Italian Umber 20g (0.7 oz)

Italian Umber: A natural earth containing hematite.

Place of Origin: Italy

Principle components: Fe₂O₃   CaCO₃

Earth pigments come from minerals, clays and oxides and are best known by names such as burnt sienna, umber and ochre. They are collected in various parts of the world for their characteristic colours. The exceptions are indigo and vine black, which are plant-based. Maiwa works with small companies who prepare these pigments using centuries-old traditional methods. Our pigments are ground extra-fine for textile use.

Earth pigments are not dyes: they do not dissolve in solution, nor do they form molecular bonds with fibres. To work on textiles, paper or other surfaces, the pigment is combined with a binder (or media) which bonds the pigment to the surface. Acrylic and gum Arabic are popular binders. For cloth we prefer soymilk where the proteins in the milk act as the binder. Our experience with earth pigments is on natural fibres.

For more information please see our Earth Pigments instructions.