The Mud Cloth Story
The MALI Mud Cloth or BOGOLAFINI (bogo - earth; lan - with; fini - cloth)
Handwoven and handmade in Mali of 100% cotton , the Mud Cloth is soaked in a bath made of stamped, cooked leaves from the N'gallama tree.
The cloth is then dried in the sun and, when dry, the artisans use a piece of metal or wood to paint the piece with various prints. The paint is a special type of mud taken from river banks and let to ferment in a pot of clay for one year being looked at and modified as needed. Due to a chemical reaction between the mud and the cloth the brown-black colour still stays when the mud is washed away. And there you have the brown/black MUD CLOTH.
For the White MUD CLOTH, there is one more last step in which the yellow n'gallama paint is removed with soap from the parts that have not been painted and the cloth gets it's white finishing.
A unique piece with a raw feel and a steady look the Mali MUD CLOTH is a special, sustainable-to-the-core piece of African Culture.
Enjoy wearing your piece and you will stand out!