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Wednesday, May 31, 2006
How can I set the dye in a 53% silk/47% cotton shirt I have just purchased?
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
I would like to know more about dying cotton yarn. I have searched the web and am finding lots on yarn dying, but not anything on dying cotton yarn. Should I use Rit dye? How can I make my yarn verrigated? I really can't use Kool Aid?
I am trying to dye a cotton/spandex knit, I want to use a non or low caustic dye, could you reccomend something please?
I was wondering if you would be willing to tie dye or batik these articles for me
I just bought a beautiful silk skirt. I would like to tone it down a little and add some brown tones to it. Is this possible?
Monday, May 29, 2006
We are trying to figure if we can dye a dance costume. The leotard is made of matte nylon/spandex and the skirt is nylon/spandex mesh. the other costume choice is microfiber poly/spandex.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
We just purchased a 1920's sofa & two chairs. I would like to know the best way to dye or paint
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Preventing dye from running in a quilt is easier than fixing it after it happens!
Friday, May 26, 2006
pure versus mixed Procion MX dye colors
Thursday, May 25, 2006
I HAVE A HOODED CAPED GARMENT THAT IS DRY CLEAN ONLY AND I WISH TO DYE IT BLACK
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Will towels work for tie dying? I have a classroom of children and would like to do a beach towel with them.
Monday, May 22, 2006
How can we "fix" colours when tie-dying?
Saturday, May 20, 2006
tie dyeing a disc golf disc
Friday, May 19, 2006
dyeing velvet of unknown fiber content
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
What is the safest way to dispose of soda ash?
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
I am now trying to melt the wax off of the shirts. I am boiling them in a large pot with water and a few drops of liquid soap - however, how do I get the wax off the shirts. Most of it rises to the top, but a majority of it wants to cling back onto the shirts when I pull them out.
Monday, May 08, 2006
I knitted a hand dyed yarn scarf (Yarn by Magic Ball "be sweet" baby mohair) - and it bled on my clothing. Any suggestions for color fasting the scarf?
Friday, May 05, 2006
I knitted it with 100% pure wool but the dye lot was the same but the wool has colour variations of the cream wool. I would like to dye it but I wonder if the heat from dyeing will shrink it and if possible could you tell me the best method of dyeing this large item.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
How can I tell the difference between the dyes if none of the dyes have any labels?
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
finding a custom dyer for an afgan and for pigment dyeing a jacket
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
How to tie-dye a heart shape
[end of quote from Michael Fowler's "Tie Dye Heart Pattern" instructions]
----------------------------
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How can I set the dye in a 53% silk/47% cotton shirt I have just purchased?
Name: Victoria
Message: How can I set the dye in a 53% silk/47% coton shirt I have just purchased?
A properly dyed shirt will have the dye already set. There is no need to set the dye in purchased garments unless they are defective, in which case it is best to return them in exchange for non-defective garments.
If the shirt was dyed with fiber reactive dyes, all you need to do is wash out any excess unattached dye; this works best with very hot water. If the shirt was dyed with a hot-water dye, such as all-purpose dye, it should be washed only in cool water, separately from other garments, because it will always bleed in the laundry, unless it has been treated with a special dye fixative, as is common.
If you have a commercially dyed fabric which runs whose dye you want to set yourself, the only way that works is to use a commercially available cationic dye fixative, which you may be able to buy at your local quilting supply store, but which more likely you will have to purchase by mail-order. You can buy Retayne and other brands of this product from dye suppliers such as PRO Chemical & Dye; see my page listing sources for dyeing supplies around the world. For more information on Retayne and similar products, see "Commercial Dye Fixatives".
Do not try to set the dye with salt or vinegar. Neither of these home remedies is at all effective. In cases in which people imagine that they work, it is only because a few extra launderings help to remove excess dye, whether or not salt or vinegar are involved.
This question is also answered in the FAQ section of my web site: see Is there any way to "set" dye in purchased clothing or fabric?
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Message: How can I set the dye in a 53% silk/47% coton shirt I have just purchased?
A properly dyed shirt will have the dye already set. There is no need to set the dye in purchased garments unless they are defective, in which case it is best to return them in exchange for non-defective garments.
If the shirt was dyed with fiber reactive dyes, all you need to do is wash out any excess unattached dye; this works best with very hot water. If the shirt was dyed with a hot-water dye, such as all-purpose dye, it should be washed only in cool water, separately from other garments, because it will always bleed in the laundry, unless it has been treated with a special dye fixative, as is common.
If you have a commercially dyed fabric which runs whose dye you want to set yourself, the only way that works is to use a commercially available cationic dye fixative, which you may be able to buy at your local quilting supply store, but which more likely you will have to purchase by mail-order. You can buy Retayne and other brands of this product from dye suppliers such as PRO Chemical & Dye; see my page listing sources for dyeing supplies around the world. For more information on Retayne and similar products, see "Commercial Dye Fixatives".
Do not try to set the dye with salt or vinegar. Neither of these home remedies is at all effective. In cases in which people imagine that they work, it is only because a few extra launderings help to remove excess dye, whether or not salt or vinegar are involved.
This question is also answered in the FAQ section of my web site: see Is there any way to "set" dye in purchased clothing or fabric?
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
I would like to know more about dying cotton yarn. I have searched the web and am finding lots on yarn dying, but not anything on dying cotton yarn. Should I use Rit dye? How can I make my yarn verrigated? I really can't use Kool Aid?
Name:
edie
for cotton yarn
Unsweetened drink mixes can be used to dye wool—but not cotton!
Message: I would like to know more about dying cotton yarn. I have searched the web and am finding lots on yarn dying, but not anything on dying cotton yarn. Should I use Rit dye? How can I make my yarn verrigated? I really can't use Kool Aid? It is so much cheaper. If I can use Kool Aid to dye other types of yarn, what is the recipe?
Don't try to use Kool-aid on cotton. Koolaid is unbelievably expensive if you divide the cost by the number of pounds of yarn you can dye! This is because it simply does not dye cotton. It temporarily stains it, but makes no permanent bond to the yarn as a true dye must. Kool-aid works as a dye on silk, wool, or nylon, but simply washes out of cotton.
Avoid all-purpose dyes also, such as are commonly found in drug stores and grocery stores. They are better than Kool-aid, for cotton, but not as good as the dyes I recommend. The colors obtained are often different from those claimed on the package, and they tend to run in the laundry or when they get wet, ruining other garments and fading quickly. Another problem with all-purpose dye is that it costs a lot for the small amount of dye you get.
