Hand block printing is one of India's oldest textile crafts — wooden blocks, carved by hand, dipped in dye, and pressed onto cotton one stamp at a time. It's also why no two pieces in our 3-piece handblock kurta sets or indigo prints are ever perfectly identical. That's not a flaw — it's the craft. But it does mean these pieces need a little more care than a machine-printed cotton kurta.
Why indigo behaves differently
Natural indigo dye doesn't fully "cure" in a single wash the way synthetic dyes do. For the first few washes, you may notice a small amount of colour release, especially in the water. This is completely normal and doesn't mean the fabric is faulty — it settles down after 2–3 washes.
Washing hand block print and indigo pieces
- Wash separately for the first few washes, ideally by hand or on a gentle machine cycle, to avoid colour transfer onto lighter garments.
- Cold water only. Hot water accelerates dye release and can dull the print over time.
- Turn the garment inside out before washing to protect the printed surface from friction.
- Avoid harsh detergents or bleach — a mild detergent preserves both the block print and the natural fibre.
- Dry in shade, not direct sun, which can fade hand-applied dyes faster than machine-printed ones.
Why it's worth the extra step
Every block print piece starts as a hand-carved wooden block — often shared across generations of block-printing families in Rajasthan and Gujarat — pressed by hand onto fabric, one motif at a time. The slight variation you sometimes see between two kurtas in the same print isn't inconsistency; it's the same reason no two handmade ceramic bowls are identical. A little extra care in washing is a small trade for a piece that's genuinely made by hand.
If you're building an ethnic wardrobe with a mix of block prints and machine-printed cotton, it's worth keeping them in separate wash loads, at least at first — your future self, and your other clothes, will thank you.
