Is it possible to mix some of the Jacquard Red label dyes into the Green label to get slightly more intense colors, without steam-setting the dye afterwards?

Name: Imzadi

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Country or region: USA

Message: I read where you said the Jacquard Red Label dyes are twice as concentrated as the Green Label. Is it possible to mix some of the Jacquard Red label dyes into the Green label to get slightly more intense colors? I prefer to use the dyeset instead of steaming.

I do have several old scarves made with the Red Label & old version of dyeset, BEFORE the Green label was even invented. The colors are so much more intense & luminous.

What if I do a vinegar soak before painting on a Green + Red label mixture?

No, you can't do this, not if you are going to continue to skip the steaming process. The manufacturer's instructions are very clear. For example, Dharma Trading Company, a retailer for many dyes including the Jacquard Red and Green Label Silk Colors, spells it out in detail:

"Red Label Silk Colors can be set only by steaming! They can not be set with Jacquard Dyeset Fixative concentrate like the Green Label silk color. The difference between Red label and Green label Jacquard Silk Color is depth of color. Red label dyes produce much more vivid colors because they are much more concentrated. But they MUST BE STEAM SET!"

I am curious as to what you mean by "the old version of dyeset". Do you think it was the same as the current Jacquard Permanent Dyeset Concentrate? How long ago do you think this was? The Rupert Gibbon & Spider brand Green Label Silk Colors have been available for many years. They've certainly been around longer than the DyersLIST mailing list, which referenced them in October 1996. Their formulas, or the formula of the DyeSet Concentrate, may have changed since they were first introduced, though, for all I know.

The Green Label Silk Colors are frequently said to give better, more intense colors when they are set by steaming, rather than by the Permanent Dyeset Concentrate. Steaming is a much better way to set the Green Label dyes on silk, if results are more important than convenience. If you want more intense colors, I recommend that you give up using the dyeset, convenient though it is. (For more information on steam-setting silk dye, see my page, "How to Dye Silk"; scroll down to "How to Fix Your Silk Dye" , to find instructions for steaming with ordinary kitchen equipment and other methods.)

Interestingly, you have more options in dyeing with the Red Label Silk Colors than you do with the Green Label Silk Colors. Unlike the Green Label Silk Colors, the Red Label version can be used at a high pH, instead of a low (acid) pH, if you wish, thus making steam-setting unnecessary, though a little heat is required. Both the Red Label and the Green Label dyes contain a type of fiber reactive dye known as Vinyl Sulfone dye, also known as Remazol dye, for the first brand name under which it was sold. The Green Label Silk Colors are acidified, with vinegar or another acid, in addition to having had some of the Permanent Dyeset Concentrate or similar product mixed in with the dyes. This means that they cannot be used under high-pH conditions, since the acid included in the formula will neutralize a high-pH chemical such as soda ash.

When you use the Red Label Silk Colors with vinegar, or another acid, you must use heat to set the dye, and you cannot use cellulose fibers such as cotton. Using the Red Label Silk Colors with vinegar means that you must steam-set the dyes on your fabric, in order to bond them permanently to the fiber.

However, the Red Label Silk Colors contain pretty much just dye and water, so they can be used with soda ash instead of vinegar. When the Red Label Silk Colors are used with soda ash instead of vinegar, a dye/fiber reaction temperature of 104°F to 140°F works fine, given the right recipe, on both silk and cotton, without any need for either steaming or the use of Dyeset Concentrate. Dyes can be mixed with sodium carbonate and urea (to maintain moisture), or applied to fabric that has been soaked in sodium carbonate and then line-dried, though it's essential that the cup of dye into which you put your paintbrush contain only enough dye for a few hours' use, since the paintbrush will contaminate the dye cup with soda ash, even if the soda ash is dry in the fabric. See "Vinyl Sulfone Fiber Reactive Dyes".

I no longer recommend buying Red Label Silk Colors, because now there are other lines of Remazol type dyes available. Jacquard's newer line, called Vinyl Sulphon dyes, contains the same type of dyes as Jacquard Red Label and Jacquard Green Label, but they are much more concentrated than either, and therefore far more economical to buy. Jacquard's Vinyl Sulphon dyes are at least four times as concentrated as Jacquard's Red Label Silk Colors. Very similar in both price and quality to Jacquard's Vinyl Sulphon line is the Liquid Fiber Reactive line of dyes sold by PRO Chemical & Dye; I happen to prefer ProChem's black dye to Jacquard's, since it is a single-color unmixed pure dye, and, moreover, has better lightfastness, but the other dyes in the two lines are mostly very similar, as are the dye concentrations. I can't see any reason to buy Jacquard Red Label Silk Colors now, when the Jacquard Vinyl Sulphon dyes contain the same dyes in a much more economical form.

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Posted: Monday - August 08, 2011 at 08:22 AM

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Is it possible to mix some of the Jacquard Red label dyes into the Green label to get slightly more intense colors, without steam-setting the dye afterwards?

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