Here is a documentation of dyeing and living with a vat. This is the second tryout of fermentation indigo vat with sukumo. The building of this vat was made with the instruction from Melanie Maru from Ainisomatte. It took 59 days (including 18 days of absence) to be built until it can be used as a dye vat.
Day 63 (Jan 26)
13:00
21:00
Day 64 (Jan 27)
10:00
23:00 Mat thing is developing. Mixed
Day 65 (Jan 28)
9:00
24:00 mat layer is developing again and PH is quite low. I decided to add ca(oh)2 to raise the PH a bit. ~3g of ca(oh)2 is added, which should raise PH for 0.1 to 0.2 theoretically. Let’s see what happens. it forms hana bubble after mixing.
Day 66 (Jan 29)
10:00
23:00 what is developing on the surface does not look very healthy. after mixing, I measure PH 10.28. It will be better if the PH is a bit higher.
Day 67 (Jan 30)
23:00 I did not have time till evening to check this day. The color test shows very little color and PH is still very low. I decided to add more ca(oh)2 again to make sure PH is high enough.
This time, I add ~5g ca(oh)2. my vat is now filled to ~18L and it should raise ~0.3 PH. it will start to effect in few days. Let’s see how it goes.
Day 68 (Jan 31)
14:00 Mat layer is developing. hana bubble is still there but it is a bit flat and does not look healthy. PH still is staying low and color test is light blue.
24:00 hana bubble has almost disappeared and PH is still staying low. I decide to add even more ca(OH)2. I would like the vat to go over 10.5 in PH. This time ~5g is added and mixed well. it shows 10.88 right after mixing.
Day 69 ( Feb 1 )
11:00 PH is raising now. what I measure is surface PH without mixing. also purple layer is developing again although it looks a bit patchy. hana is there but very small. color test shows some color but not full.
23:00 strange marble pattern of purple layer. after mixing, I see some hana bubble forming. PH is now 11.1 after mixing.
Day 70 ( Feb 2 )
15:00 Purple shiny layer is coming back, but no as thick as before. PH is now staying high and color test shows more promising blue.
22:00 more purple layer is coming out. I mix the vat and see a nice bubble forming. PH after mixing is 11.27. Maybe i raised it too much??
Day 71 ( Feb 3 )
15:00 Vat looks healthy again and PH is now 11, color test shows nice blue. I decided to take this timing to dye. 44g thin cotton yarn is dipped 3min once.
22:00 mixed
Day 72 ( Feb 4 )
10:00 PH still is staying high. I notice when the PH is high, it smells more like ammonia. color test shows very nice blue.
The yarn from yesterday shows very nice color. I go for the second dip today. after airing and washing, it starts to show very nice blue.
23:00 mix and check. PH 11.3. still very high.
Day 74 ( Feb 6)
10:00 Patchy surface. PH is still high and purple layer is not fully developing. color test is also patchy..
24:00 after mixing.
Day 75 ( Feb 7)
10:00 not so much purple layer and very little blue color on the color test.
2:00 Came home late after watching Blue Velvet at the Babylon cinema. Strange but beautiful film. Late night but mixed the vat anyway. PH is still staying high. it does not make much hana bubble.
Day 76 ( Feb 8)
11:00 Very quiet surface. When dipping the color test fabric, it shows a trace of purple material in the vat and color test shows some color but not enough to dye. Maybe bacteria are tired now. I decided to feed and cocked 20g of bran (I started cooking 10g and felt not enough and added another 10g). It swam in the vat in the beginning like this. I did not mix in the evening.
Day 77 ( Feb 9)
11:00 1 day after feeding. I expected the PH will go down and it did. PH 10 before mixing, and 10.3 after mixing. It is probably a good idea to raise the PH a bit.
~5g of ca(oh)2 is added. Mixing makes a nice hana bubble. PH is 10.5 right after adding the calk.
21:00 shiny purple layer is developing and hana bubble is staying on the surface. I mix it and bubble forms again. PH is 10.69 now.
Day 78 ( Feb 10)
13:00 shiny purple layer develops. I even see a bubble coming out in the middle. Color test also shows nice strong blue. I decided to dye today and dipped 1 time 44g cotton from the previous dye session. The photo is after the dip before washing.
24:00 mixed.
Day 79 ( Feb 11)
10:00 Nice purple layer develops again and color test shows strong blue. Good for dyeing!
