K. Sivaraj grew up in Erode, by a gurgling, unpolluted Cauvery. He and a friend, A Thirumurugan, studied textile processing and technology, and worked in factories that used chemical dyes. They saw the toll it took on the water bodies; their Cauvery had changed too.

They decided to act. For more than a decade, they experimented on their own and learnt at The Gandhigram Rural Institute, to start Wruksha Tone, which has seven natural dyes that put to rest every criticism thrown at them — the colour is not fast, it is patchy, and you cannot replicate hues.

Colour rich

Hundreds of kilometers from Erode is Chennai-based Conscience, which makes bed linen coloured by these dyes. Helping bind the natural colours are everyday ingredients like honey, hand-pounded rice and radish juice. The sheets are washed with soapnut and coated with coconut, neem and basil oils to lend them anti-microbial properties. “Nothing is new; we’ve just discovered newer uses,” says Sivaraj, whose colours lend richness to Conscience’s collection....Read more

Source web page: The Hindu