The Story of our Ecru Collection
We wanted our ecru underwear to be made from organic cotton in its original natural colour, without the conventional dying or bleaching process. The jersey fabric still needs to go through a washing process before it can be cut and made into the different styles and sizes. With the help of Girish, the factory manager at Mila in India, we have found a way to work with a local natural dyeing unit who wash the fabric with soap nuts.
Our organic cotton jersey hanging to dry, after being washed with soap nuts at the natural-dye unit in Tamil Nadu.
Soap nuts are the dried fruit of the Sapindus tree family, an amazing species we first encountered at the biodiversity farm we stayed at on our first research trip in India. The saponin released makes an effective, 100% natural and plastic-free alternative to standard laundry detergents, and they remain a popular cleaning agent in many parts of the world where they grow naturally, including in Nepal and India.