Fiber reactive dye from prochemical.com or bestdye.com is much cheaper than Rit dye, but even Rit dye is much cheaper than Kool-aid, given that Kool-aid works so extremely poorly on cotton. Use Kool-aid only on wool or nylon, never cotton. If you want to dye yarn with Kool-aid or with all-purpose dye such as Rit, please find some wool yarn and dye that. Both of these types of dyes work pretty well on wool. See "Using Food Coloring as a Textile Dye for Protein Fibers".
To dye cotton yarn, use cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. You can mail-order this dye for a good price per ounce from any of the dye companies listed on my "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World" page. You may also be able to buy fiber reactive dye from your local crafts or sewing store, though at a much higher price per ounce of dye, especially in the case of dyes in which auxiliary chemicals or salt are mixed with the expensive dye. Look for the brand Jacquard Procion Dye, which is the best that is sometimes available locally. If you can't find that, Dylon Cold Water Dye or Dylon Permanent Dye will work well.
In the case of dye which is not pre-mixed with auxiliary dye chemicals, such as Jacquard, all you have to do to get variegated colors is soak the yarn in soda ash and water, wring it out, and pour on different colors of dye mixed in a small quantity of water, following the same recipe as on the How to Dye page. For dyes that are pre-mixed with auxiliary chemicals, such as Dylon Permanent Dye, follow the package instructions to mix each dye color, and dip different sections of your skeins of cotton yarn into different colors. Cover the wet dyed cotton with plastic to keep it moist overnight, then wash out as instructed.
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[Updated June 8, 2008.]
—ADVERTISEMENT—
The best dyefor cotton yarn
Unsweetened drink mixes can be used to dye wool—but not cotton!
Message: I would like to know more about dying cotton yarn. I have searched the web and am finding lots on yarn dying, but not anything on dying cotton yarn. Should I use Rit dye? How can I make my yarn verrigated? I really can't use Kool Aid? It is so much cheaper. If I can use Kool Aid to dye other types of yarn, what is the recipe?
Don't try to use Kool-aid on cotton. Koolaid is unbelievably expensive if you divide the cost by the number of pounds of yarn you can dye! This is because it simply does not dye cotton. It temporarily stains it, but makes no permanent bond to the yarn as a true dye must. Kool-aid works as a dye on silk, wool, or nylon, but simply washes out of cotton.
Avoid all-purpose dyes also, such as are commonly found in drug stores and grocery stores. They are better than Kool-aid, for cotton, but not as good as the dyes I recommend. The colors obtained are often different from those claimed on the package, and they tend to run in the laundry or when they get wet, ruining other garments and fading quickly. Another problem with all-purpose dye is that it costs a lot for the small amount of dye you get.
Fiber reactive dye from prochemical.com or bestdye.com is much cheaper than Rit dye, but even Rit dye is much cheaper than Kool-aid, given that Kool-aid works so extremely poorly on cotton. Use Kool-aid only on wool or nylon, never cotton. If you want to dye yarn with Kool-aid or with all-purpose dye such as Rit, please find some wool yarn and dye that. Both of these types of dyes work pretty well on wool. See "Using Food Coloring as a Textile Dye for Protein Fibers".
To dye cotton yarn, use cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. You can mail-order this dye for a good price per ounce from any of the dye companies listed on my "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World" page. You may also be able to buy fiber reactive dye from your local crafts or sewing store, though at a much higher price per ounce of dye, especially in the case of dyes in which auxiliary chemicals or salt are mixed with the expensive dye. Look for the brand Jacquard Procion Dye, which is the best that is sometimes available locally. If you can't find that, Dylon Cold Water Dye or Dylon Permanent Dye will work well.
In the case of dye which is not pre-mixed with auxiliary dye chemicals, such as Jacquard, all you have to do to get variegated colors is soak the yarn in soda ash and water, wring it out, and pour on different colors of dye mixed in a small quantity of water, following the same recipe as on the How to Dye page. For dyes that are pre-mixed with auxiliary chemicals, such as Dylon Permanent Dye, follow the package instructions to mix each dye color, and dip different sections of your skeins of cotton yarn into different colors. Cover the wet dyed cotton with plastic to keep it moist overnight, then wash out as instructed.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
[Updated June 8, 2008.]
I am trying to dye a cotton/spandex knit, I want to use a non or low caustic dye, could you reccomend something please?
Name: Josselyn
Message: I am trying to dye a cotton/spandex knit, I want to use a non or low caustic dye, could you reccomend something please? Thanks
The best way to dye cotton/spandex is with a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX.
Hot water dyes, such as all-purpose dye, require temperatures that will damage the spandex when used at the appropriate temperatures; they are also much less washfast, that is, they will gradually wash out in the laundry, running onto other clothing.
Procion MX dyes must be used with washing soda or soda ash. This is not a particularly hazardous substance; in fact, it is a major ingredient in most laundry detergents. It is caustic enough that you should not soak your hands in it, but instead wear gloves and wash or wipe it off if it gets onto your skin, because prolonged exposure is irritating to the skin. Brief exposures followed by washing with water are not a problem.
You can buy Procion MX dyes by mail-order; see my list of companies around the world that sell dyes and supplies. Similar dyes include Dylon Cool Water Dye and Dylon Permanent Dye; both also require a high pH to react, but the latter include trisodium phosphate for this purpose, instead of soda ash, in the dye powder mixture. Dylon dyes may be purchased from some sewing stores. Avoid Dylon Multi Purpose dye, which is a hot water dye with all the disadvantages of other all-purpose dyes.
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Message: I am trying to dye a cotton/spandex knit, I want to use a non or low caustic dye, could you reccomend something please? Thanks
The best way to dye cotton/spandex is with a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX.
Hot water dyes, such as all-purpose dye, require temperatures that will damage the spandex when used at the appropriate temperatures; they are also much less washfast, that is, they will gradually wash out in the laundry, running onto other clothing.
Procion MX dyes must be used with washing soda or soda ash. This is not a particularly hazardous substance; in fact, it is a major ingredient in most laundry detergents. It is caustic enough that you should not soak your hands in it, but instead wear gloves and wash or wipe it off if it gets onto your skin, because prolonged exposure is irritating to the skin. Brief exposures followed by washing with water are not a problem.
You can buy Procion MX dyes by mail-order; see my list of companies around the world that sell dyes and supplies. Similar dyes include Dylon Cool Water Dye and Dylon Permanent Dye; both also require a high pH to react, but the latter include trisodium phosphate for this purpose, instead of soda ash, in the dye powder mixture. Dylon dyes may be purchased from some sewing stores. Avoid Dylon Multi Purpose dye, which is a hot water dye with all the disadvantages of other all-purpose dyes.
