E.N.D. of the World, or "Exploring Natural Dyes" of the World, is a series about experimenting with local, natural substances and creating new dye recipes!
Welcome to this E.N.D. episode on the very famous dye stuff called cochineal.
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Haven't heard of it? Well that's perfectly okay because I am so excited to share with you a lil bit of information about it!
Cochineal has been an important dyeing ingredient for centuries. I first heard about cochineal when I started to research art history in grade 10. I was so shocked that a bug could create such a vivid colour and had been and still is important for the world's economy. Before doing any dyeing with cochineal, since it's an insect, I really wanted to know as much as I could before using it.
Here are the two different types of cochineal I using. One is the entire bug, and the second is their extract. Essentially you just have to grind the bugs into a powder and then reduce the liquid and you get the same product as the purchased extract. I'm excited to try both products and see which one I like best.
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Et voila! A delicious shade of pinks and purpley reds. Depending on what modifier you add to the dye vat you can achieve a variety of different shades. It makes for a really fun experiment.