Cutch Natural Plant Dye

Acacia catechu

Dye Package Weight: 50 grams

Colours: Brown, Beige, Khaki

Please Note:

This listing is for the dye package only. Yarns, fabric samples and other props are for display purposes only.

Cutch comes from the heartwood of the Cutch tree. Cutch has two dye pigments that are soluble in cold water (catechu-tannic aci) or hot water (catechin).   Cutch was used to dye khaki colours and was also used for leather tanning.

For grey greens overdye with Indigo.  For dark browns overdye with Logwood and one of the yellow plant dyes.  Cutch is high in tannins, so using a mordant isn't always necessary.  Cutch is difficult to exhaust and you may get several dyebaths of beige, so you may wish to use a lesser amount of dyestuff (5% to 7%)

To Dye 100 grams of yarn, I generally use 10 grams of dye powder. For stronger colours, you can add more dye powder. After dyeing the yarn, the dye bath can be used again for lighter shades of colour. Re-use the dyebath until the dye is exhausted. Or over dye with other colours(such as yellow or blue) to produce different shades of colour.
Nothing is wasted.
When dyeing with natural plant dyes, a mordant must be used to pre-treat all fibres. The mordant allows the fibre to absorb the dye more readily. For animal fibres such as wool, alpaca, silk use a mordant such as alum. Alum is a natural mineral salt and has been used for thousands of years to dye fibres. I use a 10% ratio of alum to fibre. I find that using more than this can result in a harsh texture to the yarn. I also add 5% Cream of Tartar to the mordant bath, as this also helps to soften the texture of the yarn. I reuse the mordant bath several times, adding more water and another 5% of Alum each time I add more fibre. This results in less waste of both water and mordant.

For plant fibres, pre-mordant with a natural tannin such as Myrobalan or Gallnut or Aluminum Acetate

Add pre-mordanted yarn or fibre to the warm water dye bath and let this simmer on low for about an hour. Turn off the dyebath and let the yarn soak for several hours or overnight. Natural dyeing is a slow process, not to be rushed.

Cutch (Catechu) can also be used for tanning leather.

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