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I was wondering if you would be willing to tie dye or batik these articles for me
Name: Jodi
Message: Hi. I have about 5 white shirts that I have been saving for some time so that I could tie dye them. I was wondering if you would be willing to tie dye or batik these articles for me and if so, how much you would charge? I would be happy to pay for shipping as well. If this is something you would be interested in doing, please contact me. My clothing is a size 2 woman's so the articles are petite. I would send you 3-4 things. Thank you.
I'm sorry, but I cannot do custom dyeing. However, I maintain a list of a number of excellent dyers who are happy to do custom work. Please look at this link in order to "Find a Custom Dyer".
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Message: Hi. I have about 5 white shirts that I have been saving for some time so that I could tie dye them. I was wondering if you would be willing to tie dye or batik these articles for me and if so, how much you would charge? I would be happy to pay for shipping as well. If this is something you would be interested in doing, please contact me. My clothing is a size 2 woman's so the articles are petite. I would send you 3-4 things. Thank you.
I'm sorry, but I cannot do custom dyeing. However, I maintain a list of a number of excellent dyers who are happy to do custom work. Please look at this link in order to "Find a Custom Dyer".
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
I just bought a beautiful silk skirt. I would like to tone it down a little and add some brown tones to it. Is this possible?
Name: Margy
Message: I just bought a beautiful URU skirt on eBay; it is a fuschia silk jacquard matelasse (cloque). I would like to tone it down a little and add some brown tones to it. Is this possible?
You can dye a washable silk garment with acid dyes. See
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/aciddyes.shtml for more info about acid dyes, http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyesources.shtml for a list of dye suppliers around the world from whom you can buy good dye, and http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/washingmachine.shtml for information on the method you should use, which is dyeing in the washing machine with Jacquard acid dyes.
All-purpose dyes, such as Rit brand dye, will also work when used on silk in extremely hot water with an acid such as vinegar, but the color is unpredictable.
If the skirt is dry-clean-only, do not attempt to dye it. There is no way to dye a garment without washing it.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Message: I just bought a beautiful URU skirt on eBay; it is a fuschia silk jacquard matelasse (cloque). I would like to tone it down a little and add some brown tones to it. Is this possible?
You can dye a washable silk garment with acid dyes. See
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/aciddyes.shtml for more info about acid dyes, http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyesources.shtml for a list of dye suppliers around the world from whom you can buy good dye, and http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/washingmachine.shtml for information on the method you should use, which is dyeing in the washing machine with Jacquard acid dyes.
All-purpose dyes, such as Rit brand dye, will also work when used on silk in extremely hot water with an acid such as vinegar, but the color is unpredictable.
If the skirt is dry-clean-only, do not attempt to dye it. There is no way to dye a garment without washing it.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Monday, May 29, 2006
We are trying to figure if we can dye a dance costume. The leotard is made of matte nylon/spandex and the skirt is nylon/spandex mesh. the other costume choice is microfiber poly/spandex.
Name: Amber
Message: My question is we are trying to figure if we can dye a dance costume. The leotard is made of matte nylon/spandex and the skirt is nylon/spandex mesh. The other costume choice is microfiber poly/spandex. We have never dyed before and we have no clue how to do this we need to dye this material one yellow, one green and one burgundy...please let me know if you can help...thanks
Don't try to dye the polyester/spandex blend. Polyester requires high heat for dyeing, while spandex is heat-sensitive. There's no practical way to dye the blend yourself at home. However, it may be possible to use a good fabric paint, instead of dye.
Nylon/spandex can be dyed, or you can use fabric paint to do something called "pigment dyeing" although it does not actually involve the use of dyes. The advantage of the fabric paint is that it does not require any heat, and it works on polyester, also. The disadvantage is that pigment dyeing generally does not dye a single solid color. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers".
To dye a nylon/spandex blend, you have to choose the right kind of dye, and then compromise between the needs of the two fibers in selecting your dyeing conditions. Dyeing nylon requires heat, while spandex can easily be damaged by heat; however, the heat required by the nylon is much less extreme than that required for dyeing polyester. The dye you need to use is called acid dye. To dye a solid color, you will probably do best by dyeing in the washing machine. There is a link to Jacquard's instructions on machine-dyeing with Jacquard acid dyes in the washing machine on my page on "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?".
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Message: My question is we are trying to figure if we can dye a dance costume. The leotard is made of matte nylon/spandex and the skirt is nylon/spandex mesh. The other costume choice is microfiber poly/spandex. We have never dyed before and we have no clue how to do this we need to dye this material one yellow, one green and one burgundy...please let me know if you can help...thanks
Don't try to dye the polyester/spandex blend. Polyester requires high heat for dyeing, while spandex is heat-sensitive. There's no practical way to dye the blend yourself at home. However, it may be possible to use a good fabric paint, instead of dye.
Nylon/spandex can be dyed, or you can use fabric paint to do something called "pigment dyeing" although it does not actually involve the use of dyes. The advantage of the fabric paint is that it does not require any heat, and it works on polyester, also. The disadvantage is that pigment dyeing generally does not dye a single solid color. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers".
To dye a nylon/spandex blend, you have to choose the right kind of dye, and then compromise between the needs of the two fibers in selecting your dyeing conditions. Dyeing nylon requires heat, while spandex can easily be damaged by heat; however, the heat required by the nylon is much less extreme than that required for dyeing polyester. The dye you need to use is called acid dye. To dye a solid color, you will probably do best by dyeing in the washing machine. There is a link to Jacquard's instructions on machine-dyeing with Jacquard acid dyes in the washing machine on my page on "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?".
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Sunday, May 28, 2006
We just purchased a 1920's sofa & two chairs. I would like to know the best way to dye or paint
Name: Debra
Message: Good morning from Leominster,Mass. We just purchased a 1920's sofa & two chairs. I would like to know the best way to dye or paint before. IT IS GOLD / GREEN I WOULD LIKE IT DARKER. Thank you so any of your time.
This question has been answered in detail, in two different ways, on these two web pages:
Can furniture be dyed successfully?
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/furniture.shtml
and
Scarlet Zebra's Instructions for Painting Upholstered Furniture
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/furniture_painting.shtml
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Message: Good morning from Leominster,Mass. We just purchased a 1920's sofa & two chairs. I would like to know the best way to dye or paint before. IT IS GOLD / GREEN I WOULD LIKE IT DARKER. Thank you so any of your time.
This question has been answered in detail, in two different ways, on these two web pages:
Can furniture be dyed successfully?
