Natural indigo dye house · Hudson, NY

Blue happens in the air.

Natural indigo, dipped by hand in Hudson, New York, one lot at a time.

Two hands lifting a dripping length of cotton from the indigo vat, yellow-green at the edges and blue in the folds — Out of Vat No. 3. Green for a few seconds, then blue.

What we dye

Three kinds of work. Each one written down.

We dye for clothing makers, interior designers and anyone who has seen synthetic indigo fade to grey. Plant vat, hand dipped, logged by lot.

Lines of white and blue dyed cloth hanging to dry in the dye yard, with Marit Ostrander between the lines — Marit Ostrander, between the drying lines. Mill Race Road.

Yardage

Cotton, linen and hemp by the yard, dipped flat and hung to air. Shirting to canvas, held to the shade you pick on the ladder.

from $38 per yard

Garments

Your finished pieces, dyed whole. Send them clean and undyed; they come back blue, with the seams showing where the vat reached.

from $24 per piece

Maker lots

Runs for small labels and interior studios. One shade ticket, one vat, one record per lot, so the second order matches the first.

3 week lead time

The dip

Lift it out green. Watch it turn.

Indigo leaves the vat yellow-green. Oxygen does the rest. Press and hold the cloth under, let go, and give it six seconds. Every dip goes deeper, to Dip 8.

Count: Dip 1
Shade 01 to 08: 01

Settled blue. Dip again to go deeper.

Dip ladder

Eight dips. Eight blues. One linen.

Every square is the same linen, dipped once more than the one before it. Pick a number and we hold the lot to it.

Dip 01Shade 01

Dries: 1 hr in shade
Use: Light shirting

Dip 02Shade 02

Dries: 2 hr in shade
Use: Summer shirting, scarves

Dip 03Shade 03

Dries: 2 hr in shade
Use: Chambray, aprons

Dip 04Shade 04

Dries: 3 hr in shade
Use: Workwear, tote cloth

Dip 05Shade 05

Dries: 3 hr in shade
Use: Sashiko thread

Dip 06Shade 06

Dries: 4 hr in shade
Use: Denim, light weight

Dip 07Shade 07

Dries: 5 hr in shade
Use: Denim, heavy weight

Dip 08Shade 08

Dries: 6 hr in shade
Use: Midnight denim, sashiko thread

Workshops and prices

Prices, plainly. In US dollars.

Come on a Saturday to dip your own cloth, or send us a lot. Either way you know the cost and the wait before you start.

Book a Saturday

Shibori-bound cloth bundles, clamped boards and stained wooden dye tools on a table

Workshop and dyeing prices
Service	When	Price	What it covers
Saturday Indigo Day	Saturdays, 10 to 4	$145per guest	Dip your own cloth through shades 01 to 04. You leave with a dyed scarf and a shade card.
Yardage dyeing	By the yard	$38from, per yard	Cotton, linen, hemp. Any shade 01 to 08.
Garment dyeing	By the piece	$24from, per piece	Clean, undyed garments only.
Maker lots	Per lot, quoted	Quoteby yards and shade	Logged on a lot ticket and dipped in one vat.Lead time 3 weeks

The surface of Vat No. 3, dark indigo liquid with a copper-coloured bloom and a ladle resting in it — Vat No. 3, surface. The copper bloom means it is ready.

The vat

Vat No. 3. Fed on bran, lime and fruit since 2015.

It is a living thing, and it keeps a schedule. Here is the week it keeps, written down the way we write it down.

Feeding
Mon and Thu, dusk
Wheat bran, a handful of slaked lime and overripe fruit go in. Stirred slowly, never whipped.
pH check
Daily, 06:30
Target pH 10.5 to 11. Below 10 the lime goes in; above 11.5 we wait.
Colour check
Fri, noon
A linen square is dipped, oxidised and held against the shade card. If it drifts, the lot waits.
Rest
Sun, and the day after a feed
The vat cannot be used. Dip a vat in flux and the blue comes out patchy, so we do not.No dipping

Visit and order

Write the ticket. Or come and see the vat.

Ostrander Indigo Works
212 Mill Race Road
Hudson, NY

hello@ostranderindigo.com

Saturdays 10 to 4 for Indigo Day. Lots are dipped Tuesday to Friday; the vat rests on Sundays.