Logwood! One of the most favourite natural dyes we know. Fast to make, easy to use, a wide scope of colours with different mordants.
 
Logwood natural dye powder comes from the heartwood of the logwood tree, Haematoxylon Campechianum.
Other names: Campeche, spiny tree, bloodwood, "Uitzquauitl" in Nahuatl Aztec and "Huitzcuahuitl" in Nahuatl Aztec.
 
The tree grows in South America, but has become hard to come by lately due to political instability of the region. Our Logwood chips and powder come from a sustainable farm in Mexico. Logwood is available in chips and finely ground powder, which I find easier to use because it skips the need to put chips in a separate sock.
 
Use at 20-30 WOF for medium depth of shade and reuse the dye baths until fully exhausted.
 
A range of wonderful colours can be produced by the "Bloodwood tree"  including blue, black, purple, dusty purple and reddish purple. 
For Logwood purples; mordant fabrics with alum, and make sure the bath is slightly alkaline. For deep night blues; skip the alum, and add 1% Copper Sulphate to the bath. Adding acid will shift the bath to coppery browns. With iron a lovely gray-black can be achieved.
 
In this article you can find specific recipes for different shades of logwood made with natural logwood powder.
Prune de monsieur logwood recipe here.
Logwood black here.