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/furniture.shtml
and
Scarlet Zebra's Instructions for Painting Upholstered Furniture
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/furniture_painting.shtml
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Preventing dye from running in a quilt is easier than fixing it after it happens!
Name: Shirleen
Message: I just finished and tossed in the washer a small quilt I used dyed fabrics. I used synthrapol SP but the magenta-dyed fabric blead on the front and on the back. This is the second time this has happened so I grabbed the synthrapol ahead of time. How do I get this magenta color out without wreaking the quilt?
Always prewash your fabric before you begin to piece your quilt! Test the dye in the fabric before you begin by dampening it and pressing it with a hot iron between white cotton cloths. If any dye transfers to the white pressing cloths, you must not use the fabric for quilting until after you have corrected the problem.
Synthrapol cannot set dye, as it is only a detergent (albeit a very good one). All it can do is help remove excess unattached dye. Before you cut out your fabric for quilting, wash it several times in hot water, with Synthrapol, and if it still fails the press test, treat it with a cationic dye fixative such as Retayne, then test again. Never quilt with a fabric that is not washfast.
Once you have already made the mistake of quilting with a non-washfast fabric, the only possible solution is washing until you get the unwanted dye out. This does not always work. Synthrapol may help a little with the washing. Hot water is more effective than cold at removing unwanted dye, but also encourages further running. Cold
water
is best when you're trying to discourage running. Retayne is no help at this
stage because it will also fix the unwanted dye where it ran. A dye remover
such as Rit Color Remover may remove the color you want as well as the color you
do not want.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Message: I just finished and tossed in the washer a small quilt I used dyed fabrics. I used synthrapol SP but the magenta-dyed fabric blead on the front and on the back. This is the second time this has happened so I grabbed the synthrapol ahead of time. How do I get this magenta color out without wreaking the quilt?
Always prewash your fabric before you begin to piece your quilt! Test the dye in the fabric before you begin by dampening it and pressing it with a hot iron between white cotton cloths. If any dye transfers to the white pressing cloths, you must not use the fabric for quilting until after you have corrected the problem.
Synthrapol cannot set dye, as it is only a detergent (albeit a very good one). All it can do is help remove excess unattached dye. Before you cut out your fabric for quilting, wash it several times in hot water, with Synthrapol, and if it still fails the press test, treat it with a cationic dye fixative such as Retayne, then test again. Never quilt with a fabric that is not washfast.
Once you have already made the mistake of quilting with a non-washfast fabric, the only possible solution is washing until you get the unwanted dye out. This does not always work. Synthrapol may help a little with the washing. Hot water is more effective than cold at removing unwanted dye, but also encourages further running. Cold
water
is best when you're trying to discourage running. Retayne is no help at this
stage because it will also fix the unwanted dye where it ran. A dye remover
such as Rit Color Remover may remove the color you want as well as the color you
do not want.(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Friday, May 26, 2006
pure versus mixed Procion MX dye colors
Name: Judy
Message: I really have searched and found a lot of infomation on your website. My question is this. I go to your list for info on the Procion fiber reactives and I am curious to how important or what significance it is to whether or not the product is pure or mixed? I am trying to keep logs of dyes and color with all the varibles. Is it because of color consistancy when it's mixed...being unreliable that is or is it a quality issue. I paniced when I did not buy all MX Procions the first time so this is why I ask.
One time when it really matters whether a dye is pure or mixed is when your different premixed dye colors spread out on the fabric and meet each other. If, for example, an orange separates out and creeps the fastest from one mixture, and a blue creeps the fastest from another, when the two meet you will get a muddy color, which may or may not go at all well with your overall color scheme. I've seen some unfortunate results this way. It's best to mix your own colors so that when they meet each other the results are not a bad surprise. This is only rarely a significant problem.
Another time is when you have gotten tired of outdated dyes and poor customer support from one dye supply company, and want to switch to a more reliable dye supplier. The pure, unmixed colors are the same from one retailer to another, though their names are often different, so that you can substitute one for another with no change. The proprietary mixtures sold by one dye retailer are never exactly the same as the mixtures sold by another dye retailer, though.
A third reason to work with pure dyes is that each one has slightly different properties. As you work you will get a feeling for how each one works, if you know which is which. If you don't know which is which, you won't be able to make many concusions about the dyes from your observations and trial-and-error. For example, fuchsia (red MX-8B) reacts very quickly and stays put where it first hits the fabric, if you presoak with soda ash. This can make very nice effects, if it's what you want. Mixing red (red MX-5B) spreads out more and is better when you want smooth color blending.
A fourth reason is that mixed dyes that contain fuchsia are notorious for producing red dots on your fabric, because a lot of bad batches of fuchsia have been getting out in recent years. This is a particular problem if you vat-dye solid colors. Good fresh batches of fuchsia don't do this nearly as much. You can usually (though not always) solve the problem by filtering your dye mixtures, but that is a big pain in my opinion. It's a lot easier to test just one jar of fuchsia dye to see if it has this problem than to test every jar of midnight blue, bright yellow, dusty rose, etc. If you discover a batch of dye is bad, soon after you receive it, you can maybe return it for a fresher jar, but it will take some time to figure it out if you have many jars to test. All of the other pure dye colors appear to be free of this problem; only fuchsia and the many pre-mixed dye colors are a risk for it. (The mixed dye colors from PRO Chemical & Dye appear to be the most reliable.)
Premixed colors can be a great convenience or just fun to play with, but I think it can be important to know whether you are getting a premixed color or a pure color. I don't think that premixed colors are a bad thing (except when they contain fuchsia with the red dot problem). I just think it's good to make an effort to get pure unmixed dyes as well, and to know which are which. I like to buy premixed blacks in particular, and sometimes red or purple; also, for low water immersion dyeing, premixed neutral colors are a lot of fun to work with, as they separate out into many different colors. It can be nice to get a jar of your favorite color, too.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Message: I really have searched and found a lot of infomation on your website. My question is this. I go to your list for info on the Procion fiber reactives and I am curious to how important or what significance it is to whether or not the product is pure or mixed? I am trying to keep logs of dyes and color with all the varibles. Is it because of color consistancy when it's mixed...being unreliable that is or is it a quality issue. I paniced when I did not buy all MX Procions the first time so this is why I ask.
One time when it really matters whether a dye is pure or mixed is when your different premixed dye colors spread out on the fabric and meet each other. If, for example, an orange separates out and creeps the fastest from one mixture, and a blue creeps the fastest from another, when the two meet you will get a muddy color, which may or may not go at all well with your overall color scheme. I've seen some unfortunate results this way. It's best to mix your own colors so that when they meet each other the results are not a bad surprise. This is only rarely a significant problem.
