Instructions for Painting with Kratom

Using a brush, mix 5 grams of paint with 15 ml of water to form a paste until the paint begins to foam a little. You can now use the brush to paint on paper or canvas.

Tip: Avoid mixing with yellow, this usually gives a rather swampy looking green-blue

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Instructions for Dyeing Clothes 

– T-shirts and other clothing

T-shirts and other clothing items perform best when the fabric has a high cotton content, so avoid too much or purely synthetic clothing.

Make sure that the t-shirt is very clean before you start the dyeing process. To get the threads clean, you can clean the t-shirt with soda powder. This process helps to remove the various waxes and oils from the garment.

You need:

– A large non-reactive saucepan or cooking pot (i.e. one without a non-stick coating), should be big enough!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soda powder also known as sodium carbonate and washing soda.

– textile detergent or dishwashing detergent

– Your kitchen stove or hob

– A thermometer – Preferably digital, with a probe attachment for immersion in the liquids used.

– Good quality rubber gloves.

Remember that dyeing your own fabrics, as simple as it may sound, is not without risks. Be well prepared to avoid accidents.

Use good quality protective gloves, especially when handling warm liquids and when dipping fabrics into the dye pot. Do not use food-grade containers after using the pot to dye fabrics.

Although our natural dye is non-irritating, you may want to use a face mask to avoid inhaling fine particles when measuring the leaf powder.
Be especially careful when using abrasive cleaners and make sure you read all the advice on the packaging.

It is best to work in a well-ventilated work area without small children or pets.
Wear old clothes, aprons, and other items that you don't mind getting stained or wet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to clean your garment:

How much water should you use? The fabric should have plenty of room to move and soak in the pot, so be careful not to dye too much at once. We recommend 2,26 liters of water per 28 g of cotton fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The recommended amounts of soap and soda vary a bit from source to source. We don't think exact ratios are very important, but these numbers should give you a starting point to develop the best technique after practice.

For even more effective fabric cleaning, add between 2 and 3 teaspoons of washing soda (3 teaspoons are one tablespoon) and 1 to 2 teaspoons of detergent per 4 liters of water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to wear protective gloves when handling washing powders, detergents and chemicals. Also make sure you wear suitable clothing/aprons before you start dyeing.

Once you have added the chemicals listed above to the water, carefully add the fabric and turn on the heat. Bring the water to a simmer, then turn off the heat and let the fabric sit for at least two to four hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stir the fabric to be dyed occasionally with a long wooden spoon to ensure that it is washed evenly. You will notice that the water turns a yellowish color.

You will notice that the fabric is very clean after at least a few hours, so when you reach this point, carefully lift the garment out of the pot and drain the water.

Rinse the garment thoroughly under running water for a few minutes to remove any abrasive chemicals. You can use a colander or salad spinner for this step.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From this point, you can proceed directly to the dyeing process with the wet garment or dry it and store it as freshly cleaned laundry.

How to dye your T-shirt with our natural dye:

As a general guideline, use about 100-250g of natural dye powder for each batch of t-shirts you want to dye. Add at least 2-3 litres of water (or enough to submerge a t-shirt in a washing up bowl or bucket).

Take 100-250 g of dye powder and add it to 2-3 liters of hot, boiling water that is at least 90 C. Increase the temperature until it is just about boiling and then let the mixture simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring.

This allows the dye from the plant material to pass into the water.
Turn off the heat and allow the water to cool to a maximum of 70°C. For best results, allow the paint mixture to cool overnight and then continue with your project the next day.

Once the mixture has cooled, you can strain out the remaining dye powder. This will make it easier to clean your garment after the dyeing process - but it is not absolutely necessary, as the dye material is quite fine and can be rinsed off.

Make sure the dye liquid is placed in a suitable storage container. Place the washed t-shirt or garment into the pot and stir gently with a wooden spoon to ensure all of the fabric is submerged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turn the stove back on. Bring the water temperature to about 70 °C, being careful not to burn your hands when moving the garment in the pot.

Soak the garment in the dye mixture every 1 minutes for at least 10 hour, squeezing the garment frequently to ensure that all fibers are flushed with dye.
For best results, leave the garments in the dye mixture for at least 5 hours or overnight.

You do not need to reheat the mixture during this soaking phase. Most of the remaining color powder should have sunk to the bottom of the container by the end of the process.
In the next step, let the garments drain thoroughly under running cold water for at least 5 minutes and rinse it.

At this stage, you can already treat your dyed garment like freshly washed laundry, so you can dry it either in the dryer or on the clothesline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can dispose of the used paint powder in the compost heap as it is biodegradable.

Congratulations, you have now made a unique piece of clothing from natural dyes, you can be proud of it!

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Coloring Candles with Kratom

What you need to dye candles:

• candle wax (preferably white)
• Kratom (amount depends on how strong the coloring should be)
• A wick
• A pot
• A heat-resistant vessel for melting wax
• A small stick for stirring

 

Step 1:

Put the hard wax into the heat-resistant container. You decide the amount yourself, depending on how big and how many candles you want.

Step 2:

Fill a pot with water so that the container with the wax can float in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3:

Place the pot with the container on a stove and heat the water until all the wax has melted.

Step 4:

Now that the wax has melted, we take any amount of kratom and stir it into the wax. The more kratom you add, the more colorful the candle will be. But don't use too much, otherwise the candle will crumble later. Then pour the finished mixture into a candle mold.

Step 5:

Now just put a wick in the middle of the candle mold so that it sticks out about 2cm at the top. Let the wax cool down and the candle is ready. Depending on the color of the kratom, your candle can take on reddish brown or green tones.