Ideal for the dyeing purist - pure Isatis Tinctoria (woad) leaves, made into balls and vacuum dried.
In the early days, before 1600, the main natural source of blue dye in Europe was woad. It was grown as a field crop and picked in its first year.
It was chopped up into a paste by a horse-driven mill, then made into balls by hand. These were left to dry in special drying sheds for about four weeks until they became hard like wood.
The dried woad balls were broken up into a powder, sprinkled with water and allowed to ferment. This was known as couching. When the couched woad was dry it was packed into barrels ready for the dyer.
The woad balls were very valuable and were used for trading. In 1286, foreign woad merchants had a trading agreement with the citizens of Norwich, as there ws a dispute over the dock charges in London.
100gms
