Jar with red sticker labeled "Red Sandalwood: Pterocarpus Santal"

Arrangement of yarn skeins and fiber swatches dyed with red sandalwood, together with a small wooden container of red sandalwood powder.

Fiber swatch showing brick red wool tabby.

Fiber swatch showing brick red tussah silk.

Fiber swatch showing brick red mulberry silk.

Fiber swatch showing red handloom cotton.

Fiber swatch showing pale red tshirt cotton.

Set of wool yarn skeins dyed pale terracotta red.

Red Sandalwood Natural Dye

from $24.99

Shepherd Textiles Red Sandalwood contains the finely ground heartwood of the true Red Sandalwood tree, pterocarpus santalinus. Red Sandalwood contains a pigment called santalin that dyes shades of brick red on natural fibers. Santalin is mostly insoluble in water, so different extraction techniques are required. You will need either grain spirits (e.g., cheap vodka) or soda ash and cream of tartar to get the best colors. Red Sandalwood has a good affinity for all protein fibers, and gives lighter strawberry shades on cotton. Our Red Sandalwood comes from non-endangered forestries in Andhra Pradesh. Use at 30% weight-of-fabric for a pleasant terracotta red, or 100% weight-of-fabric for a deeply saturated brick red.

Please read our Guide to Dyeing with Red Sandalwood before using for extraction instructions, color recipes, and important safety information. For more detailed background research and notes on our experiments, visit our page Experiments with Red Sandalwood Dye.

Product of India.

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