Dyeing

In the past, dyers' workshops stood near the rooms where gaytan, a braided woollen cord, was made. The workshops contained the various tools and equipment needed for production: a pishkyun, or shelf, where the gaytan was coiled; a cauldron over a hearth and another smaller cauldron; an open hearth with a crosswise iron rod for singeing; a ladle or gourd; copper buckets; wooden stirring implements; a wooden beater; and wooden poles for drying the cord.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the people of Gabrovo maintained extensive trading links with cities such as Constantinople, Brașov, Vienna and Bucharest. These connections brought various dyeing materials to Gabrovo for colouring gaytan. Nevertheless, natural dyes continued to be used for a long time, especially in rural areas. Examples included smoke tree, ash bark and leaves, and ripe elderberries for black; red onion skins for 'onion colour'; quince or peach leaves for yellow; young walnut leaves and nettle roots for green; walnut husks and leaves for brown; and laundry blue and purple dye for bondzhuk, or dark blue. Dyers could produce as many as 12 different colours. The dye workshop built in 1964 at the Etar museum is a replica of an 1870 workshop belonging to Ivan Kalpazanov, who opened Gabrovo's first wool-spinning factory in 1882.