Cloth dyers preferred indigo over woad primarily due to its superior dyeing properties. Indigo produces a more vibrant and deeper blue color, and it has better lightfastness, meaning the color remains stable and does not fade easily. Additionally, indigo can be dyed at lower temperatures and has a higher yield, allowing for more efficient production. These advantages made indigo a more desirable choice in textile dyeing.
Woad leaves contain indigotin, a chemical that can be used to dye cloth. Woad was used to produce indigotin until modern synthetic dyes were developed.
Indigo is a natural dye that comes from the leaves of the indigo plant, scientifically known as Indigofera tinctoria or from some varieties of the woad plant (Isatis tinctoria). It has been used for centuries to produce a deep blue color in textiles.
Woad (the plant) is pronounced with a long O, as in road.
Indigo dye can be derived from several different plants, most notably Indigofera, which is native to the tropics. Other sources include dyer's knotweed and first-year wood rosettes.
Its made out of...woad! Woad is a plant that was commonly grown throughout Europe and Asia for its dyeing properties.
The Woad Ode was created by Sir John Betjeman in 1936.
Although I'm not aware of any 'indigo' colored plants ('blue jean' or denim blue), there are some which produce naturally blue flowers: agapanthus, bachelor buttons, iris, corn flower, violets to name a few. The actual indigo plant is green, and through a process of fermentation, it produces the dark, intense indigo blue dye.
Woad is made from the leaves of the plant Isatis tinctoria. The leaves are harvested, dried, and powdered to create a blue dye. This dye has been historically used for textile dyeing.
its called "hollywood nonsense".Blue body painting was worn by the ancient scots... more than 1000 years before Wallace was born.However, it is commonly called woad, an indigo-blue dye made from the leaves of woad plants (Isatis tinctoria).It should be noted that woad dye does not work very well as a paint, and it is uncertain exactly what material the Roman accounts of the Pictii (literally meaning "painted") were referring to, when it came to their blue paint - or even if it was paint - it could have been a form of tatooing.
Indigo can be extracted from certain plants such as the Indigofera species. It can also be extracted from woad (Isatis tinctoria) and dyer's knotweed(Polygonum tinctorum), and can be obtained from the sea creatures known as Phoenician Sea Snails. However, most indigo dyes are now made synthetically.For more information see 'Related Links' below.
The blue dye used by Ancient Britons to paint themselves was called woad. Woad comes from the plant Isatis tinctoria and was commonly used by Celtic tribes in Britain for body painting and clothing dyeing.
Patrice Georges Rufino has written: 'Le Pastel' -- subject(s): Woad (Dye), Woad (Plant)