Name: AJ
Message: I am an artist and have recently started working with wood and using RIT dye to stain. I have had great results color wise but I am concerned about archival issues and I was wondering what kind of fading I might expect down the road and whether you might be able to recommend another type of dye that would be more light fast and still provide the wide range of colors I've been able to achieve with the RIT; or if there might be a way to treat the wood post dyeing to prevent fading.

This is a difficult question. My first concern is whether the all-purpose dye might rub off of the wood, staining clothing; this is called crocking. Is there any problem with this, in your tests, perhaps with both dry and damp fabric?

All-purpose dye is typically a mixture of two types of dyes, acid dye and direct dye. The lightfastness of these mixtures will probably vary quite dramatically from one color to another. I do prefer using dye that is labeled as to its exact contents so that we can look up its lightfastness. If you know exactly which fiber reactive, acid, or direct dye you are using, you can request data on its lightfastness from the manufacturer - there are standardized tests for this in the dye industry - or start by examining my list showing lightfastnes data for many of these dyes. (Data obtained from the manufacturer should be more reliable than my data.)

Acid dye would not be your best choice, as acid dye is best on protein fibers, such as wool. Both fiber reactive and direct dye should be suitable for wood, especially if sealed afterwards with a polyurethane or other coating. See ProChem's "Dyeing Wood using PRO MX Reactive Dyes".

If you apply dye, with or without a UV protectant coating, to appropriate scraps of wood, and then leave them out in the sun for a while, or even in a sunny window (though window glass does filter a great deal of UV light), you will probably see noticeable fading on some but not others. In some cases, a UV protectant coating will actually accelerate fading in visible light, so it is essential to test any coatings you intend to use.


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