I continue with the cotton thread from yesterday (44g) and new wool yarn (40g). Both are dipped once. The first image is right after dipping and the second image is after washing it in the water and letting it oxidase in water. Even it was 1 dip this day, the color shows very nicely.
23:00. Mixing and hana bubble forms nicely.
Day 80 ( Feb 12)
10:00 I feel like the color got a bit less and I do not over exhaust the vat so I decide that it is a rest day for the vat.
23:00 more purple patches are coming out. It makes a nice hana bubble when I mix it. PH also looks good.
Day 81 ( Feb 13)
9:00 Beautiful iceberg vat this morning. PH is 10.42 and color test looks also good.
I continue with the yarn from 2 days ago. 1 dip for each skein. It is always fascinating how the color before washing and after washing changes.
Wool yarn from the first dye batch is woven now. This is 2/28 wool yarn. It weaves quite nice although the warp is a bit sticky. I suspect this will be an itchy scurf.
24:00 mixed
Day 82 ( Feb 14)
10:00 test color shows strong blue. PH is stable 10.4. I dipped one time cotton and one time wool skein from the day before.
1:00 mixed
Day 83 ( Feb 15)
10:00 Purple layer is well developed and the color test shows strong blue. I dipped both the wool and cotton skein from yesterday 1 time each for 3min, hang for 10min and let it oxidase in water and wash well afterwards. cotton is becoming really nice deep blue. The cotton skein is dipped for 7 times now, wool skein for 4 times.
18:00 Wool skein was dipped 1 more time on this day. now it is 5 times dyed. No mixing in the evening.
Day 84 ( Feb 16)
12:00 The vat looks like it did not recover from the dyeing activity yesterday, and the PH looks quite low. I added small amount ~ 3g of ca(oh)2. Afterwards PH was up to 10.5
Day 85 ( Feb 17)
10:00 The vat looks healthy again. It also smells sweet, like indigo. color test shows nice blue.
23:00 mixed
Day 86 ( Feb 18)
10:00 healthy vat again
I have received a test wool cone from a company. It is 100% merino wool, Nm30/2. It is already prepared for dyeing. This yarn is super soft, thin and shiny. I was afraid to dip it in high PH water first, so I directly dipped in the vat (usually I dip in ash water first to wet the material). After just one dip, it took the color super nicely. You can see how “blue” it came with just one dip.
I continued with the wool yarn from the week before as well. It is dipped once on this day. so wool1 is now 6 times dipped, wool2 is 1 time dipped.
23:00 mixed
Day 87 ( Feb 19)
10:00 routine check. looks good.
Continue with dying. The wool1 is dipped once, wool2 is dipped twice this day. the last 2 photos are from wool2 after dip1 and dip2. you can see how it is taking the color. I was feeling that the wool1 is very scratchy compare to wool2. then I read that vinegar + hair conditioner treatment makes the wool less itchy and scratchy. I left wool1 and cotton from before (and it is dipped once on this day, total 8 dips) in a water with 1 small cup of white vinegar for 15min, then wool1 in hair conditioner water for another 15min. Afterwards all the yarn were left in normal water for 15min and dried to hang. I stop the cotton and wool1 dying here.
23:00 mixed
Day 88 ( Feb 20)
10:00 vat looks and smells good. I continue with wool2 dyeing. 1 dip today.
24:00 I have the feeling that the PH is getting too low. It is 10.19 on surface without mixing. as the vat water is also getting a bit less, I add ~300ml of PH12 ash water into it. After mixing, I measure 10.33
Day 89 ( Feb 21)
10:00 Vat looks healthy. PH is still not so high but the color test looks good. I start with cotton yarn from some weeks before, which could be a bit darker. 1 dip on this cotton skein, and 1 dip with wool2 skein. now wool2 is dipped 4 times, the cotton skein is not sure how many dips it has now… I lost a track of this one.
22:00 The vat surface looks interesting. I mixed it, and the PH is now 10.32, temp 24.5
Day 90 ( Feb 22)
12:00 The vat looks good, but since I dyed for the last few days, I make it as vat resting day. I wonder if I should add calk to raise PH, but for now I leave it. the color test looks very blue.
These are Nm30/2 wool yarn I have dyed so far. The light blue on the bottom is from fresh leaf dye, the top blue two is from sukumo fermentation vat.