Name: Andrea

Country: Australia

Message: Thanks for your very wonderful website. I have been looking for something like this for a long while.

About your website - on the silk dyeing page you mention that silk may be dyed with procion mx using vinegar instead of soda ash. 

I have been unable to locate a recipe for the amount of vinegar to use instead of soda ash.

Also, if you wnat to dye silk with vingear using the cold water method are there any directions for that too? I see there is plenty of how to's for heat setting etc.

Forgive me if the info is already there - I have been searching for a few hours and cannot find the info.

Thanks
Andrea

Hi Andrea,

There's a page on my website with a number of links to recipes for dyeing protein fibers by using fiber reactive dye as an acid dye. See "Fiber reactive dyes on protein fibers". For example, Dharma Trading Company's "Tie-Dyeing Silk in a Microwave with Vinegar", calls for using undiluted distilled white vinegar, which contains 5% acetic acid by weight, to presoak the silk. This is a stronger acid solution than you need, but it is true that Procion MX dyes require more acid, that is, a lower pH, than most of the acid dyes we use these days. ProChem's "Warp Painting on Silk & Wool using PRO MX Reactive Dyes", recommends mixing equal parts of white vinegar and water, and adding a couple of teaspoons of Synthrapol detergent to aid dye penetration. You can substitute a few drops of hand dishwashing liquid detergent if you don't have Synthrapol. (See "What is Synthrapol?".)

I'm afraid I cannot recommend using cold temperatures for dyeing silk with vinegar and Procion MX dyes. When used with vinegar, Procion MX dyes do not bond to the fiber as fiber reactive dyes; instead, they actually become acid dyes, of a sort. Forming a good bond between acid dyes and a protein fiber requires heat to do very well. There are a couple of "cold batching" recipes in the links on my page about using fiber reactive dyes on protein fibers, but dyers who have used them report that the colors that result are pale, not intense, no doubt as the result of the inadequate dyeing temperature. By all means try one of these recipes, if pale colors will suit your project. Otherwise, I recommend you find one way or another of adding heat to the dye-fiber reaction. You can apply the dye in a pot of hot water (limit 85°C or 185°F), or you can wrap the dyed items up and steam them, as you would steam a vegetable, or you could even use a homemade solar oven to create a hot space for your silk while it is is still very wet with dye (moisture is essential during the heating step). You've already seen my new page, "How to Dye Silk", which includes information on ways to steam-set dye on silk.

If you truly want to use room temperature (21°C or warmer) to dye silk, I recommend that you use Procion MX dyes as fiber reactive dyes, with soda ash instead of with vinegar. This method works extremely well at room temperature, and it is my own favorite method for dyeing silk, due to the enormous convenience, and yet intense dye colors.

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