With each piece of our naturally dyed Eco ink printed clothing is unique and individually printed. You will know your not part of a pass produced factory line of homogenized clothing and you will be the only person wearing that particular piece in the world. No rocking up to a party and embarrassed to see a cloned shirt, you are an individual express it.
With ethics,and sustainability at the heart of our hand dyed and Eco ink printed clothing you can clothe yourself knowing you are contributing to a better model of fashion.
-The shirts we use-
1- Are either up cycled from the Opportunity shops (providing funding for worthy and needed courses)
2- Or the brand Earth Positive which is 100% organic in accordance with the G.O.T.S- Global Organic Textile Standard. Organic and ethically made manufactured using solely sustainable energy. Fair trade, no sweat shop/child labor, where workers have a fair living wage and are not exposed to poisonous chemicals. To find out more about the shirts we use click here https://www.earthpositive.se/index.html.
–What we use for dying/printing–
We collect and or grow our own non-toxic plants and materials we use a variety of materials such as flowers,leaves,bark, using natural mordants and fixatives like Alum, discarded rusty bits for iron, Natural Organic Citric Acid, Vinegar (sometimes made by us). We either dye in a boiling pot, or solar dye.
-Our Inks- We use Permaset, which are environmental friendly Eco inks for screen printing which are developed and manufactured in Sydney. Permaset inks are also approved by the textile screen printing inks are Approved by the Soil Association of the UK under the Global Organic Textiles Standards (G.O.T.S ) for use in Organic Textile processes. Contains no nasty ozone depleting chemicals or any toxic chemicals at all unlike most other inks, they are also Vegan and GMO free. The manufacturing factory is also ran 100% from solar energy. To find out more about Permaset click on the following link -https://permaset.com.au/about-us/
–Our Stencils and prints- We Create our own unique images and then use A scan and cut machine to cut the stencils. Instead of using new plastic sheets for the stencils we use second hand plastic tab dividers (for folders) from op shops.
We also use a variety of objects to create patterns for our prints and applying inks, such as leaves, sticks and reuse materials like patterns on plastic cases, cardboard grid patterns, hand made wooden block stamps made from discarded heat treated only wooden pallets, sea sponge, reuse spray bottles even our child’s reuse baby milk bottle (Thoroughly cleaned) to get a dripping effect. Everything except for when we are using a screen to print is second hand or found in nature.
–Waste not want not– When one does screen printing there often is left over paint on the screen and tools that can not be put back in the container, normally this is washed down the sink by most printers (who often use chemical inks bad for the water systems/environment. This is not a issue for us as its eco friendly however hatting waste we wash these in containers and then use them to create a light dye wash for other shirts, or creatively wipe them on shirts/clothing or fabric which becomes patches/pockets for other clothing.
-Our hand made Calico Clothing-
We use organic Calico again certified by G.O.T.S. Don’t be fooled that normal calico means it has no treatments. Most, if not all, calico sold in shops are treated with formaldehyde.
100% Organic Cotton Calico produced to G.O.T.S certification standards is not treated in any way. The only additive in Organic Calico is the Organic Corn Starch which is needed to stiffen the yarn to be able to weave the fabric. It is the best stiffener available, so good, in fact you can eat it.
-Our Electricity-
We will be relocating soon and will be in time running from our own off grid 100% solar setup. For now we use electricity provider- Enova Community Energy, its Australia’s first 100% community owned electricity retailer. Enova is 100% green energy, 50% of profits after tax and reinvestment is put into community projects/charity. Enova was born out of a anti Coal Seam Gas protest in Bently Nsw.
Enova has competitive rates to find out more click on the following link https://www.enovaenergy.com.au/