Inside the Workers Dyehouse in the Darb Ahmar district in Old Cairo, where sweltering temperatures and water vapor fill the air, 80-year-old Salamah passes on an old craft to his children and grandchildren.

“I worked in several professions, but I loved dyeing,” says Salamah. “I liked it because dyeing colors made a mark in my hand. Informants under King Farouk used to arrest children hanging out in streets on charges of begging, while those whose hands had marks of work would be left alone.”

Inside the Workers Dyehouse in the Darb Ahmar district in Old Cairo, where sweltering temperatures and water vapor fill the air, 80-year-old Salamah passes on an old craft to his children and grandchildren.

“I worked in several professions, but I loved dyeing,” says Salamah. “I liked it because dyeing colors made a mark in my hand. Informants under King Farouk used to arrest children hanging out in streets on charges of begging, while those whose hands had marks of work would be left alone.”

The dyehouse has been in operation since 1901. It was originally owned by a Jewish woman and  when she migrated under President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the ownership of the dyehouse moved to the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Salamah rented it in 1974.

Salamah explains that dyeing is both physically and mentally challenging. “One has to be creative while preparing the exact amounts, mixing the dye and adding some mixes to create a desired colour while maintaining the original colour of the raw material.

“The initial phase of dyeing,” says Salamah, “is to unfasten the raw material that may be strands of different types (silk, cotton, wool). Then, the rolls of threads are put in the dye basin and flipped several times. They are then placed in a press machine and eventually put on wooden planks on the roof to dry.”

Unlike a tannery, Salamah explains, machines in a dyehouse can handle several different colours and take orders of up to several tonnes. “We also dye ostrich feathers and plumage for decoration,” he says. “I have 157 various clients of companies, dealers, workshops and individuals, from Aswan to Alexandria, and from Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Libya, and Syria before the war. I also have customers from Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. They contract my dyehouse due to the quality and because of my honesty. Despite the lack of tanneries, they are still working. All professions across Egypt suffer due to the circumstances in the country.”