Is this stuff a fiber reactive dye or an acid dye?

Name: Glen

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country or region: Canada

Message: Hello. Great web site!!

I have the Tulip Permanent Fabric Dye. This is the stuff that needs to be mixing with hot water. My question is: Is this stuff a fiber reactive dye or an acid dye? I checked on your site and found info on the one step by tulip but did not find any info on the permanent Tulip dye.

Tulip Permanent Dye contains fiber reactive dye, though the Tulip corporation does not reveal which type. My best guess is that it contains Drimarene K type dyes and/or Remazol type dyes, possibly both, depending on the specific color. These are both types of fiber reactive dye, but they need warmer temperatures than Procion MX fiber reactive dye, because they are slower to react and require more energy.

In contrast to the Tulip Permanent Dye, the Tulip One-Step Fashion Dye contains the exact same type of dye as the Procion MX dyes, designated by the Standard Dye Company as Permabril C. These can be used at room temperature, but the dye goes bad more quickly after being mixed with water, or after an extended period of time of the shelf, than the hotter-water fiber reactive dyes do. This is because Procion MX type dye is more reactive than Drimarene K or Remazol type dyes.

All of these fiber reactive dyes—Procion MX, Drimarene K, and Remazol types—are equally good in their long-term performance. However, I generally prefer to buy the dye powder that is not pre-mixed with the auxiliary chemicals, because it allows more freedom in using different techniques. That means that I prefer to buy my dyes by mail-order, from sources such as PRO Chemical & Dye in Massachusetts, Dharma Trading Company in California, or, for Canadians, G&S Dye in Toronto or Maiwa in Vancouver. I then mix in the soda ash when I am ready for it. This means that I can increase or decrease the amount of dye I use without having to change the reaction pH, and I can choose whether to add the soda ash before or after the dye, for different effects. Mail-order Procion MX dye powders are also much more economical, per pound of fiber to be dyed, than the premixed packets of dye that are sold under brand names such as Tulip or Rit.

You can tell for certain that Tulip Permanent Dye is not an acid dye from the fact that the package label warns that their mixtures include sodium carbonate (also known as soda ash or washing soda). You cannot use acid dyes with sodium carbonate, because its high pH would neutralize the low pH of the acids needed to help acid dyes to work. Also, acid dyes do not work on cotton or linen, which are among the recommended materials for Tulip Permanent Dye. Acid dyes work only on protein fibers, such as wool and silk, in addition to the synthetic fiber nylon (but no other synthetic fiber).

Another type of dye that does work on cotton and linen is called direct dye. This dye is found in the Jacquard iDye line of dyes, and is also mixed with acid dye in all-purpose dye brands such as Rit All Purpose Dye. Direct dyes and all-purpose dyes do not stay bright or withstand washing nearly as well as the various fiber reactive dyes.

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

Posted: Wednesday - December 01, 2010 at 01:36 PM

Follow this blog on twitter here.
Tweet

getBlogName(); > getCategoryName("<$EntryCategoryFolder$>"); >

Is this stuff a fiber reactive dye or an acid dye?

> >