marigold to wof.

This dyestuff consists of ground nuts. It may be classed as both a mordant and a dye, giving a light buttery yellow when applied.

Osage Orange consists of the shredded heartwood of the tree Maclura Pomifera. Osage contains a yellow dye similar to Fustic and yields clear true yellows to soft yellow greens.

An extract from the rinds of pomegranates, this dye yields yellows to green-yellows and requires 15-20% wof for a medium depth of shade.

Well known for the oil that can be derived from its seeds, safflower gives a mustard yellow when mordanted with alum. John and Margaret Cannon in thier book "Dye Plants and Dyeing" mention that a fugative red pigment may also be obtained and it was the colouring of cotton tape used to bind government documents that gave rise to the expression "red tape."

Weld (Reseda Luteola) is also known as Dyers Weld, Dyers Rocket, and Dyers Mignonette. It produces an excellent fast yellow. Traditionally cultivated throughout Europe as a yellow dyeplant it still flourishes on embankments or beside railways and roads. It will dye silk, wool, cotton and linen to a satisfying shade. An Alum mordant is recommended.

Woad is the common name of Isatis tinctoria. In Medieval Europe it was the only source of blue dye for textiles. The leaves of the woad plant contain the same dye as Indian Indigo Indigofera tinctoria, although in a weaker concentration. This makes colouring with woad a much more subtle and delicate art. The same recipes that are used for indigo may be used for woad. The shades obtained from woad are slightly different from indigo and call to mind the areas where it was most popular - the south of France.

Our woad comes from France, from the famous woad project of Bleu de Lectoure.