Name: suzanne
Message: where can I purchase Deka Series L dyes now?

A reader named Linda told me that she has ordered Deka Dye from Carol Kaeding at Gratiot Lake Basketry, in Michigan, and that there may be some left there. However, DEKA is currently not selling any dye in the US, so those must be old stocks. When old supplies of the DEKA L dyes are gone, there will be no more in the US, at least in the near future.
[Update: Chicago Canvas And Supply now sells DEKA-L hot water dyes in the US.]

You will still be able to order these dyes from Europe in the future, as DEKA is continuing to produce and sell these dyes in the European market. Fibrecrafts/George Weil in the UK is just one of the many mail-order companies that are continuing to carry this dye. (Contact information for a number of European companies is given on my Sources for Dyeing Supplies page.)

DEKA L dyes are merely another form of hot-water all-purpose dye, however, a mixture of direct dyes for cotton and acid dyes for wool. This means that they are less bright and much less colorfast than cool water fiber reactive dyes. You can buy straight direct dye in the US from a source such as PRO Chemical & Dye (see their Diazol Direct dyes). However, if you are dyeing cotton, or another cellulose fiber such as basket reed, why not buy some fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye? It is highly superior for most purposes, and obtainable from many good American suppliers. For dyeing wool and other animal fibers, a great many different acid dyes are readily available in the US.

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