Another time is when you have gotten tired of outdated dyes and poor customer support from one dye supply company, and want to switch to a more reliable dye supplier. The pure, unmixed colors are the same from one retailer to another, though their names are often different, so that you can substitute one for another with no change. The proprietary mixtures sold by one dye retailer are never exactly the same as the mixtures sold by another dye retailer, though.
A third reason to work with pure dyes is that each one has slightly different properties. As you work you will get a feeling for how each one works, if you know which is which. If you don't know which is which, you won't be able to make many concusions about the dyes from your observations and trial-and-error. For example, fuchsia (red MX-8B) reacts very quickly and stays put where it first hits the fabric, if you presoak with soda ash. This can make very nice effects, if it's what you want. Mixing red (red MX-5B) spreads out more and is better when you want smooth color blending.
A fourth reason is that mixed dyes that contain fuchsia are notorious for producing red dots on your fabric, because a lot of bad batches of fuchsia have been getting out in recent years. This is a particular problem if you vat-dye solid colors. Good fresh batches of fuchsia don't do this nearly as much. You can usually (though not always) solve the problem by filtering your dye mixtures, but that is a big pain in my opinion. It's a lot easier to test just one jar of fuchsia dye to see if it has this problem than to test every jar of midnight blue, bright yellow, dusty rose, etc. If you discover a batch of dye is bad, soon after you receive it, you can maybe return it for a fresher jar, but it will take some time to figure it out if you have many jars to test. All of the other pure dye colors appear to be free of this problem; only fuchsia and the many pre-mixed dye colors are a risk for it. (The mixed dye colors from PRO Chemical & Dye appear to be the most reliable.)
Premixed colors can be a great convenience or just fun to play with, but I think it can be important to know whether you are getting a premixed color or a pure color. I don't think that premixed colors are a bad thing (except when they contain fuchsia with the red dot problem). I just think it's good to make an effort to get pure unmixed dyes as well, and to know which are which. I like to buy premixed blacks in particular, and sometimes red or purple; also, for low water immersion dyeing, premixed neutral colors are a lot of fun to work with, as they separate out into many different colors. It can be nice to get a jar of your favorite color, too.
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Thursday, May 25, 2006
I HAVE A HOODED CAPED GARMENT THAT IS DRY CLEAN ONLY AND I WISH TO DYE IT BLACK
Name: THOMAS
Message: I'LL TRY TO KEEP MY QUESTION SHORT AND TO THE POINT AS TO NOT WASTE TO MUCH OF YOU TIME.I HAVE A HOODED CAPED GARMENT THAT IS DRY CLEAN ONLY AND I WISH TO DYE IT BLACK MY QUESTION IS CAN THIS BE DONE AND IF SO WHERE MIGHT I LOCATE THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE PROCESS.I HAVE TRIED SEVERAL DRY CLEANING STORES IN MY AREA AND NONE OF THEM DO ANY GARMENT DYEING,SO I'M AFRAID ITS A TASK I MUST TRY TO DO MYSELF. I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE ANY ADVISE YOU CAN GIVE ME ON THIS MATTER.
No, I'm sorry, but it is impossible to dye a dry-clean-only garment. You can't do it at home, and no custom dyer will take the risk of dyeing it for you, since chance are good that the garment will be destroyed.
If you wash the garment annd it comes out fine, you can then consider deing it. Your choice of dye will depend entirely on the fiber content of the garment. See "About Dyes" for more information on matching dye type to a fabric's fiber content. Instructions will vary drastically depending on the type of dye required.
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Message: I'LL TRY TO KEEP MY QUESTION SHORT AND TO THE POINT AS TO NOT WASTE TO MUCH OF YOU TIME.I HAVE A HOODED CAPED GARMENT THAT IS DRY CLEAN ONLY AND I WISH TO DYE IT BLACK MY QUESTION IS CAN THIS BE DONE AND IF SO WHERE MIGHT I LOCATE THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE PROCESS.I HAVE TRIED SEVERAL DRY CLEANING STORES IN MY AREA AND NONE OF THEM DO ANY GARMENT DYEING,SO I'M AFRAID ITS A TASK I MUST TRY TO DO MYSELF. I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE ANY ADVISE YOU CAN GIVE ME ON THIS MATTER.
No, I'm sorry, but it is impossible to dye a dry-clean-only garment. You can't do it at home, and no custom dyer will take the risk of dyeing it for you, since chance are good that the garment will be destroyed.
If you wash the garment annd it comes out fine, you can then consider deing it. Your choice of dye will depend entirely on the fiber content of the garment. See "About Dyes" for more information on matching dye type to a fabric's fiber content. Instructions will vary drastically depending on the type of dye required.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Will towels work for tie dying? I have a classroom of children and would like to do a beach towel with them.
Name: Barbara
Message: Will towels work for tie dying? I have a classroom of children and would like to do a beach towel with them.
Yes, but keep in mind that, because towels are very absorbant, they require a large amount of dye. A thin towel doesn't work as well as a towel, but is easier to dye then a thick plush towel.
Only try dyeing 100% cotton towels. Avoid any with any polyester content. They all are stitched with polyester thread, which will stay white, but that's okay for tie-dyeing.
Also consider dyeing a tablecloth, instead, which could be used for a picnic
Are you doing just one, or one for each child? The latter would be more work than dyeing a t-shirt for each child.
Don't use all-purpose dye, or you will be disappointed. The best dye to use is Procion MX dye, for example Jacquard brand Procion dye. Use Dylon Permanent dye only if you are in a great hurry, because it is expensive to buy one packet for every half-pound of fabric. The best source of dyes would be mail order.
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Message: Will towels work for tie dying? I have a classroom of children and would like to do a beach towel with them.
Yes, but keep in mind that, because towels are very absorbant, they require a large amount of dye. A thin towel doesn't work as well as a towel, but is easier to dye then a thick plush towel.
Only try dyeing 100% cotton towels. Avoid any with any polyester content. They all are stitched with polyester thread, which will stay white, but that's okay for tie-dyeing.
Also consider dyeing a tablecloth, instead, which could be used for a picnic
Are you doing just one, or one for each child? The latter would be more work than dyeing a t-shirt for each child.
Don't use all-purpose dye, or you will be disappointed. The best dye to use is Procion MX dye, for example Jacquard brand Procion dye. Use Dylon Permanent dye only if you are in a great hurry, because it is expensive to buy one packet for every half-pound of fabric. The best source of dyes would be mail order.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
How can we "fix" colours when tie-dying?
Name: olivia
Message: How can we "fix" colours when tie-dying?
