Organic Cutch Extract

THE HEARTWOOD of THE ACACIA TREE, revered for clearing space, offering renewal, fortitude and purity.

Colours:
Earthy cinnamon shades of beige to light chestnut brown
Longer dye times bring out pink shades.

INFO/ ABOUT:

The Acacia tree is a long revered being, whose spirit calls for renewal, fortitude and purity.
In some traditional rituals the plant’s evergreen leaves are said to represent immortality. It is used to build temples throughout Asia and some historians suggest that this sacred wood may have been the Tree Of Life and the Burning Bush of the Bible.
It is burned in sacred rituals in the Far East and for clearing space of malevolent energies in Tibet.
With this in mind, you may enjoy working with this dye to transform your clothing and textiles into empowering and supportive amulets.

The heartwood of the cutch tree from the region of the same name in Gujarat, India, named after this most important dyestuff. The name describes the colour of the earth here which is the colour given by the dye. A khaki, which has been used to colour the army's uniforms as it creates camouflage in the landscape so that one is hidden from a distance. The indian word translates to “earth” or “soil”.
Cutch contains the natural dye chemical, catechu along with tannic acid which acts as both a dye and a mordant.

Ingredients:

GOTS certified organic Cutch extract from the heartwood of the Cutch tree (Acacia catechu). Grown and processed in India.

Herbal and traditional uses:

Cutch has been used for centuries as a medicine for purifying the blood and as a skin rejuvenating herb.
In Ayurvedic medicine, cutch is used for its astringent qualities, as well as in more modern breath-freshening recipes for pastilles in France and Italy. It is also used in South Asian cooking of paan masala and gutka.
Its high tannin content has lent it to usage of tanning leather hides. Since the early 19th century, cutch was preferred for tanning animal hides as it was less expensive than other tanning materials such as oak tannin.

Recipe:

15% WOF to dye a light cinnamon
20% WOF to dye a light chestnut brown
30% WOF to dye a medium chestnut brown

Put the required amount of powder in a bowl, add a few drops of boiling water to make a paste. As it is a heartwood material, it is a little resinous and will take a little extra work to smooth out lumps and dissolve properly into a solution. Once smooth, add a few more teaspoonfuls of boiling water, to make an ink.
To make a dye, add enough hot water to create the space required for your fibres to move around freely in. Add fibres and heat for 30-60 mins until the desired depth of colour is acquired. Leave to saturate overnight for deeper shades. Remove and wash, rinse, air dry.
Ref. Botanical Inks book for further info on dyeing instructions for cellulose/protein fibres, mordanting etc.

Have a few extra items to dye lighter shades in your exhaust bath as there will be plenty of dye still available after the first batch for several more.

Fastness:

High colour fastness

Mordants/Modifiers:

Pre-mordant with alum for caramel tones
After-mordant with 2% WOF Iron for deeper browns
Alkalines such as soda ash will shift colours to pink/red shades.
Mixed with other natural dyes to expand a colour range of browns
Over-dye with indigo for a grey green

Ph sensitivity:

Very stable

ORIGIN:

Found in Kutch, Gujarat, india
(Cutch is common to most parts of India, Burma, Indonesia and Peru)
Produced using systems approved by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS 4.0)

Extraction technique:

Cutch is extracted from the heartwood of the tree by soaking it in hot water until the water becomes thick. It is then cooled and pressed into blocks. Once fully dried out these can be ground down into a powder.

Transport:

Air courier from India to UK
Shipped from Botanical Inks in Devon via Royal Mail

Packaging:

Packaged in a 100% compostable zip lock paper pouch and put inside a biodegradable corn starch mailer bag - safe for health and environment.