Dyeing Process

Hank dyeing....Our River Denim is made from organic long staple cotton, grown and hand spun locally. Most operations in the area who work in the process are family run cottage industries, and we were lucky enough to meet a family of dyers who have been trusted with the River Denim yarns.After the yarn is picked, spun, and delivered to the family, they tie the ropes together to keep them neat and even.“Hank dyeing” essentially means the yarns are dipped and dyed manually by hand, and it’s quite different to “rope dying” which is how most indigo yarns are coloured. Hank dying takes a lot of care, attention to detail, and human involvement – but it inevitably produces more irregularities (which we love).

They’re then soaked for several hours (preferably overnight) before being pulled out and drained. This process is important; too much water would dilute the indigo bath, but dry cotton won’t accept the dye in the right way. 

The family thought it was hilarious that we found their rubber gloves so beautiful — but after years of indigo dying even stubborn rubber has yielded to the might of indigo.The ropes are then attached to a long pole and dipped into an enormous bath of natural indigo (this is the best part). They’re slowly rotated so every inch of them sits in the indigo bath, then rises out to oxidise and set.
As you can see, indigo dye begins as a bright green colour, but starts to turn blue the moment it touches air. 

 This method of natural indigo dying uses chemicals (unlike the Hank 2 and Hank 8) which means the yarns only need to be dipped twice to reach a deep blue shade.