Use the right dye with the right recipe. Avoid all-purpose dye.
Choose your dye type correctly for your fabric; do not attempt to dye polyester, acrylic, or acetate with an ordinary dye, since these fibers require a special dye for synthetics which is called disperse dye. Cotton, linen, rayon, and silk are easy to set fiber reactive dye in.
If you use good tie-dye dye, that is, any cool water fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye, the way to fix the dye is with soda ash, a.k.a. washing soda or sodium carbonate. Follow the instructions on Hand Dyeing - How to Do It: basic recipe for Procion MX dyes on cellulose or silk. After applying the soda ash and the dye to the cotton or silk fabric, keep it damp, for the reaction to occur, for up to 24 hours at 70°F (21°C). Procion MX dyes can be purchased by mail-order or in Jacquard brand tie-dye kits, which can sometimes be found in local craft or sewing stores.
Instead of Procion MX dye, you may use Cibacron F dye or Drimarene K dye. If you can find Dylon Cold Water Dye, or Dylon Washing Machine Dye, or Dylon Permanent Dye, those are mostly Drimarene K dyes and will work. Use soda ash just as with Procion MX dye. Use warmer temperatures for these dyes, say 30°C overnight.
Avoid Dylon Multi Purpose dye, Tintex High Temp dye, and Rit dye, which are all-purpose dyes and therefore of inferior quality. These are hot water dyes and cannot be used properly at room temperature. To use this sort of dye, apply it by simmering your garment in the dye at 89°C (just under boiling temperature) for half an hour in a non-reactive pot. After rinsing the garment, to set the dye permanently, you must use a commercial dye fixative. Vinegar and salt are useless for this purpose; you must mail-order a good dye fixative. Brand names of this type of product include Retayne, Raycafix (in Canada), Batik Oetoro's Dyefix (in Australia), and Deka L fixative or Fixitol P in the UK. These products are sometimes available at your local quilting supply store, but usually must be purchased by mail; see my page listing Sources for Dye Supplies around the world.
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Message: How can we "fix" colours when tie-dying?
Use the right dye with the right recipe. Avoid all-purpose dye.
Choose your dye type correctly for your fabric; do not attempt to dye polyester, acrylic, or acetate with an ordinary dye, since these fibers require a special dye for synthetics which is called disperse dye. Cotton, linen, rayon, and silk are easy to set fiber reactive dye in.
If you use good tie-dye dye, that is, any cool water fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye, the way to fix the dye is with soda ash, a.k.a. washing soda or sodium carbonate. Follow the instructions on Hand Dyeing - How to Do It: basic recipe for Procion MX dyes on cellulose or silk. After applying the soda ash and the dye to the cotton or silk fabric, keep it damp, for the reaction to occur, for up to 24 hours at 70°F (21°C). Procion MX dyes can be purchased by mail-order or in Jacquard brand tie-dye kits, which can sometimes be found in local craft or sewing stores.
Instead of Procion MX dye, you may use Cibacron F dye or Drimarene K dye. If you can find Dylon Cold Water Dye, or Dylon Washing Machine Dye, or Dylon Permanent Dye, those are mostly Drimarene K dyes and will work. Use soda ash just as with Procion MX dye. Use warmer temperatures for these dyes, say 30°C overnight.
Avoid Dylon Multi Purpose dye, Tintex High Temp dye, and Rit dye, which are all-purpose dyes and therefore of inferior quality. These are hot water dyes and cannot be used properly at room temperature. To use this sort of dye, apply it by simmering your garment in the dye at 89°C (just under boiling temperature) for half an hour in a non-reactive pot. After rinsing the garment, to set the dye permanently, you must use a commercial dye fixative. Vinegar and salt are useless for this purpose; you must mail-order a good dye fixative. Brand names of this type of product include Retayne, Raycafix (in Canada), Batik Oetoro's Dyefix (in Australia), and Deka L fixative or Fixitol P in the UK. These products are sometimes available at your local quilting supply store, but usually must be purchased by mail; see my page listing Sources for Dye Supplies around the world.
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Saturday, May 20, 2006
tie dyeing a disc golf disc
Name: Darren
Message: I was wondering what technique to use to tie dye a disc golf disc? If you don't know what that is, and my wife was that way, it's pretty much a frisbee.
If it's made of nylon, you can dye it the same as nylon fabric, by heating it in a dyebath with acid dye and a mild acid such as vinegar. Keep the temperature of the water bath below 185°F (85°C) to avoid damaging the nylon.
Acid dyes are very common and are included in the mixture found in all-purpose dyes, such as Rit. All-purpose dyes perform better on nylon than they do on cotton.
There are different possible approaches to this project. One is to immerse your disk fully in the dyebath, or immerse part of it, as explained under "How can I tie dye with Rit dye?". Another is to dilute the dye with only a small amount of water, apply it as a paint, and then heat the disk to encourage dye fixation, either by steaming it or immersing it in hot water. (If you choose to microwave it, I recommend that you seal it in a plastic bag with some water, and, watching closely, microwave for only a few seconds in order to turn the water in the bag to steam.) I have seen descriptions of dyeing a disc with all-purpose dye which has been dissolved in a mixture of acetone and vinegar, but I don't know how effective or safe this may be.
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Message: I was wondering what technique to use to tie dye a disc golf disc? If you don't know what that is, and my wife was that way, it's pretty much a frisbee.
If it's made of nylon, you can dye it the same as nylon fabric, by heating it in a dyebath with acid dye and a mild acid such as vinegar. Keep the temperature of the water bath below 185°F (85°C) to avoid damaging the nylon.
Acid dyes are very common and are included in the mixture found in all-purpose dyes, such as Rit. All-purpose dyes perform better on nylon than they do on cotton.
There are different possible approaches to this project. One is to immerse your disk fully in the dyebath, or immerse part of it, as explained under "How can I tie dye with Rit dye?". Another is to dilute the dye with only a small amount of water, apply it as a paint, and then heat the disk to encourage dye fixation, either by steaming it or immersing it in hot water. (If you choose to microwave it, I recommend that you seal it in a plastic bag with some water, and, watching closely, microwave for only a few seconds in order to turn the water in the bag to steam.) I have seen descriptions of dyeing a disc with all-purpose dye which has been dissolved in a mixture of acetone and vinegar, but I don't know how effective or safe this may be.
