From: arths <arths-AT-arths.ro>
Date: 31 Dec 1969 23:00:00 UTC   (08:28:39 AM in author's locale)
To: The Graphics List <graphics-AT-lists.graphicslist.org>

Randal wrote:
> ...
> I am very interested now -- blue jeans color seems very different from what I think of in reference to "born to the purple" and other associations with the once scarce and expensive purple dye? Is this just the difference in washing? Is synthetic indigo really different from the natural dye? I don't think I have ever really seen real, natural indigo, and I assume this is probably one of those colors that can't really be reproduced in CMYK or RGB.
>
> Has anyone here really seen verifiable natural indigo? And is it similar to the color of blue jeans?
>
>
>

The purple dye you've mentioned (with the purple blue variant) was
indeed an expensive one, being extracted from some sea-snails living
mainly in Mediterranean Sea.

The indigo dye used for denim was an affordable dye, the plant being
widely cultivated in Asia and the process of obtaining the dye being
quite simple.

The synthetic indigo isn't different from the natural one, having the
same molecular structure and propreties but being more pure.

I've seen natural indigo dyed just in museums. The color of indigo dye
is close to PMS 2757.

The original indigo denim was a dark-blue fabric.
The indigo dye not dyes the textile fiber, just adheres to it. It won't
dissolve into water but it does in alkaline solutions.
Thus, in time, the effect of rubbing the dye thru wear combined with the
alkaline (soap) washing exposes slightly the fiber leading to a lighter,
blueish look of the fabric. The look of blue-jeans, as we know them today.

Paul C.

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