Making Woad Dye | Part 1: The Harvest

First episode for the year!
Today I will be starting my first journey into the wonderful world of woad, I will be harvesting the woad plants I have been growing over the spring and summer and processing the plants into what are called 'woad balls'.
It's a messy process but it was also a lot of fun, and I really look forward to processing the woad further and seeing what kind of pigment we can make from it.
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[@dawnchesbro4189]

I would be inclined to use cheese cloth or another unbleached cloth of fine weave. Once you squeeze out as much moisture by hand, transfer the balls to the cloth and wrap it tightly until more liquid is expelled. You can use a stick to wind the knot tighter and expel the most liquid. It’s the same in cheesemaking when you want to extract whey.

[@TheAlchemicalArts]

Yes that would help thank you for the suggestion

[@unconventionallives3167]

I came here to suggest the same thing

[@louwhite3929]

Thank you...that was sooooo interesting!

[@AlyGuez]

I wish I have a lab as you, I'm also a watercolor maker. Would be a pleasure to make my own pigments too... I love the process! :)

[@spiderstheythem]

i've always wanted to know how this was done. thanks for the video series!

[@Admonia]

Thank you for this information

[@AnimeShinigami13]

to get rid of the snails, instead of salt, use a container of diatomaceous earth to dry them out. that way it can go in the compost without ruining your soil!! that juice looks like fun! can that be used for dye too?

[@Bearfoot-e3e]

It'll sure color your hands. 😂

[@Modernnannenginemarineengine]

Same with opium and hashish lol it help drying storing measures etc et. Rather than a sort of Mat.

[@the_green_anna]

Wow, this is so interesting! Could you use the squeezed out liquid to get that beautiful spruce-green colour? It was beautiful.

[@marziehkaviani5536]

Soooo cool!!!

[@DarkWafflesOfDoom]

Interesting video! I'm looking forward to the future parts.

[@melissaaldosari8024]

I’m so glad to have found your channel!

[@tassiegirl1991]

Very interesting albeit messy process. Now can’t wait to hear more

[@theprogrammer32]

Storing solid (chemicals) in larger chunks helps prevent the chemicals from reacting with air / moisture. I would imagine, over time, the woad pulp would definitely start to rot or decay (from bacteria) or simply be eaten (by insects), so storing them in big balls is like guaranteeing at least some of it will be safely buried inside the center of the ball. It could also be protecting it from sunlight, but storing the balls indoors can be sufficient for that too, I would imagine.

[@conniebueche3989]

This whole process of making watercolor paint is new to me, tonight! Very cool stuff As I’m watching you squeeze, I think squeezing it back into the bucket with the mashed woad is making it more difficult as you go, adding more liquid to squeeze out again. Just a thought☺️

[@twycross3]

Hey!!!! This is awesome! Its mid-winter here so I can start planning a garden and be ready to plant seed in mid spring

[@TheAlchemicalArts]

Woad is very easy to grow I just scattered the seeds and lightly covered them in mid spring and they just grew on their own with out much work.

[@robertcrockerWCS]

I imagine the process is a bit meditative :)

[@TheAlchemicalArts]

It was and also therapeutic with all the crushing of the leaves.

[@bethysbarn]

Thank you so much for this! Mine has flowered this year, if I harvest the flowers do you use them the same way or does that makes more yellow pigment? Or is it solely the leaves I should use and I leave the flowers to go to seed? Thank you so much again for all of your help and sharing your knowledge with us 🥰❤️❤️❤️

[@voltikirsche]

Very interesting video! Do you think the squeezing-process could be sped up by using a cheese cloth?

[@mariapelepciuc5197]

What next? I want to see the maceration process

[@levillainjoao7778]

Hello, You use the liquid of the 'cocagne" for dying fabric ? Do you add soda crystals or other products ? And the woad ball : how do you keep them ? Thank you !

[@karenabrams8986]

I’d let stuff sit for an hour in the sun and let the critters have time to leave on their own. How about using the cuisinart to macerate to make balls? Mortar and pestles are a pain in the wrist.

[@chrisvighagen]

Just out of curiosity, that liquid seems mighty staining, can it be used for pigment as well?

[@TheAlchemicalArts]

The liquid would of had some of the colouring material in it but it mostly would of been chlorophyll. Maybe next time I will see if it's worth trying to extract any colour from the waste liquid.

[@ChickenPermissionOG]

Why not do the 2-nitrobenzaldehyde process?

[@Bearfoot-e3e]

Do you ever have issues with the leaves molding while they're supposed to be fermenting?

[@fijaystudio]

I'm guessing maybe the squeezed out woad water Might make an ink? You know shaggy top mushrooms, it reminds me of that and I have used rotten shaggy tops for ink, like the old monks, it's ok.

[@sebastiaantheartartist]

Is woad and indigo plant the same thing? Other indigo video's the plants looks a bit different? Love your channel. Keep ot up

[@TheAlchemicalArts]

Woad and Indigo are different plants but they both contain similar colouring compounds.

[@sebastiaantheartartist]

@@TheAlchemicalArts thank you

[@jenartmom2161]

Not video related but can mica be removed from pigment powders

[@TheAlchemicalArts]

No I very much doubt that it can be removed.

[@jenartmom2161]

@@TheAlchemicalArts thank you so much for the feedback

[@LOperatorium]

Are these baby mice for a recipe in the left bottom glass jar ? (Please answer positively)

[@Skipperau]

Where do you buy woad seeds? When you plant them during the Australian seasons? I am in South East Queensland.

[@crystalross7943]

Is woad hard to grow?

[@bdee1084]

How do I make ink

[@MegaMackproductions]

If you froze the woad would that do the same thing as mascherating it?

[@conniebueche3989]

Oops, I should have waited for that last comment

[@tealkerberus748]

You have a tripod for your camera. You used your tripod for your camera. But not before making people seasick by filming handheld with no stabilisation. I want to learn how you harvest and process woad, but now I've got a sick headache and you haven't even started.

[@joejoelesh1197]

Good gods, of you spoke at a reasonable pace and edited your videos better it could easily be a single video instead of two parts. I don't care about the snails I don't care to see you brushing off every leaf before you break it in two. I'm interested in woad and natural dyes. Get to it.

[@ozodari6160]

The world doesn't revolve around you. Not everyone is a slick, fast talking business man. Try being patient, it's 10 minutes out of your life to learn an ancient secret.

[@lisasternenkind6467]

Have you tried painting with the sap you pressed out?

[@annekabrimhall1059]

Would it work in a food processor?