Where to get dye for teddies in South Africa

Name: Paula

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Dyeing with Slipstream Dyes in South Africa

Melanie Brummer's

Contemporary Dyecraft: Over 50 Tie-dye Projects for Scarves, Dresses, T-shirts and More

Clear, well-photographed instructions for

tie-dyeing in buckets

Acid dyes work well on Mohair

Dye for Polyester
and Acrylic

Country or region: South Africa

Message: Hi there, great site but I'm so confused. I've been making teddies for a year and want to start dying the fabric, either mohair or synthetic fun fur as we call it. There are so many ladies using different dyes that I can't get in South Africa. Here I can only get Dylon now. I'm at my wits' end. This is really making me so disheartened as to give up the whole exercise. I will be gratefull for your input. All info I have is from Teddy Talk.

What kind of Dylon dyes can you get, in your area? The Dylon dye company makes and sells several different types of dye.

The Dylon "Multi Purpose" dye is an all-purpose dye, similar to an American brand, Rit All Purpose Dye, which contains both acid dyes (for wool, nylon, silk, and mohair) and direct dyes (for cotton and silk). If you can find this type of dye, you can use it to dye mohair. See "All Purpose Dyes".

The Dylon "Fabric Dye for Machine Use", "Fabric Dye for Hand Use", and "Wash & Dye" dyes all contain fiber reactive dyes, mostly of the Drimarene K type, along with soda ash or another high-pH chemical; the high-pH chemicals make them suitable for cotton, but not for protein fibers such as mohair. Don't try to use any of these dyes on mohair. None of the Dylon dyes are suitable for use on synthetic fibers, either, other than nylon or viscose rayon.

Happily, I've just received information from a South African dye supplier, Melanie Brummer of Slipstream Fabric Finishes, who sells Remazol-type fiber reactive dyes under the Slipstream brand name. She is located in Johannesburg, and you can reach her by calling 0835689150 or sending e-mail to info [at] dyeandprints.co.za. You can mail-order from her company, or ask for the name of a local stockist who sells the Slipstream dyes. Since these dyes do not contain soda ash, they can be used for dyeing any natural fiber, not only the cellulose-based fibers such as cotton, but also the protein-based fibers such as wool and mohair. To use Remazol dyes with wool or mohair, you will need to substitute an acid, such as vinegar, for the soda ash that is used with cellulose fibers, and you will need to heat your fleece with the dye, in a non-aluminum pot on the stove. There is more information available on my site about this type of dye on my page, "Vinyl Sulfone Fiber Reactive Dyes". In particular, you will want to follow the link to instructions for "Solid Shade/Immersion on Wool", which explain how to use Remazol-type dyes on wool. (Once you get to that point, I'll be happy to supply further advice.)

Mohair can also be dyed with many natural dyes, but you'll find them to be more of a challenge to use for a novice. You may also be able to dye mohair with food colorings; see "Using Food Coloring as a Textile Dye for Protein Fibers". Food coloring is not always the most satisfactory of textile dyes, but it's very easy to find and use, and produces surprisingly bright colors. It works only on protein fibers, such as wool, not on plant fibers such as cotton, and not on synthetic fibers such as polyester or acrylic.

Synthetic fun fur will be much more of a problem to find dyes for. Since mohair is a natural fiber, it can be dyed with any sort of acid dye or all-purpose dye, and also with fiber reactive dyes that do not contain soda ash. However, synthetic fibers are very different. If you can find fun fur that is made of nylon, that will be okay, because, surprisingly, although it is a synthetic fiber, nylon can be dyed with acid dyes, like wool. If your fun fur is made of polyester or acetate, however, it's going to be extremely difficult to buy suitable dye for it. Both polyester and acetate should be dyed only with disperse dyes. (See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".) Acrylic can be dyed with disperse dyes, too, or with yet another class of dye called basic dye. Since I do not know of any African retail source for disperse dye, I will advise you for now to avoid trying to dye polyester, acetate, or acrylic. It is possible for you to mail-order disperse dyes from an American company such as PRO Chemical & Dye, but the shipping charges, and possibly also South African custom fees for importing, might be higher than you want to pay.

Always check to determine the exact fiber content of any synthetic fun fur that you are considering buying. Buy only fleece that is made of nylon (such as Antron fleece), or from natural fibers such as mohair, wool, silk, viscose rayon, or cotton. This will make it much easier for you to dye your own teddy bear fur.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Posted: Tuesday - October 05, 2010 at 09:08 AM

Follow this blog on twitter here.
Tweet

getBlogName(); > getCategoryName("<$EntryCategoryFolder$>"); >

Where to get dye for teddies in South Africa

> >