Dyeing with Cutch Dye Extract

Buy cutch extract

What is Cutch?
What colours does Cutch extract produce?
How do I use Cutch extract?
BFL wool dyed with cutch extract

cotton dyed with cutch extract (centre) and cutch extract + iron

BFL wool dyed with cutch extract & indigo

How much wool does Cutch extract dye?
What is Cutch extract?

1) What is Cutch?
Cutch is an important dye extracted from the heartwood of the cutch tree (Acacia catechu).

2) What colours does Cutch extract produce?
Cutch extract produces earth browns, chestnut, fawns and beiges. This affordable extract is perfect for mixing with other extracts to obtain a range of browns. Overdye it with indigo for stunning grey greens.

3) How do I use Cutch extract?
Wash and mordant the wool (follow Scouring the wool and Mordanting with alum for details).

First make a paste with 1 teaspoon (5 grams) Cutch extract and a small amount of warm water. Fill a saucepan with water and add the Cutch extract paste.

Add your pre-wetted mordanted fibre. Bring the dye bath to a gentle simmer and then keep at that temperature for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring gently from time to time. Leave overnight to cool.

4) How much wool does Cutch extract dye?
20 grams of Cutch extract will dye one 100 gram hanks of Blue-faced Leicester superwash wool chestnut and another hank a fawn colour. Colours vary with fibre and water.

5) What is Cutch extract?
Our Cutch extract is shipped as a dry earth brown crystalline powder that is very stable and of high colour fastness. It is produced using processes that respect the environment and comply with organic textile certifications. Our Cutch dye extract is an approved dyestuff for the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS 4.0) and is of consistent high quality through certified cultivation of a pure plant (Europam: the European certification for medicinal herbs) and a high level of process control during production.