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Real vs Fake Ajrakh: A Simple Identification Guide
Ajrakh is one of India's most popular and iconic textile traditions. Not only is it beautiful, but it also carries centuries of history within its threads. Originating in the artisan communities of Kutch and Sindh, handmade ajrakh fabric is created through a 16-step hand-block printing and dyeing process. Artisans use natural dyes, hand-carved wooden blocks and resist printing that no machine can imitate.
However, today, markets are flooded with mass-produced printed versions of ajrakh that imitate its look but lack the soul of real ajrakh. These replicas are made in factories using synthetic dyes, digital printing and processes that have nothing to do with traditional ajrakh fabric. That’s why recognising authentic ajrakh has become more important than ever.
With this simple guide, you can identify real ajrakh fabric from fake, understanding the features to look for. This will be useful, especially if you are shopping for ajrakh fabric online.
Spotting Authentic Ajrakh Prints: What to Look for?
Spotting genuine ajrakh is easy if you know what to look for. Real ajrakh is crafted to perfection using skill, patience and natural processes, something a machine can never recreate.
Understanding What Makes Ajrakh Unique
Before you learn to spot the real fabric, it is important to understand what makes ajrakh so special.
● Ajrakh is made with natural dyes such as indigo, madder root, jaggery and iron rust. These give this fabric a warm and earthy colour palette.
● The process of making ajrakh involves a complex resist-dyeing and hand-block printing technique where the cotton fabric is printed, dyed, washed and dried in a specific sequence.
● Motifs are printed using hand-carved wooden blocks, which are often passed down through generations.
● Kutch artisans preserve these techniques through generations to maintain their cultural and textile identity.
All these details give natural dye ajrakh its core identity, known for the depth, earthy tones and rich textile heritage.
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Signs of Authentic Ajrakh
There are a few signs to focus on while buying ajrakh fabrics. There are the easiest and most reliable ways to identify handmade ajrakh and avoid mass-produced ones. Here they are,
1. Look for natural dye tones
Artisans use natural ingredients to dye ajrakh fabric. This gives it a unique, distinct earthy colour palette. You can look for deep indigo blues, warm madder reds, charcoal blacks, and subtle browns and greens. These colour tones are never neon, bright or synthetic-looking.
Natural-dyed ajrakh has a soft unevenness in colour, which is a good sign. On the other hand, fake ajrakh fabrics have bright, chemical-looking colours, artificial shine and uniform tones.
2. Check the softness & smell of the fabric
Artisans repeatedly wash real ajrakh fabric with natural ingredients like soap nut, mud and jaggery. It gives it a soft, slightly lived-in feel, and a mild, earthy smell from natural dyes. Hand-washed fabric feels gentle on the skin and drapes smoothly. On the other hand, fake ajrakh feels stiff, starchy, overly smooth and has a chemical smell.
3. Examine both sides of the fabric
Real ajrakh is printed on both sides, and the print is almost identical on both sides. This is one of the most reliable tests for ajrakh print identification, finding if it's real or fake. This double-sided ajrakh print occurs because the natural dye penetrates deeper into the fabric during the slow and layered printing process. It is common in natural dyed textiles.
On the other hand, machine-printed ajrakh looks faded on the back, or sometimes the back is completely blank.
4. Notice small imperfections
When a fabric is printed by hand, it always has tiny imperfections to prove its authenticity. You will notice tiny overlapping areas, slight block misalignment, a few minor breaks in motifs and a gradual colour variation. And handmade ajrakh fabrics always carry the mark of the artisan; it is like a signature. This is the beauty of artisan-made textiles. Factory-made versions are too consistent and uniform.
5. Feel the weight and drape
Handloom Ajrakh fabric develops a soft, relaxed drape due to multiple washings and printing the fabric with natural dyes. Because of this, authentic ajrakh texture usually feels supple, light but not flimsy and easy to drape. However, the fake ajrakh feels stiff, thick due to starch, and heavy with chemicals. Although this difference is clear to the experienced eye, even a beginner can tell by feeling the two fabrics.
Common Types of Fake Ajrakh
Some of the common types of fake ajrakh are,
● Screen-printed ajrakh: The colours on this fabric appear flat and lack depth. The backside is also faded.
● Digital printed ajrakh: Prints on this fabric look too crisp and perfect, lacking the layered earthy feel of natural dyes.
● Synthetic dye ajrakh: Made with bright neons and intense colours, these fabrics often smell like chemicals and feel stiff.
● Power loom or factory-made imitation: Fabric is too uniform and lacks the softness of real ajrakh.
Price Indicators: What’s Too Cheap to Be Real
Authentic ajrakh involves skilled artisans, natural dyes, and hand-block printing in India. This is a slow process with multiple rounds of washing. Due to this time and labour-intensive process, real ajrakh fabric always has a justified price. If you find a fabric being sold at unrealistically low rates, it is most certainly a fake.
As a thumb rule,
● If it is unrealistically cheap, it means it's made with screen or digital print.
● If it has moderate pricing, it means it is a power loom imitation.
● If it has a fair premium price, it is real ajrakh made with natural dyes and artisan labour.
Cheap ajrakh fabrics may seem attractive at first, but they don’t last long. Also, when you buy authentic Kutch ajrakh, you are supporting traditional Indian crafts and sustainable textile practices.
Conclusion
Every real ajrakh fabric goes through a long journey of hand-carving, dyeing, washing and sun-drying. When you buy authentic ajrakh, you are not only choosing a print, but preserving a piece of Indian textile heritage. If you want to explore real ajrakh fabric online, iTokri is one of the most trusted platforms for Indian fabrics online. iTokri directly sources traditional Indian crafts from artisan families, ensuring transparency and authenticity of every piece.
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