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Friday, May 19, 2006
dyeing velvet of unknown fiber content
Name: linda
Message: I am attempting to dye some velvet fabric that was gifted to me...the fabric content is unknown, but I suspect it's completely man-made. I tried using the same Procion MX recipe and technique that I use on silk gauze. The color result was beautiful - until I rinsed it. Every shred of color rinsed out. I tried the "burn" test on some of it, and it melted & balled up, which tells me it's synthetic. HELP! What type of dye will work? Or is it the recipe/technique? I dye pretty much the same way you have in your tutorial. Thank you for any help/advice!
You probably have either nylon or polyester. Can you tell which, from the burn test? You may be able to tell from the color of the bead, the color of the smoke, and the smell it produced while burning. Here are links to two sets of descriptions to try to distinguish between polyester and nylon:
http://www.lindrix.com/fabcontent.html
http://www.fabrics.net/fabricsr.asp
Or, you can just try a dye test using dye that will work on nylon, and see whether it works or not.
If your velvet is made of nylon, it will be reasonably easy to dye with acid dyes. You can use Procion MX dyes as acid dyes, if you use white vinegar instead of soda ash, and heat your nylon velvet in the dyebath. (This works for silk, too.) You could try a test swatch in a glass mason jar, which you can heat in a pot of boiling water without contaminating a good pot; mix a little MX dye with 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1.5 cups of water, add your nylon, and heat it at 185 degrees F or so (85 degrees C) for twenty minutes, then rinse out your small swatch of fabric and see whether you have any greater success than you had the first time, using soda ash.
If your velvet is made of polyester, it cannot be dyed with any ordinary type of dye. The only dye that will work on polyester is disperse dye, either in a boiling dyebath or in the form of fabric crayon iron-ons. If what you have is stretch velvet, it probably contains spandex in addition to the other fiber; spandex cannot survive extended periods of high heat, so polyester/spandex is impossible to dye. It must be dyed before the fibers are combined. See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".
Synthetic fibers can be "pigment dyed", that is, colored with thin high-quality fabric paints, but the binder in the paint might glue together the hairs in the nap of the velvet. Try a test swatch before committing to the fabric paint approach to this project. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers", and "Pigment 'dyeing' is not even dyeing!" in the Dye Forum.
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Message: I am attempting to dye some velvet fabric that was gifted to me...the fabric content is unknown, but I suspect it's completely man-made. I tried using the same Procion MX recipe and technique that I use on silk gauze. The color result was beautiful - until I rinsed it. Every shred of color rinsed out. I tried the "burn" test on some of it, and it melted & balled up, which tells me it's synthetic. HELP! What type of dye will work? Or is it the recipe/technique? I dye pretty much the same way you have in your tutorial. Thank you for any help/advice!
You probably have either nylon or polyester. Can you tell which, from the burn test? You may be able to tell from the color of the bead, the color of the smoke, and the smell it produced while burning. Here are links to two sets of descriptions to try to distinguish between polyester and nylon:
http://www.lindrix.com/fabcontent.html
http://www.fabrics.net/fabricsr.asp
Or, you can just try a dye test using dye that will work on nylon, and see whether it works or not.
If your velvet is made of nylon, it will be reasonably easy to dye with acid dyes. You can use Procion MX dyes as acid dyes, if you use white vinegar instead of soda ash, and heat your nylon velvet in the dyebath. (This works for silk, too.) You could try a test swatch in a glass mason jar, which you can heat in a pot of boiling water without contaminating a good pot; mix a little MX dye with 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1.5 cups of water, add your nylon, and heat it at 185 degrees F or so (85 degrees C) for twenty minutes, then rinse out your small swatch of fabric and see whether you have any greater success than you had the first time, using soda ash.
If your velvet is made of polyester, it cannot be dyed with any ordinary type of dye. The only dye that will work on polyester is disperse dye, either in a boiling dyebath or in the form of fabric crayon iron-ons. If what you have is stretch velvet, it probably contains spandex in addition to the other fiber; spandex cannot survive extended periods of high heat, so polyester/spandex is impossible to dye. It must be dyed before the fibers are combined. See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".
Synthetic fibers can be "pigment dyed", that is, colored with thin high-quality fabric paints, but the binder in the paint might glue together the hairs in the nap of the velvet. Try a test swatch before committing to the fabric paint approach to this project. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers", and "Pigment 'dyeing' is not even dyeing!" in the Dye Forum.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
What is the safest way to dispose of soda ash?
Name: Katie
Message: What is the safest way to dispose of soda ash?
I will assume that you are asking about discarding soda ash (sodium carbonate) at home or in a teaching lab or art studio, not the large quantities that may be produced industrially.
If you are discarding small quantities that have been dissolved in water, it is safe to just pour it down the sink. Laundry detergent commonly contains quite a lot of sodium carbonate.
The high pH produced by a large amount of sodium carbonate might be bad for a septic system. Add enough vinegar (which is typically 5% acetic acid) or other acid to reach a neutral pH. USe pH paper to determine when you have added sufficient vinegar that your pH gets near 7, which is neutral. The pH of a strong solution of sodium carbonate may be as high as 12.
Once the pH has been neutralized, you will essentially have rather dilute salt water. This is fine for disposal in septic tanks or sewage systems, but should not be dumped directly on plants, as salt can be bad for plant growth.
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Message: What is the safest way to dispose of soda ash?
I will assume that you are asking about discarding soda ash (sodium carbonate) at home or in a teaching lab or art studio, not the large quantities that may be produced industrially.
If you are discarding small quantities that have been dissolved in water, it is safe to just pour it down the sink. Laundry detergent commonly contains quite a lot of sodium carbonate.
The high pH produced by a large amount of sodium carbonate might be bad for a septic system. Add enough vinegar (which is typically 5% acetic acid) or other acid to reach a neutral pH. USe pH paper to determine when you have added sufficient vinegar that your pH gets near 7, which is neutral. The pH of a strong solution of sodium carbonate may be as high as 12.
Once the pH has been neutralized, you will essentially have rather dilute salt water. This is fine for disposal in septic tanks or sewage systems, but should not be dumped directly on plants, as salt can be bad for plant growth.
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Tuesday, May 09, 2006
I am now trying to melt the wax off of the shirts. I am boiling them in a large pot with water and a few drops of liquid soap - however, how do I get the wax off the shirts. Most of it rises to the top, but a majority of it wants to cling back onto the shirts when I pull them out.
Name: Ashlee
Message: PLEASE HELP!! I am a crazy first year elementary art teacher. I arranged for my art club (4th and 5th graders) to make a batik t-shirt. Well, I bought the T-shirts, We melted the wax in crock pots (which worked wonderfully!) and dyed the shirts with very dark fiber reactive dyes. I am now trying to melt the wax off of the shirts. I am boiling them in a large pot with water and a few drops of liquid soap - however, how do I get the wax off the shirts. Most of it rises to the top, but a majority of it wants to cling back onto the shirts when I pull them out. I know you said this is a difficult step but I really can't figure it out. I have 25 shirts to boil - HELP!! I have never done batik and I must be crazy!! I hope you can help, ASAP!! Thank You!!!
