Looking for Procion Red MX-GBA in the UK

Name: Amy

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Country or region: UK

Message: Hello,

Do you know of any UK suppliers for Procion fiber reactive MX dyes? I recently bought a sample off an American supplier which is perfect (red MX-GBA). It is needed for a bulk dying project that needs to be completed fairly quickly and international shipping costs of a bulk order from the US do not make it viable. Any help would be great!

Thank you

Take a look at my page, "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World". There are four UK dye suppliers listed there. The prices for dyes tend to be significantly higher in the UK and the rest of Europe than in the US, so it's possible that buying from a local source will not save you a great deal of money, as compared to paying for the slower forms of overseas shipping. It will save you the bother of dealing with customs fees, however, if there are any, and the faster forms of shipping are expensive.

Buying Procion Red MX-GBA in Europe looks like a problem. This particular color is what is called a manufacturer's mix. It does not have a Color Index name, which is the most generic designation for a dye, because it is not a pure single-hue unmixed dye; instead, it is composed of two or more other dye colors, mixed together. This is true of all but about eleven of the single-hue unmixed dye colors that are available in the Procion MX dye line. If your dye supplier carries more than eleven or so colors, the rest are all mixtures.

Not all suppliers of Procion MX type dyes carry Red MX-GBA. It is not included in the Procion MX dye line sold by Jacquard Products, which is exported from the US to many different countries. You will probably want to individually call each of the UK dye suppliers in my list, to determine whether or not they sell this particular mixture, instead of relying on the web sites. I do not see it listed on any of the web sites of dye suppliers in the UK. Red MX-GBA is sold under the name "Chinese Red" by Dharma Trading Company in the US, "Strongest Red" by PRO Chemical & Dye in the US, "Warm Red" by Earth Guild in the US, and "412 Red" by G&S Dye in Canada. While you are contacting the UK suppliers, be sure to ask whether you can buy larger jars, for better bulk prices.

If you want to buy Procion MX type dye in the UK for this project, it looks as though you will have to mix your own color. I recommend that you buy either Red MX-5B or Red MX-8B, as well as Orange MX-2R, all of which are single-hue unmixed dyes. Red MX-5B and Red MX-8B are both bluish-toned reds; red MX5B is closer to the color that you want than is Red MX-8B, which is fuchsia. By adding a small amount of Orange MX-2R to either Red MX-5B or red MX-8B, you should be able to get a close approximation to Red MX-GBA. Using a yellow dye in place of Orange MX-2R will also work, but may result in yellow halos around fuchsia centers, if you are applying the dye directly by painting or tie-dyeing; this is not an issue in solid-color immersion dyeing. Be sure to do small-scale tests, weighing your test fabrics and your dye powders in gram quantities, before scaling up to your large project.

Look closely into the cost of shipping from US suppliers, keeping in mind that you will need something like 5 to 10 grams of dye to color one pound of fiber, depending on the intensity of the color desired. If you order a pound (454 grams) of Red MX-GBA from Dharma Trading Company, the dye itself will cost $15, while 1st Class International Mail will add $18. Even the most expensive form of shipping, Fedex International Priority, looks like it would add $42 to the cost of one pound of dye. At the current exchange rate, as I write this, US$57 is equal to approximately GBP £37. A similar quantity of Jacquard Procion MX dyes from Fibercrafts in the UK, which is sold in tiny jars of only 21 grams, would cost £110, not including shipping, while their store band, sold in jars of 50 grams, would cost £78 for 450 grams. (If you can find a source for larger jars of dye, they will be far more economical for large projects.) Depending on the quantity of dye you want and your comfort with mixing your own colors, you may decide that it makes sense to consider importing your dye yourself from the US. If you do, be sure to find out how hefty the Customs fees, if any, may turn out to be, and which carrier is least subject to delays while their packages are waiting to get into the country.

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Posted: Wednesday - September 01, 2010 at 11:19 AM

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Looking for Procion Red MX-GBA in the UK

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