ceriops Archives - Botanical Colors

You Asked, Kathy Answered: Does Ceriops Oxidize?

We get lots of emails from customers about challenges with dyeing and needing Botanical Colors’ President Kathy Hattori’s help. Why not share the learning so we can all benefit? From our inboxes to you, it’s simple: You Asked, Kathy Answered. Email questions@botanicalcolors with your plea for help! YOU ASKED: For instructions on your ceriops page, it says to “dip the cloth into the ceriops vat for 5 minutes. Lift the cloth from the vat and hang (either above the dye vat or over a collecting pan so that the dye can be returned to the dye vat) until dripping stops. … Read more

You Asked, Kathy Answered: Ceriops Mold?

We get lots of emails from customers about challenges with dyeing and needing Botanical Colors’ President Kathy Hattori’s help. Why not share the learning so we can all benefit? From our inboxes to you, it’s simple: You Asked, Kathy Answered. Email questions@botanicalcolors with your plea for help! YOU ASKED: I’ve prepared my Ceriops and it is currently maturing in the storage vat (soon it will be a month!) It has some mold forming on the top of the liquid. Should I keep checking and removing it during the month, or leave it and scoop it all off at the end … Read more

You Asked: What Did I Do Wrong With My Ceriops Tagal?

Thanks so much to Sue who wrote to us and documented with her own images, asking why she didn’t get the color she’d hoped from Ceriops tagal. She writes: “I dyed a linen apron and mask commercially dyed off-white. Total weight 225 grams. I scoured them according to Botanical Colors and Catharine Ellis using washing soda. Allowed to dry. Wetted out and mordanted fabric was soaked in a tannin bath made from 30% WOF dried winged sumac leaves, whirled in processor. The fabric was immediately put in a cold mordant of 12% WOF potassium aluminum sulfate and 1.5% WOF washing … Read more

Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Kathy Hattori Talks Ceriops Tagal

Last week for our live FEEDBACK FRIDAY, we had Botanical Colors President Kathy Hattori talking all things Ceriops tagal! Watch the video recording below: Shop Ceriops tagal HERE. Ceriops tagal, also known as Indian mangrove, is prized for its tannin-rich bark, which yields very dark red-brown on cellulose fibers. Mangroves are widely distributed in Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Indonesia and parts of Australia and the Pacific. They are an important tree in coastal ecosystems, and mangroves are under tremendous environmental stress from herbicide runoff to clear cutting groves for aquaculture. Strong management of mangroves to protect them but also allow … Read more

Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Nienke Hoogvliet

This week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY we had Nienke Hoogvliet talking about our new favorite topic: seaweed dye. Studio Nienke Hoogvliet, is a design studio for material research, experimental and conceptual design. The studio engages in freelance projects for different companies and institutions but also continues research in self-initiated design projects. The studio is based in The Hague, The Netherlands. We are pretty obsessed with their seaweed dye research. Watch the video here. Seaweed Re-Search By Studio Nienke Hoogvliet Studio Nienke Hoogvliet website Nienke’s NEW website that is officially selling products dyed with seaweed Both Instagram feeds she is running for … Read more