Dabu
A resist print in which a paste of mud, lime and gum is stamped on cloth before it is dyed.
Also: dabu print, mud resist, daboo
Dabu is a resist method from Rajasthan. A paste of clay, lime and gum, sometimes with wheat chaff added, is pressed on to the cloth with a wooden block. Sawdust is often scattered on it to help it dry. When the cloth is dipped in the indigo vat the pasted areas stay undyed. Washing then removes the mud and leaves the pattern in the cloth's own colour on blue. Dabu is done at Bagru and at Akola near Chittorgarh. Cracks in the dried mud can let a little dye in and give the fine veined look that people recognise as Dabu.