What is the best method and dye for dyeing crochet cotton threads to get really vibrant colors, both solid and rainbow?

Name: Daniella

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Linda Johansen's book
Fabric Dyer's Dictionary
shows how to mix a small number of Procion dyes to obtain a large number of different solid colors

Country or region: USA

Message: Hi, I got your site from Marilee Rockley. I am most interested in dyeing my crochet cotton threads myself to get really vibrant colors, solid and rainbow. What is the best method and dye for that project? Would the thread have to be unwound and skeined to dye it? Heat treated? I have never dyed anything really, and would love to be educated. Thank you for your time to my questions.

The best dyes for cotton are the fiber reactive dyes. They are easier to apply than heat-set dyes, their colors are more vibrant and predictable, you can mix them to obtain any color, and they last far longer than other types of dye. The most popular and the least expensive of the fiber reactive dyes are the Procion MX dyes.

Only the very best crafts stores carry these dyes, so you will probably want to order them online. If you're on the east coast, order them from PRO Chemical & Dye; on the west coast, from Dharma Trading Company; or see any of the many dye suppliers listed on my page, "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World". You can also start with a good tie-dyeing kit, which can be found in most hobby or sewing stores. I recommend the Jacquard Products tie-dye kit. The dyes in the kit work well for rainbow-dyeing any form of cotton.

The thread you start with will affect your final results. A plain white will give the most versatility in color choices. A "natural" color thread, which is slightly yellowish, will alter the color of the dye you apply to it, making blues greener and reds more orangish. Mercerized cotton, as well as rayon thread, will produce the brightest colors of all, as the result of the processing of the cellulose fiber, which cleans off fuzzy fragments of fiber from the surface of the thread that will otherwise make colors appear lighter.

As a general rule, you do need to unroll and skein your thread before dyeing it, since it's likely to be sold wound so tightly that dye applied to the outside of the ball will not reach the inside. You can start by winding it around a piece of cardboard or the top of a hardback chair. Use a synthetic yarn or string, such as acrylic or nylon, to loosely tie the thread in many places, to keep it from tangling during dyeing.

If you're using Procion MX dyes, you don't have to worry about heat-setting, since this dye is set at room temperature with the use of soda ash or washing soda. This is a common household chemical you've probably used many times already, since it's a major ingredient in laundry detergent powder. Since you don't have to heat your thread to set the dye, there's no need to invest in a good dyeing pot. The inside of the lid of a plastic storage bin makes a handy surface for working on.

Procion dye can be applied in many different ways, depending on what color effects you want. You can apply it in a bucket in a large volume of water with salt, in order to obtain plain solid colors (be careful not to tangle the thread while stirring). You can mix up different colors of dye and paint or drip them on to different parts of your thread, for multicolored or rainbow effects. You can tie your bindings tightly to resist the dyes for striking contrast in color and intensity. You can add alginate to your dyes to thicken them if you want them to spread less on the thread, or you can use unthickened water to dissolve them in order to let the dye mix and blend more easily on the thread.

There are a hundred different pre-mixed colors of Procion dye available from the major dye suppliers. You can enjoy picking out all of your favorites, or you can choose the basic mixing primary colors of magenta, cyan, and yellow, as well as orange, navy, and black, and mix your own colors. See "What colors should I buy to start out with?", "Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?", and "How can I mix Procion MX dyes to get specific colors?".

For recipes in how to apply dyes, once you've skeined your thread, see the basic direct dye application recipe in "How to Hand Dye", "How to Tie Dye", and "How to Do Low Water Immersion Dyeing". Also, check with your dye supplier to see if they have recipes available online. Note that not all of the dye will attach to the fiber, so you need to add enough dye to make it look too dark at first, so it will be the right color after washing out the excess.

After you've dyed your threads (most recipes call for leaving the dye on them overnight, but solid color dyeing takes only an hour), you will need to wash out the unattached excess dye. If you don't remove this unattached dye, it will run or rub onto other things. Rinse first in cool water, to remove the soda ash and any salt, then wash it with hot water, the hotter the better. Unlike other dyes, the properly attached fiber reactive dye will not wash out even in boiling water. To be sure you've removed all the loose dye, use the hot press test, dampening the fabric and placing it between two white cotton cloths before pressing it dry with a hot iron; if any color transfer occurs to the white cloth, repeat the hot-water wash.

A good place to discuss your work is the Dye Forum; you can join it for free. It doesn't send notifications when replies are posted, so you have to check back later to see if there are any. Don't forget, as part of the initial registration process, to send me a personal message about your interests in reply to the automatic email you receive after registering; this allows me to distinguish a real application from the dozens of bogus applications the forum gets from robospammers every day.

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What is the best method and dye for dyeing crochet cotton threads to get really vibrant colors, both solid and rainbow?

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