Name: Val
Message: I'm leading humanitarian projects in Africa (teaching hand craft skills to unemployed women) Because of the shipping costs involved, I am considering Acid dyes (less weight as I am not paying to ship water :) ) for silk painting rather than the premixed type like Jacquard. Can you think of major down sides to using this type product? Thanks if you can help !

Jacquard Products sells many different types of dyes, most of them in powdered form. You must be referring to either the Green Label Silk Colors or the Red Label Silk Colors, both of which are sold in liquid form. Red Label Silk Colors are Remazol-type fiber reactive dyes, premixed with water to strengths of around 12% or less. Green Label Silk Colors are the same dyes as Red Label Silk Colors, but with some auxiliary chemicals added, and sold at half the concentration, i.e. 6% strength or less. 

If you buy Remazol dyes from a different source, you can get them in powdered form, instead of liquid, and thus save on postage. There are also other good alternatives for buying powdered dye, such as acid dye. Your most economical option, in any case, would be to buy fairly large jars of dye powder, at least eight ounces of dye powder (that is, approximately one quarter of a kilogram), since dyes cost less when purchased in these quantities than when purchased in smaller jars.

There are several different types of dye that are popular for silk painting. The most popular in books about how to do silk painting appear to be the French silk dyes, a group that includes the brands Dupont, Pebeo, Ateliers Creatief Kniazeff, and Sennelier Tinfix; these are almost certainly made with both acid dyes and basic dyes. They are never sold in powdered form, only premixed with water and other chemicals, so they are not suitable for your needs. It is impossible to know which dyes are included in each color, because the makers of the French dyes are extraordinarily secretive about their products. (For an interesting story about just how secretive they are, check out the August 30, 2007 entry in my Hand Dyeing Q&A blog, "Did Sennelier Tinfix Silk Dyes cause my wife's hyperthyroidism?".) The French silk dyes require extensive steaming, as much as three hours, to set the dye permanently, and in some cases they are less light-resistant than other types of dyes.  

Two different types of fiber reactive dye which are popular for silk painting are Remazol and Procion H. Procion H dyes are similar in structure to the Procion MX dyes that are popular for tie-dyeing, but, unlike Procion MX dyes, the Procion H dyes require steaming to set the dye. Both Remazol and Procion H require something like thirty minutes of steaming, instead of the three hours required by the French dyes. You can buy them in powdered form to save on shipping, and then mix up enough dye solution in water to meet your needs for a full year, instead of having to mix up fresh dye solutions every month or two as you would with Procion MX dyes, which go bad more quickly. This is particularly useful if it takes you some trial and error to get your dye paint mixtures just right. Both Procion H and Remazol dyes have an additional advantage in that they can also be used on cotton, linen, and rayon, not only on silk.

To buy powdered Procion H dyes, you can order your dyes from PRO Chemical & Dye in the US, which will ship internationally, or from Synthesia dyes in the Czech Republic, if they will do mail-order. To buy powdered Remazol dyes, order from  Batik Oetoro or from KraftKolour in Australia, both of which ship internationally, or from Granat Farvekompagniet, in Denmark. There is contact information for each of these dye companies on my page of Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World.

Batik Oetoro also sells Drimarene K dyes, which are similar to Remazol and Procion H dyes, and they sell Drimalan F dyes, which they recommend for silk painting. They have detailed instructions for using Drimalan F dye powder to prepare silk paints. Drimalan F is used like an acid dye, although it is actually not an acid dye at all; it is a special class of fiber reactive dye used only on wool, silk, and nylon. It has unusually good washfastness, compared to acid dyes, as a result. Prices are high, but less of the dye is required to make your dye paint, only 10 to 20 grams per liter of dye paint.

You can buy basic dyes in powdered form, as well. Aljo Dyes in New York sells them as "alcohol/water dyes" for this purpose. I tend to avoid basic dyes because some of them are more hazardous than fiber reactive dyes, but these dyes are almost certainly used in some of the French Silk dyes, which may be more toxic than artists commonly believe. The colors of basic dyes tend to be very bright, but particularly susceptible to light fading.

The different colors of acid dyes are more variable in their properties than dyes within a group of fiber reactive dyes. There are many different types of acid dyes. Be sure to buy only those which are recommended for use together, as some acid dyes are incompatible with other acid dyes. Buying all of your acid dyes from one dye retailer is one way to avoid this problem. 

In general, acid dyes will be less washfast, that is, less resistant to fading from washing, than fiber reactive dyes are. They do not allow the option of use on cellulose fibers such as cotton. They may require longer steaming than the steam-set fiber reactive dyes. However, none of these are very significant drawbacks against their use in silk painting, for most situations. Some people say that acid dyes will produce brighter, more intense colors than other types of dyes. They last well even after being dissolved in water.

In all cases, mixing your own silk paint from acid dyes or fiber reactive dyes is less convenient than buying dyes that are premixed with water, since you must experiment a little to find what strength of dye mixture is best for your purposes. Be sure to keep careful records of exactly how much dye you mix, and what you mix it with, for each of your colors, so that you will find it easy to reproduce your successes. Instead of using measuring spoons to portion out your dye, it will be very helpful for you to use a small scale to weigh out exactly the same amount of dye each time. Dye strength is standardized by weight, not volume, so results are not very reproducible if you do not measure by weight. Try to find a balance or scale that can easily weigh less than 20 grams. Use small pieces of waxed paper or foil to hold the dye that you are weighing out, to reduce contamination of your scale, and to keep your dyes from contaminating one another. Do not use the same scale for dyes that you use for foods.

If you buy a very bright pure yellow, a bright cyan/turquoise, and a bright magenta/fuchsia, you will be able to mix a wide range of colors. You should also buy a black dye. Buying additional unmixed single-color dyes is not a waste of money, but the printer's primary colors are the most important for you to have.


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