Name: Bishop

Message: Your website has some really good insight. The only thing that I have yet to see there was information on water softening. My dyeing always turns orange! I am desperate to find a solution. 

I have guessed that my water is too hard. The only place I have found the chemical that is said to be used as a water softener for this type of thing is 3,000 miles away. If it is the hard water that is making my life miserable, can something else be just as affective? Sodium hexametaphosphate is too difficult to find. And I don't know what else would be just as affective. 

I would appreciate any help that you can give me for this problem. Thank you.

Here is my FAQ page about softening water: "Dyeing with hard water: water softeners, distilled water, and spring water". Also see the discussion in the Dye Forum about how much metaphos to use.

Where do you live? Most dyers buy their sodium hexametaphosphate by mail-order. In the US, you can order it under the name of "Metaphos" from PRO Chemical & Dye in Massachusetts, or under the name of "Water Softener" from Dharma Trading Company in California, or as "Calgon" or "Calgon T" from any retailer of Jacquard Products, such as Fibrecrafts in the UK. (Note that you should NOT use liquid products sold under Calgon brand name, which are often available at the grocery store; it contains polycarboxylates instead of hexametaphosphate, and which is said to interfere with dye uptake by the fiber.) If you live in another country besides the US or the UK, you may mail-order the sodium hexametaphosphate from PRO Chemical & Dye, which ships internationally to most countries. (Be sure to order by phone so that you can request a less expensive and slower form of shipping, if you live outside the US; many people find that, even after adding in the cost of the slowest form of shipping, buying good dyes from ProChem is cheaper than buying them at local shops in their own countries, but faster shipping is too expensive.) Also see the Jacquard Products web list of hexametaphosphate retailers in various countries that carry this product.
 
Other suppliers of chemicals for purposes other than dyeing also sell this chemical. You can order a ten-pound pail for $37 plus shipping from The Chemistry Store in South Caroline. Photography suppliers sell sodium hexametaphosphate for use in developing film: obviously hard water represents a major problem for that process. Bakery supply houses probably supply hexametaphosphate, too, as it's used in cheese dips, as a stabilizer for egg whites, and for other purposes; see this chart of "Uses and Applications for Phosphates".

You should also consider contacting a local water softening company, as they too may carry hexametaphosphate. If they do not, they can tell you about other ways to obtain water that is free of the calcium and magnesium ions in hard water that interfere with dyeing. Be aware that their answers may involve installing an expensive water softening system.

Distilled water is usually available very cheaply at local drug stores, at least in the US. If you cannot find another way to soften water, always use distilled or deionized water for mixing your dye solutions. Distilled water is better than hexametaphosphate if your problem is excess iron in the water. It is best to use softened water for washing out dye, as well, if your water is very hard, but you don't want to carry home jugs of distilled water for that purpose. Try to get some sodium hexametaphophate for use in washing out.

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