Indigo dying first came to Hungary with German immigrants in the mid 1700s. There are a few workshops remaining. Janos, who dyes for us owns and works in one of these.
Janos works in the same studio, using the same traditional techniques with much of the same equipment as his father and his grandfather before him. One of the huge mangles was once operated by horses! With swathes of drying fabric in various shades of indigo , stone dyeing tubs, mangles and beautiful printing block its an awe- inspiring sight and the resulting fabric has an extraordinary depth of colour.
As well as the beautiful range of indigo shades Janos also uses traditional resist dyeing techniques. Patterns are applied using wax using blocks, the fabric is then hung and dipped repeatedly, the number of dips determining the final shade. The wax is then removed. Janos can resist dye 300 patterns, most are traditional, applied using wooden printing
