Day 18 of 21
Craft of Cloth · Print traditions · Sanganeri, Bagru, Dabu, Ajrakh
Block Printing — Four Schools
Day 18 of 21. A hand-carved wooden block, dipped and stamped by hand across the cloth. Four famous schools, each with a signature you can learn to read.
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Today's Lesson Begins
Four printing traditions, four clear signatures
🪵
CARVED, DIPPED, STAMPED BY HAND
Day 18 · Week 3 · Colour
Block Printing, Four Schools
Sanganeri, Bagru, Dabu, Ajrakh — name it by its look.
The Idea
Block printing presses a hand-carved wooden block, dipped in dye, onto cloth — again and again, by hand, across the whole fabric. Four famous schools each have a clear signature. Sanganeri is fine, delicate floral on a white or cream ground. Bagru is earthy — rust-red and indigo on a beige natural-dyed ground. Dabu uses a mud paste to block out areas before dyeing, leaving soft pale shapes. Ajrakh is deep geometric, printed on both sides of the cloth in indigo and madder.
Honest test: real hand block printing shows tiny gaps and slight overlaps where one block meets the next — printers call it registration drift. A perfectly seamless, machine-exact repeat is screen or digital, not hand block.
Place it by its look
From delicate to densest
Each school has a different feel — from light florals on white to dense geometry printed both sides.
How dense the print feels
Fine floral on white/cream
Delicate
Rust and indigo on beige ground
Rooted
Mud-resist leaves pale shapes
Layered
Geometric, printed both sides
Richest
Light florals to dense geometry — each ground and motif names the school
Side by side
The four schools, decoded
When a listing names a block-print style, here is the one thing that gives each away.
🌸
Sanganeri
School
Fine floral
Delicate, on white/cream
Floral
🟤
Bagru
School
Earthy ground
Rust + indigo on beige
Earthy
🪵
Dabu
School
Mud-resist
Soft pale blocked shapes
Resist
🔷
Ajrakh
School
Geometric
Both sides, indigo + madder
Geometric
In a customer DM
How to name the print
When she asks “what kind of block print is this?”
Name the school by its signature — and point to the tiny irregularities that prove it was stamped by hand.
“This is Bagru, ma'am — see the rust-red and indigo on that natural beige ground? That earthy base is its signature. And look closely here: the little gaps where one block met the next. That slight unevenness is the printer's hand — it's how you know it's hand block-printed and not machine-made. Each piece is a touch different from the next.”
Today's anchor: Hand block printing stamps a carved wooden block across the cloth. Sanganeri = fine floral on white. Bagru = earthy rust and indigo. Dabu = mud-resist. Ajrakh = dense geometric, both sides. The hand tell: tiny gaps and overlaps where blocks meet.
Day 18 Quiz · 3 Questions
Answer to mark your attendance
Four schools, four signatures. Get all three right to stay in the running for the top-3 craft gift. Answer before 9 PM tonight to stay near the top.
Question 1
What is Dabu printing?
A
A mud-resist method that blocks out areas before dyeing
B
A type of silk
C
A machine print
D
A way of weaving
Question 2
Which school is known for deep geometric patterns, printed on both sides, in indigo and madder?
A
Sanganeri
B
Ajrakh
C
Bagru
D
None — it's always one-sided
Question 3
How can you tell hand block printing from a machine print?
A
Hand block shows tiny gaps and slight overlaps where blocks meet (registration drift); machine print is a perfectly seamless repeat
B
Hand block is always grey
C
Machine print smells of flowers
D
You can never tell
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