Turn the cloth over
On a hand-drawn piece the colour soaks right through, so you can see the same design on the back, a little lighter. On a printed piece the colour sits only on top, and the back looks almost plain.
Care & authenticity
Treat it gently and it will last a lifetime
The first wash — with salt
Give a new piece a salt wash before anything else. Dissolve a handful of rock salt in a bucket of cold water, soak the cloth for a short while and rinse it in plain cold water. Salt settles the natural colour into the fabric, so it holds far better in every wash after this one. Some colour will come away in this first wash — that is loose dye leaving, not your piece fading, and it is the surest sign the colour is natural.
Dry cleaning is the safest choice
For regular care we recommend dry cleaning, and for silk pieces and large wall hangings we recommend it strongly. Tell the cleaner the cloth is vegetable-dyed and hand-drawn so a mild solvent is used. It costs a little more and it protects the drawing.
At home: mild shampoo only
If you are washing it yourself, use a light, mild shampoo or a gentle liquid made for delicates. Never a strong detergent, never bleach, never a hot machine cycle — harsh detergent strips natural dye. Wash by hand, in cold water, and keep the piece separate from other clothes for the first few washes.
Dry in shade
Turn it inside out and dry it flat in the shade, or somewhere with soft indirect light — never in direct sun. Strong sun on a wet naturally dyed cloth lifts the reds first, then the yellows. Never a tumble dryer, a heater or a machine dry cycle either; that heat hardens the cloth and dulls the colour. Do not wring or twist it — press the water out gently instead.
Iron on the reverse
Medium heat, on the back of the cloth, ideally with a thin cotton sheet in between. A hot iron straight onto the drawn face will dull the black.
Storing
Wrap in muslin, old cotton, or a plastic cover — whatever you have, as long as the cloth is completely dry before it goes in. Refold along a different line every few months so the creases do not become permanent. A little neem or camphor nearby keeps insects away.
Buying anywhere
How to tell a drawn kalamkari from a printed one
Most cloth sold as kalamkari today is printed by machine. These five checks take a minute, and you do not need to know anything about textiles to do them. We would rather you knew them — even when you are buying from somebody else.
Find the same design twice
Look for a flower or a shape that repeats. On hand-drawn cloth the two will never be exactly the same — one petal a little bigger, one line not fully closed. On printed cloth every repeat is identical, because the machine used the same block each time.
Look at the colours
Natural colours are earthy and slightly dull — brick red, dull blue, mustard yellow, cream. If you see bright pink, bright green, bright sky blue or a very white white, it is almost certainly chemical colour.
Look closely at the black lines
Hand-drawn black lines have soft, slightly uneven edges, because the colour spreads a little into the cloth. Printed black lines are sharp and perfectly even, and sometimes you can see tiny dots if you look very close.
Smell it
A new naturally dyed cloth has a faint earthy smell from the herbs and the iron used to colour it. Chemically dyed cloth smells of nothing at all, or of chemicals.
Not sure about a piece?
Send us a photograph — even of something you bought elsewhere. We will tell you honestly what you are looking at.
Ask us