Name: Cheryll
Message: I have some very nice already nicely dyed silk noil fabrics. Is it possible to make or buy a paint or paste to paint on them, to remove some of the dye.  I've read about the Japanese rice paste resist method.  I'd love to use a similar method to "paint" designs on the fabrics, to remove some of the color.  I don't want to bleach them out.  

I'm afraid you have a misconception of how resist pastes work. They do not remove dye. The only way they work is to block dye from reaching the fabric in the first place. In order to use them, you must start with a white, undyed fabric and paint on the resist. Then you paint on the dyes. Where the dye fails to reach the fabric, because the resist paste blocks them, the fabric remains white. Since your silk noil fabrics have already been dyed, it is too late to use the resist, unless you wish to dye them much darker colors, and use the resist only to retain the same color that they are right now.

If you want to make white designs on some already-dyed silk fabric, you must use either a discharge agent or opaque fabric paint. You probably already know that you must never use chlorine bleach (which is based on hypochlorite) on silk fabrics. The hypochlorite will damage the silk badly by oxidation. However, there are several good alternatives that are based on a different principle entirely. These are the reductive discharge agents, which are based upon sulfur dioxide. (See What chemicals can be used to remove dye?.) The easiest to use, for making designs by direct application, is Jacquard brand discharge paste. Buy the paste from a good local crafts store, if they carry it, or order it from a dye seller such as Dharma Trading Company (see my Sources for Dyeing Supplies around the World page for links to many different dye sellers). Paint or stamp it onto your fabric, following the manufacturers' instructions. Allow to dry, then, using an iron in a well-ventilated place (take your ironing board outside or on an apartment balcony if possible), press the treated fabric to activate the discharge. Be sure to do a quick little test first, before you spend any time on your project, since not all dyes will react at all to discharging. Some will not lose their color, which would be rather a pain to discover only after spending a lot of time on applying your designs.

Alternatively, you can buy a fabric paint that is opaque, pearlescent, metallic, or simply darker than the existing color of your fabrics. Do not attempt to use a transparent fabric paint to lighten the color of your fabric, because it will not show up. Unless indicated otherwise, most fabric paints are transparent, so be careful to select a paint that will show up on your fabric color. Metallics are wonderful for this purpose. Consider using a good fabric paint such as Lumiere or Neopaque, or a Pearl-Ex Pigment Stamp pad (which has binders already mixed in); do not use the non-stamp pad powdered Pearl-Ex pigment unless you add it to a clear fabric paint extender, to glue it to the fabric. Another exciting alternative with good metallics in the line is Shiva Paintstiks. In every case, be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions as to how long to wait before heat-setting, and how long after heat-setting to wait before washing the fabric for the first time. The one problem with all of these fabric paint alternatives is that they do tend to wear off of the fabric, primarily during washing or drying; garments should be turned inside out before laundering, and care should be taken to minimize abrasion in the wash.

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[updated 11-09-07]