About our ink

 

Natural dyes and pigments are artisanal, connected to place and a finite resource.

Kaji Mundo Natural Fabric Ink

 

We focus on the medium and methods used to apply natural colours, to optimise coverage, reduce water and chemical consumption, and support heritage craft in the process.

 

Our natural fabric ink is the result of three years research and development, it is made for screen printing and painting on natural fiber textiles, but can be used on canvas also. Check our downloadable guide and online tutorial for full instructions.

 
 

WHY USE A NATURAL INK?

Conventional inks are petroleum based or water based with petroleum based resins as the binder. These inks often require harsh solvents to clean screens/printing equipment, and additional fixing agents or modifiers.

Our natural ink based, is water based with a natural latex binder, and only requires water and natural soap to clean stubborn residue from equipment.

 

Natural Pigments

We work with natural dye farmers, harvesters and makers around Asia to develop small batch natural color ranges for screen printing and painting.

The natural pigments can be mixed with our natural ink base or you can mix them with your favourite art medium. Our current range of plant colours are indigorfera tinctoria and ceriops tagal.

 

Denim Blue - The Indigofera Tinctoria is sourced from Yogjarakata and turned into powder by female chemical engineer Ibu Edia (Gama Indigo). Ibu Edia developed the dye as a healthier options for industrial batik dyers in Java. She is one of the only businesses making powdered indigo in Indonesia, and we decided to take the dye a step further and develop it for printing and painting.


Dark Blue- 100% GOTS Certified Indigofera Tinctoria, India. We love the intensity of this dye, and the fact it has an accountable supply chain. For painting it’s great for a rich midnight blue, can be mixed with clay for pastels or mayan blue, for apparel it provides long lasting colour.

Salty Rust (Ceriops tagal bark extract). Responsibly harvested from Indonesia's only Forest Stewardship Council certified mangrove concession, processed into an extract by communities around the forest, and developed for print and painting by Kaji Mundo.

 

How to Use our Natural Pigments

Mix our pigments with our Natural Fabric Ink or your favourite art medium. The pigments work best on natural fiber fabrics, cotton canvas and some art papers.

 
 

WHY USE NATURAL COLOURS?

  • Healthier

  • Non-toxic

  • Unique aesthetic

  • Connected to place

 

  • Lab created through chemical reactions

  • Often coal tar or petroleum based

    Synthentic colors tend to be more resource heavy in the extraction process, and depending on the colour compound, often lead to health issues when handled without safety equipment.

    Disposal of synthetic compounds is an industry problem, with wet processing (colours and chemical fixatives) in textiles making up 20% of global freshwater pollution.

  • Plants- leaves, roots, barks

  • Minerals- stones, clays

    Natural colors provide a great range of possibilities, and are a great alternative to synthetics.

    However the harvesting or mining of natural resources must be managed responsibly in order for natural pigments to be sustainable.

    Most nature derived colors are non toxic, but research to ensure you handle and process your foraged materials safely.

 

HOW WE STARTED

In 2018 we began our research on heritage plant dyes- in particular natural indigo, in Thailand and Bali.

We became fascinated with the history and chemistry of this global plant colour. As eco-minded creatives we were keen to move away from the synthetic and often toxic inks and dyes used in art and textiles.

 

As our learning progressed, we realised that natural colours while less toxic than conventional dyes, take a lot of raw (finite)natural resources, particularly water in the cloth preparation and finishing processes.

At a small, artisanal scale we believe this can be managed sustainably; but it is not so straight forward at an industrial level and possibly damaging if not managed properly.

We were curious to find alternative, more responsible ways to work with natural colours. Thus a lengthy period of experimentation began from our small home studio in Bali.

 

Today we make our ink by hand with the talented team at The Threads of Life. With their help we have improved our production process and have been able to bring our natural ink and natural pigments to market.

Do we do other colors?

We are always exploring with foraged colors from our surrounds and friends. Stay tuned, for new and limited edition palettes, small batch always.

We also happily encourage your own experimentation & exploration with color mixing.

If you would like to know more about our research please send us a message.