Name: Sarah
Message: I do batiks for pleasure, and use Dylon cold water dyes. After ironing out most of the wax, I send it to the dry cleaners. Unfortunately, the batik comes back faded. Will I get the same result if I boil the batik myself? My dyes are mixed with salt to aid the perminence of the dye. Should I be doing something else? Your advice would be hugely appreciated. Thanks, Sarah

Properly fixed fiber reactive dye, such as Dylon Cold Water dye, should not fade when dry-cleaned, although some unreacted dye will wash off in any case. Did you fix the dye with soda ash, or whatever name Dylon packages this chemical under? Did you allow enough time, at a warm enough temperature, for the dye to react? Generally, 24 hours is sufficient at temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 C.). You do need to produce a darker color on the cloth than you will want to have after the excess dye has washed out, especially given that dye looks much darker when wet.

Salt makes little difference to the permanence of the dye; it merely encourages a bit more of the dye to leave the water and attach to the fiber. This is important in vat dyeing, but not in direct dye application, such as batik. Soda ash, also known as sodium carbonate, is the real key. See "How to Dye".

I find that mail-ordering fiber reactive dye, from almost any of the companies listed on my Sources for Supplies page, saves quite a bit of money, in the long run, as compared to buying Dylon dye, and allows more control, because then you can be sure of exactly which dyes you are using. I recommend the Procion MX, Cibacron F, or Drimarene K dye types for use on cotton without steaming. You must follow a good recipe closely, to be sure to fix the dye properly to the fiber.