What are the consequences of using way too much Procion fiber reactive dye?

Name: Jean

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Jacquard Products Procion Four Color MX Dye Set with Soda Ash

Holly Brackmann's book
The Surface Designer's Handbook

includes directions for dyeing with Procion dyes

Country or region: SF Bay Area, USA

Message: Paula,

What are the consequences of using way too much Procion fiber reactive dye? I just led a group of kids in tie dying tee shirts. Only upon cleanup did we discover that the person who mixed the dyes did not follow the recipes and used the entire 2oz container of dye for each color. For one color, per Dharma's recipe and our volume, it should have been 4 tsp, and for the other, 5 Tbsp. Will too much dye damage the shirt fibers? I'm assuming I should have parents rinse the shirts much sooner than they would have with the proper recipe? Is there anything else we should do? I greatly appreciate any guidance you can offer.

Many thanks.

The only problem I expect will be in washing out the excess dye.

I wouldn't rinse sooner than usual, after dyeing, but I would rinse more times, given a huge excess of dye powder. The dye will not damage the shirt, but it will be a bit of a pain to wash out. Normally I would recommend washing once in cool water and then twice in very hot tap water, but I suspect it will require several more washings than that.

In fact, it is even more important than usual to let the shirts react with the dye for the full amount of time, or even longer, before washing out. A good recommendation is to hold them overnight at seventy degrees Fahrenheit or above. The reason for this is to allow plenty of time for the excess unattached dye to react with the fabric or the water, so that there is no reactive dye remaining to stain the lighter-colored sections of the tie-dye design during washing-out.

If you do the washing out too soon after applying the dye, then some of the dye may still be capable of bonding to the fabric during accidental contact, which will result in permanent stains if the still-active dye gets anywhere that you do not want it to be. It does not matter if some blue dye gets onto a purple section, say, but it will not look so good if it gets onto a part of the design that was intended to be a light orange or yellow.

If almost all of the dye is washed out, but some excess dye remains, then, when it comes time to do the regular laundry, it will be necessary to wash the dyed shirts separately from other garments, in case the dye runs. Normally, shirts that have been tie-dyed with Procion dye are safe to wash with any color of clothing, once the initial washing-out is complete, but this time they had better be a little cautious. If the Procion dye does run onto other clothing during later laundering, long after all of the dye has reacted, it can be removed by washing in very hot tap water.

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Posted: Monday - January 06, 2014 at 02:53 PM

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What are the consequences of using way too much Procion fiber reactive dye?

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