Pre-reduction testing of the indigo powder I got from Reactive Dyes.

So, I’ve got a little bit of indigo powder from Reactive Dyes that I want to test. I’m going to be using it in my tie-dye projects and also as a dye bath for other fabrics. First step of testing was just checking if it’s still active after shipping – and it is! So then next step was trying out some pre-reduction tests with some natural fabric scraps.

To reduce a dye bath, you basically need to bring down those pH levels by adding an acid until they’re at around 6. The easiest way to do this is by using vinegar or citric acid (or lemon juice). But before we can put our indigo into any kind of reduction process we first have to neutralize the acids in our fabric scraps so that they won’t interfere with our results later on!

I put some in a beaker and added enough water to cover it.

First, I measured out the indigo powder and added it to my beaker. You’ll want to use a 250-ml (roughly 8 oz.) beaker for this recipe. The powder should fill roughly one quarter of the volume of your container, so I used roughly a teaspoon of indigo powder.

Next, I added enough room temperature water to cover up my powder completely. You may need more or less than what I did depending on how much dye you’re using—I’d recommend adding just enough water so that you see some bubbles forming around where your dye is touching the water; if you add too much water, it could dilute your concentration too far and make for an unsatisfactory result!

Finally…

I boiled that for about 15 minutes.

• Boiling the Indigo Powder: I used sea water, which means the solution will be a little more concentrated than if you use regular tap water. To make sure the sea water didn’t burn me, I boiled it for about 15 minutes (you could probably reduce that time if you’re using normal tap water).
• Using a pH strip to test the solution: When your Indigo Powder has been dissolved into solution, use a pH strip to check its pH level. The range of acceptable pH levels for this project is anywhere from 6-8; anything outside that range would be considered undissolved Indigo Powder and needs more boiling time until it reaches an appropriate level.
• What does the finished product look like? Once the temperature has been raised sufficiently (and verified by checking with your pH strip), let it cool down and then pour it into another container so that you can refrigerate or freeze it until needed later on in this experiment.

In two more beakers, I added three teaspoons of soda ash to approximately half a cup of water each.

To make the soda ash solution, we’ll need to add three teaspoons of soda ash to approximately half a cup of water.

• Use a teaspoon and measuring cup to measure out the correct amounts.
• Add the soda ash to the water (it will fizz).
• Put your red cabbage juice in one beaker and blue cabbage juice in another beaker. We need these two solutions for our experiment.

I wanted to see if the solution turned pinkish (probably meaning that it was acidic) or blue (meaning it was alkaline). So, I dropped some red cabbage juice in one beaker and blue cabbage juice in the other.

When you add red cabbage juice to an acidic solution, it turns pink. If you add red cabbage juice to an alkaline solution, it turns blue. This is because the pigments in the juice change their structure depending on the pH level of the solution. The use of this property has been used to test for urinary tract infections and even cancerous cells!

• For example: if you have a urinary tract infection (UTI), your urine will be highly acidic because most bacteria thrive in an acidic environment. You can use red cabbage juice as a pH indicator to see if your UTI is gone by testing it with either red or blue cabbage juice; if it turns pink or blue, then you’re still infected! As long as this happens once every few weeks or months after treatment begins, there shouldn’t be any need for concern.

The red cabbage juice turned pink, so I assumed that the solution is acidic. So, the indigo powder worked and was responding to being boiled.

I tested the solution and the red cabbage juice turned pink, so I assumed that the solution is acidic. So, the indigo powder worked and was responding to being boiled.

It should also be noted that blue cabbage can be used to test pH as well; it turns blue in alkaline conditions and red in acid conditions.

If you want to get more accurate results from your color tests, you can pre-reduce your indigo powder before adding it into water or any other liquid medium that needs testing for pH levels. This method takes longer but reduces waste and will give you more accurate results because its less likely to oxidize during storage or after heating up on boiling water (or whatever else).

This confirmed that my indigo powder is working properly.

In the process of learning about indigo dye, it is important to test your dye mixture and see how it reacts. These tests confirm that your indigo powder is working properly and you can use it in your projects.

The first test was an acidity test. In this experiment, I mixed a small amount of my indigo powder with distilled water and a pH strip that showed whether or not the solution was acidic or alkaline (basic). After mixing them together for about 10 minutes, I found out that my dye mixture was acidic! This means that if you mix your own indigo dye using this method, you will always get an acid result as well.