Logwood Chips

Description

Our logwood is in sawdust/wood chip form. Use repeatedly until there is no more color. 100g of logwood chips will dye approximately 600g (24 ounces) of fiber a deep purple shade. There will be enough dye leftover for exhaust baths. For more detailed instructions, please visit our page on logwood chips here.

Logwood chips yield a rich, deep purple and we source ours from sustainably managed farms. Logwood by itself is not particularly lightfast, so keep from bright sunlight. Its lightfastness increases and the color darkens to a near black with added iron. If your water is neutral or acidic, a little soda ash in the dyebath will enrich the purple tone on wool and silk fibers.

From our Feedback Friday series:

I just saw that Pantone created Love Symbol #2, an amazing shade for my favorite musician, Prince. Do you have an idea of how to create that color?

Logwood chips used at about 50% wof with wool or silk mordanted with aluminum sulfate only (no cream of tartar) will make a rich reddish purple very reminiscent of Love Symbol #2.

You can also try our rich Logwood Purple extract, which has a very red base at 3%, again mordanted with aluminum sulfate only for wool and silk. We also dyed this on cotton with aluminum acetate and a wheat bran bath and got great, deep purple results.

History

Like cochineal, logwood was one of the valuable dyes from the New World. According to the University of Michigan:

Logwood was originally prized as a textile dye. Common clothing in late 15th century Europe was rather drab brown or gray. Logwood yields one of the dyes that would change the wardrobes of Europe by introducing a cheap source of color. The indigenous native Nahuatl people in the coastal Mexican area of Bay of Campeche were the first people to use logwood. Hernando Cortez and the Spanish discovered that the beautiful blacks (popular in Europe), as well as purple and blue dyes, could be made from logwood chips. A natural resource from the New World was found.

As a result, Spain and England went to war over regions that were lush with logwood trees in an effort to control the lucrative logwood dye trade. The symbol of Belize actually includes logwood harvesters and the region is renowned for its exceptional logwood.

Sold in 100 gram quantities.