woad plant dye colour

Isatis tinctoria, also called woad (/ˈwoʊd/), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is occasionally known as Asp of Jerusalem. Woad is also the name of a blue dye produced from the leaves of the plant.

What Colour dye does the woad plant yield?

WOAD (Isatis tinctoria)

It is closely related to broccoli and cabbage. Both indigo and woad provide us with a beautiful blue dye. The chemical which gives the blue dye is called indigotin.

How do you dye woad plants?

Take the leaves from the base of the plant and then cut them into small pieces. Submerge the torn or cut leaves in a stainless steel pan of water and bring up to a temperature of 175F (80C). Simmer for about 10 minutes. Cool the woad dye down as quickly as possible, so that the leaves don't breakdown too much.

How do you identify woad?

All leaves have a prominent cream colored mid-rib extending the entire length of the leaf, and a bluish-green color. The leaf color and prominent mid-rib are good identifying characteristics of dyer's woad. The weed has a thick, fleshy tap root that penetrates down to 3 feet into the soil.

Is woad the same as Indigo?

Woad was, and still is, the native European source of indigo blue dye. ... This is confusing as the blue colouring matter in woad is the same as the blue colouring matter in “indigo”, but the dye is much less concentrated in woad leaves, which is why “indigo” eventually largely replaced woad in Europe.

How do you extract dye from woad?

Infusing woad leaves in water around 80 degrees Celcius

To extract Woad you need to first infuse leaves in nearly boiling water – preferably soft water such as rain water. After ten minutes the leaves are removed and squeezed of any juice before being discarded on the compost pile.

How do you dye wool with woad?

Dyeing Techniques

The fermentation removes the oxygen from the vat making the woad soluble. Wool or fabric is dipped into the vat, left for a few minutes, and then removed. At first the wool is pale yellow, but with exposure to air, the colour gradually turns to green and then to blue.

Is woad a hallucinogen?

"The blue part of the Woad is not any sort of hallucinogen, despite lore to the contrary. The raw sap crushed from fresh Woad leaves sometimes causes surface skin numbness, slight dizziness, and in certain bloodlines, a vague impression of less danger or more confidence.

How is woad made?

Traditional Woad Processing

The leaves were chopped up into a paste by a horse driven mill and then made into balls by hand. These were left to dry in special drying sheds for about four weeks until they became hard like wood. The dried balls were broken up into a powder, sprinkled with water and allowed to ferment.

What does woad look like?

Woad (Isatis tinctoria) is an erect biennial that grows to between 1-3 feet, sometimes up to 4 feet in height. Its leaves are bluish green overlaid with a powdery white fluff. The leaves are narrow and lightly serrated to wavy.

How do you kill Dyer's woad?

Cutting off the blooms before they turn to seed will minimize the spread of woad. Sowing weed-free seed and feeding livestock with weed-free hay can also help reduce the impact of the plant. In some situations, repeated tilling of an area is an effective way of getting rid of woad.

Where can I find woad?

Woad is native to the steppe and desert zones of the Caucasus, Central Asia to Eastern Siberia and Western Asia (per Hegi) but is now also found in South-Eastern and Central Europe and western North America.

Is Dyer's woad poisonous?

Although dyer's woad is not toxic, it is unpalatable to livestock.

Did Vikings use woad?

“All the Britons dye their bodies with woad, which produces a blue colour, and this gives them a more terrifying appearance in battle.” Vikings may have learned of and adopted this tactic during the period of their invasion and subsequent immersion in Britain, though I haven't seen evidence of this.

Why did Celts paint themselves blue?

So, where did the idea about the Picts painting themselves blue originate from? Julius Caesar once noted that the Celts got blue pigment from the woad plant and that they used it to decorate their bodies. ... It has also been theorized that the real use of woad was perhaps intended to heal the scars after the battle.

How do you use welding dye?

Dyeing with Weld

Weld produces a wide range of brilliant lemon yellows and can be over-dyed with woad to produce Lincoln Green. Soak the weld in water overnight. Simmer for about an hour but do not allow the weld to boil. Let the dye bath cool and strain and then add fibres and leave them overnight.

What is a Woad warrior?

Woad warriors are brave fighters - and mad. They disdain armour and most cloting, preffering to paint themselves with intricate and stylised magical designs in woad (a blue dye) to deflect enemy blows and missiles.

What is a woad in King Arthur?

In the movie, barbarians to the north of Roman Britannia are termed Woads. They seem to be based on a historical northern British people called the Picts. The Picts did paint themselves (tattoos) like the movie's Woads. They lived mainly north of the defunct Antonine Wall across the cockpit of modern Scotland.

What is isatis root good for?

The leaves and roots of the plant are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Isatis is used to treat the common cold and other infections of the nose, throat, and sinuses (upper respiratory tract infections), as well as infections of the glands that make saliva (parotitis).

Did the Picts paint themselves blue?

Upon meeting them in battle, he recorded that they “dye themselves with woad, which produces a blue color, and makes their appearance in battle more terrible. They wear long hair, and shave every part of the body save the head and the upper lip.”

Does woad grow in the US?

Habitat and Ecology. Native to southeastern Russia, dyer's woad (Isatis tinctoria) is now invasive across the intermountain West of the US.

Did the Celts paint themselves blue?

Ah, the Celtic tribes – they painted themselves blue with woad and ran naked into battle.