Indigo
Indigo is a blue dye obtained from plants such as Indigofera and woad, and since the late nineteenth century also made synthetically.
Indigo is one of the oldest and most widely used dyes. The colouring matter in the plant is insoluble, so dyers ferment or chemically reduce it into a soluble form; cloth dipped in the vat comes out yellow-green and turns blue as it meets the air. Deep shades are built up with repeated dips.
Where does it come from?
Several plants contain it, including tropical Indigofera species and European woad. A synthetic version, introduced commercially in the 1890s, now dyes almost all denim.
Sources
- Indigo (AAT 300013055). Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Indigo (Q422662). Wikidata
See also
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