Raw wool getting a mineral bath. Click for larger image.
We were treated to quite a special process last Friday, where we were able to see beyond the usual show for the public, Fidel and Maria Luisa invited us to watch them as they dyed some freshly-spun wool. Today was yellow.
Before the dyeing process, the raw wool needs to be treated to a mineral bath. Not just the raw wool for today’s yellow dye, but for all dyes. The mineral solution -a combination of salt and a natural form of sodium bicarbonate- ensures that the dyes will “stick” to the wool and that the color pigments will adhere to the wool fibers, permanently. So in addition to the pericón dyeing, we also saw the process of the mineral bath.
When we arrived at mid-morning, Fidel had a large pot being heated from a gas burner below while he was separating raw wool into bundles. Further to the rear of the Cruz compound were two other pots, these being heated with wood. But up front, the gas burner was working hard to get the huge pot up to temp. Since the mineral bath can take larger quantities of wool then the color baths in the back, the large pot needs more heat and more time.
Bathtime over, ready for dye. Click for larger image.
Once the mineral water was heated to the appropriate temperature, Fidel lowered the bundles of wool into the mineral solution where it would cook and steep for well over a few hours, ensuring the total absorption of the mineral treatment. This undertaking is watched over throughout the process, with an occasional jostling and swishin of the wool. Occasionally, the bundles would be hoisted from the pot and allowed to drain, then dipped back into the mineral solution. If there are any weak-spots, the colors won’t hold to the fibers.
All but a few of the weavers in Teotitlán de Valle use this ancient method, but when a weaving house decides to go this traditional route, every step is carried out in a manner and method that ensures the final product has the properties that far exceed those of the alternative of synthetic and aniline dyes. The synthetics don’t need a mineral bath, as the chemical properties in the dyes themselves are what ensure the longevity of the colors.
Gathering pericón while in season. Click for larger image.
While most every weaving shop in Teotitlán de Valle will have a few twigs of pericón on display for “the show,” Casa Cruz must keep a store of this material on hand because they actually use it for dyeing throughout the upcoming year. The Cruz’ take advantage of the gathering season during late summer and autumn when pericón is plentiful in the Teotitlán area, although arduous hiking into the surrounding mountains is required. Fidel and Maria Luisa also imparted some warnings regarding the harvesting, collection, drying and storing of the pericón, as inhalation of the dust can cause one to become “tipsy.” There are also accounts of the Huichol indians using the pericón mixed and used with a strong native Mexican tobacco (Nicotiana rustica) for its claimed psychotropic effects. Maybe next time when they’re doing the harvesting, we’ll volunteer .
Pericón, Tagetes Lucida, Mexican Tarragon. Click for larger image.
While the raw wool was being treated with the mineral bath under Fidel’s watch, Maria Luisa has been tending to the two wood-fueled pots of hot water, one of which is now ready for the dried pericón. She grabs a few handfuls of dried stalks with flowers from a wheelbarrow and drops them in the boiling pot, then prods them under the water with a stick. There is no appreciable change in the water with the exception of the newly added material, which quickly submerges into the hot bath. It will remain there for at least 45-minutes in which time the water slowly takes on yellow hue, but not until the pericón gets fully heated up does its full potency become evident. We will leave this pot to its own and join Fidel for a little while as he finishes the raw wool and mineral bath and we take a pulke break. We also take a drive out to the river on the other side of Teotitlán de Valle, where the Cruz’ bring their wool for rinsing and washing.
Once we return to Casa Cruz, the pericón hot-pot was ready to receive the wool. Again, with the aid of a few specialized tools (a few sticks), Fidel fishes out as much of the bulk of pericón material as he can. The remainder of crumbs and twigs will remain in the pot, as they are easily washed away later in the rinsing process. Only a third of the mineral-bath treated wool bundles are added to the pericón bath, this the reason for the second pot heating up and -as we discovered in a few days- a third pot to be prepared later in the afternoon. Unlike the aniline synthetic dyes, which can be used to color a tremendous amount of material in a fraction of the time, the pericón has its limitations.
Wool being treated to pericón bath. Click for larger image.
As soon as the wool goes into the pericón laced water you can sees hint of yellow tint, and when Fidel lifts the wool out of the pot, there is hardly any effect on the wool. But it’s early in the process, and even though the pericón dying process is already a few hours underway, the wool has just met the dye. Fidel reminds us that the users of synthetic dyes would already have mounds of dyed wool piled up in “pequeñas montañas” (small mountains), and all from the same color-source, the same pot of (fool’s) gold.
It’s such a treat to watch Fidel and Maria Luisa, who are totally undeterred by process, rather, they celebrate the process. Watching them as they carefully look over the transformation of the wool, like it was the first time, they thoroughly enjoy and embrace the exercise. There is a tremendous degree of pride that goes along with the Cruz’ dyeing of wool, considering when Fidel and Maria Luisa started on their own, there was not one shop in Teotitlán de Valle who was using the old and forgotten methods, they synthetics had taken their place in modern Zapotec weaving. Through trial and error, and Fidel recalling his grandmother’s anecdotes of collecting the raw materials, they managed to bring back the ancient methods. They do have a legitimate point of pride to stand on.
The pericón starting to hold. Click for larger image.
After 30-minutes or so, Fidel pulls the bundles from the pot and checks the color. On this run, he is looking for a golden yellow, which will only come with time. He tosses a few more pieces of firewood under the pot and tells us that the combination of heat and time will intensify the color. We watch as the pot begins to boil, and the intensity of the color in the pot increases, even though the base material, the pericón itself, has been removed. We stay for another hour, and during this time Maria Luisa preps the second pot with more dried pericón. She and Fidel work in such unison, each assisting the other during the dyeing processes and usually without any request from one to the other, they are in synch after years working together to perfect these methods.
Victoria and I reach the point in time where we have to leave back for Oaxaca, Derek needs to be picked up from school. But before we leave, we see where the first pot of wool has arrived, even though the wool will remain there for a few hours after we leave. The second pot is almost ready for the wool, and eventually the third pot will go on to finish the day of dyeing, probably sometime after 7:00 PM.
Golden yellow, from dried twigs. Click for larger image.
Golden yellow, as it sits in the pot when we leave. A few days later, we were told it sat for a while longer, and the end result was stunning. From the three dyeing runs, we could notice a slight difference in tone after dried, subtle but still noticeable. This is not an exact science, there are many variables such as temperature and seasonal differences in raw materials that effect the outcome. Unlike the aniline dyes, which are created to a chemical exactitude that ensures complete uniformity time after time, the wools from Casa Cruz have an element that exudes the human touch in the same way that a plastered wall carries the signature of the plasterer that a sheet-rocked wall does not. And listening to Fidel and Maria Luisa talk about the satisfaction-factor of having a specific color in mind and tending to the fires and watch the as the results their labors come to fruition, you can feel their passion and eventually, see it.
Through trial and error and hard work, Fidel and Maria Luisa have brought these ancient and forgotten methods back from the past, and even though they have offered to share their knowledge with others in Teotitlán de Valle, only a few have embraced the methodology. The irony is that every shop without exception has a sign outside claiming “100% Natural Dyes”. Our next entry on the blog will be another dyeing session, this being the use of cochineal and producing the brilliant reds, all from a little bug that resides on the nopal cactus. We’ll see you then, Saludos.