Peru's typical dyes can be found everywhere in nature. You just have to know where. PACABAMBA can make use of an inexhaustible and ancient fund of knowledge, experience and recipes, which is still 100% natural and gives alpaca and sheep wool unmistakable shades of color. Intense, durable and rich in shades and nuances. It is hard to believe that this palette of strength and distinctiveness does not come from a laboratory, but without exception from nature.
The Andes are filled with a great
diversity
of plant life:
Our dying process is 100% natural and
based
on the old knowledge of the incas.
Natural dyeing is part art, part science.
It's an art and science in itself and embodies the whole wealth of experience that is carried on and developed from generation to generation. The natural coloring of alpaca wool. The great abundance of plants that are suitable for this purpose allows for a huge palette of colors. Depending on the amount of wool and raw dying material, our wool is boiled for different lengths. Natural fixatives such as certain minerals and acids are used to control the color tones and their intensity.
Plant: Yanali & Ttiry
The inside of the bark of the Yanali already reveals the powerful colors that are created from it. The intensely orange wood of the slow-growing tree is chopped into small pieces and freshly mixed into the color bath, from which a whole range of colors from yellow-orange to mustard emerges.
Plant: Nogal
Depending on the desired shade of brown, the bark, leaves or seeds of the walnut tree are used. The palette ranges from a delicate cream tone to a dark, strong brown.
Plant: Chapi
The vine plant is particularly found in the high altitudes of the Manu National Park. For coloring, the bark of its stems, its leaves, its roots and its seeds are used, which produce a wide range from red-orange to orange up to coral pink.
Plant: Cochineal
The cochineal louse lives on Peru's countless prickly pear cacti. If the dye obtained from the female cochineal is mixed with salt, lemon or ash, you can create the most wonderful shades of red, purple and dark blue.
Plant: Cochineal + natural stones
The addition of iron oxide turns the deep red color, obtained from lice, into a fascinating blue. The sun ensures an even tone during the drying process. The final blue color of the wool only becomes apparent after a day or two and requires a lot of experience and dexterity from the dyer.
Plant: Kinsa K´ucha
In the indigenous language Quechua the name means "three corners". This rather aptly describes the structure of the leaves, which grow like a stem directly from the ground to a height of about one meter. The extremely hardy plant can be found between 2,800 and 4,500 meters above sea level, whereby the fungus-infested leaves are of particular interest. This black fungus is ultimately responsible for the impressive petroleum and turquoise tones of the wool.
Plant: Ch´illca + Kinsa K´ucho
Kinsa K´ucho: In the indigenous language Quechua the name means "three corners". This rather aptly describes the structure of the leaves, which grow like a stem directly from the ground to a height of about one meter. The extremely hardy plant can be found between 2,800 and 4,500 meters above sea level, whereby the fungus-infested leaves are of particular interest. This black fungus is ultimately responsible for the impressive petroleum and turquoise tones of the wool.
Ch´illca: The leaves of a daisy with white flowers are responsible for the dark green tones of our wool. Large bundles of leaves are added to the dyeing pot, together with a mineral compound called collpa, where the wool yarn is added after an hour of cooking.
Plant: Ch'illca
The leaves of a daisy with white flowers are responsible for the dark green tones of our wool. Large bundles of leaves are added to the dyeing pot, together with a mineral compound called collpa, where the wool yarn is added after an hour of cooking.