As some may already know, I am 100% Haitian although I was born in America. :-D
I was speaking to my aunt last night and I mentioned how I use Henna and Indigo to color my hair Jet Black.
She stopped me and was like "Indigo??? Ask your Mother what we used Indigo for back in Haiti". Then I remembered that my mother mentioned she used it when doing laundry.
My Aunt was telling me that they used Indigo Powder to make white clothes whiter. They would just place the blue powder in water then soak the white clothing and they would come out whiter then before.
I think that's very interesting. For some reason, I didn't think they would know what I was talking about when I mentioned Indigo...but in reality they used it for most of their childhood.
Yep, I can see that.
ReplyDeleteMy family is West Indian (Virgin Islands) and my mom has this stuff that she calls "blue" to put in the wash with the whites. It's just a little block of compressed blue powder...and it does make the clothes whiter.
I'm sure there's a scientific reason (I'm really interested in light and color, so prepare for my nerd post) -- it may be that since blue is most abundant in the visible spectrum and all the colors together make white light...add a little more blue and you get a little more white, lol.
You ever noticed how on cars, the REALLY bright lights you see on newer cars always have a blueish tint as opposed to the yellowish tint in lights on older cars? I think it's the same concept.
Fellow Haitian here, and my mom has told me the same exact thing.
ReplyDelete@ KayTee- Thanks for the thorough explanation/analysis! That helps a lot when you think of it that way. Now that I have tons of Indigo...if bleach isn't working for me..I may just use that.
ReplyDelete@Jenijen- I am almost compelled to do the typical greeting " Sak Pase or Sak ap fet" but I will refrain..haha