Thank You for all your detailed instructions - up until this point everything has worked without a glich!!
The problem is that wax floats. You have to let the wax resolidify before you remove the shirts, or else they get wax on them again as you lift them through the wax layer.
I use a large (12 quart) pot, heat the water until all the wax floats off of them, weight the shirts down under the surface to make sure that they are not in the wax layer, and then let them cool. When the wax is solid, I break it up. That's not practical for more than a few shirts at a time, I know. My pot might be able to handle five child's size t-shirts at a time. How many days do you have to do this in? A thirty-quart enamel canning pot would be able to handle a lot more at a time, but that will cost you another $30 or so if you don't have one already. The speckled finish pots have the advantage of being relatively inexpensive and being suitable for later use as a dye pot, as well, unlike aluminum pots.
You can hurry up the solidification by dropping ice into the pot. The ice will melt and go below the wax, into the water layer with the shirts. You may be able to absorb wax from the surface with paper towels, as though you were trying to remove fat from the top of a pot of soup.
The alternatives all seem much worse to me. Ironing out would be a horrible task for twenty-five shirts, and bad for your lungs, besides. Dipping the shirts in white gas, as is used in camp stoves, would work, but overexposure to solvents might give you leukemia or something. Some dry cleaners reportedly will remove wax, but none of the ones I've tried does so, except by using steam for $5 per garment. Pouring boiling water over the shirts might work, but you might burn yourself. If you have a large steamer, you can wrap the shirts in plenty of absorbent paper and steam them to remove wax, but this pretty much requires a fabric steaming set-up, which you probably do not have.
Before you place the shirts in the pot, be sure to break off as much wax as you can. It helps to do this as much as is practical before you begin the boiling.
Good luck, you're very brave!
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Message: PLEASE HELP!! I am a crazy first year elementary art teacher. I arranged for my art club (4th and 5th graders) to make a batik t-shirt. Well, I bought the T-shirts, We melted the wax in crock pots (which worked wonderfully!) and dyed the shirts with very dark fiber reactive dyes. I am now trying to melt the wax off of the shirts. I am boiling them in a large pot with water and a few drops of liquid soap - however, how do I get the wax off the shirts. Most of it rises to the top, but a majority of it wants to cling back onto the shirts when I pull them out. I know you said this is a difficult step but I really can't figure it out. I have 25 shirts to boil - HELP!! I have never done batik and I must be crazy!! I hope you can help, ASAP!! Thank You!!!
Thank You for all your detailed instructions - up until this point everything has worked without a glich!!
The problem is that wax floats. You have to let the wax resolidify before you remove the shirts, or else they get wax on them again as you lift them through the wax layer.
I use a large (12 quart) pot, heat the water until all the wax floats off of them, weight the shirts down under the surface to make sure that they are not in the wax layer, and then let them cool. When the wax is solid, I break it up. That's not practical for more than a few shirts at a time, I know. My pot might be able to handle five child's size t-shirts at a time. How many days do you have to do this in? A thirty-quart enamel canning pot would be able to handle a lot more at a time, but that will cost you another $30 or so if you don't have one already. The speckled finish pots have the advantage of being relatively inexpensive and being suitable for later use as a dye pot, as well, unlike aluminum pots.
You can hurry up the solidification by dropping ice into the pot. The ice will melt and go below the wax, into the water layer with the shirts. You may be able to absorb wax from the surface with paper towels, as though you were trying to remove fat from the top of a pot of soup.
The alternatives all seem much worse to me. Ironing out would be a horrible task for twenty-five shirts, and bad for your lungs, besides. Dipping the shirts in white gas, as is used in camp stoves, would work, but overexposure to solvents might give you leukemia or something. Some dry cleaners reportedly will remove wax, but none of the ones I've tried does so, except by using steam for $5 per garment. Pouring boiling water over the shirts might work, but you might burn yourself. If you have a large steamer, you can wrap the shirts in plenty of absorbent paper and steam them to remove wax, but this pretty much requires a fabric steaming set-up, which you probably do not have.
Before you place the shirts in the pot, be sure to break off as much wax as you can. It helps to do this as much as is practical before you begin the boiling.
Good luck, you're very brave!
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Monday, May 08, 2006
I knitted a hand dyed yarn scarf (Yarn by Magic Ball "be sweet" baby mohair) - and it bled on my clothing. Any suggestions for color fasting the scarf?
Name: karen
Message: I knitted a hand dyed yarn scarf (Yarn by Magic Ball "be sweet" baby mohair) - and it bled on my clothing. Any suggestions for color fasting the scarf?
See "Is there any way to "set" dye in purchased clothing or fabric? ", from the FAQ section of my site.
Hand dyed should not mean incompetently dyed. People who sell hand-dyed yarn that have not been properly fixed give a bad name to all dyers. Unless the item had a label indicating that the dye would come off, the maker is legally required to maker good on this. Is there any possibility that you can return it to the dyer, for refund or replacement with a properly fixed yarn? No, of course not, because you do not want to lose the scarf you spent so much time knitting.
Being unable (or unwilling) to return the item is a major problem, because you do not know what dye was used or how the dye was fixed. What care instructions were included with the yarn? Did it say to have wash in cool water, or to dry clean only, or what? Any reasonably professional hand-dyer will include these instructions with the yarn. If the yarn was dyed properly, and just did not have excess dye removed, then repeated washings will solve the problem. (If the yarn was dyed improperly, this might leave you with an undyed scarf.)
You should contact the company that markets this yarn, even if you are unwilling to return it. They have a web site at http://www.besweetproducts.com/ . They need to know that they are selling inferior products; their hand dyers can and should be supplying a better product. Perhaps they will have advice for how to fix their yarn.
Mohair is usually dyed with acid dyes. If the scarf was dyed with acid dyes but was not fixed properly, it might help to heat it in a cooking pot in the presence of an acid, such as vinegar. (Note that this will never work with cotton, but may work with animal fibers such as mohair.) However, you should never use a cooking pot that is intended for food use, because the dye is probably not safe to eat, and tiny amounts of stains might persist to contaminate future uses of the pot. So, not a very good idea, unless you are yourself a dyer and find it useful to invest in a stainless steel or enamel dye pot. Also, there is no guarantee that the dyer did not use a different dye type, in which case this would not help.
The best suggestion I have for you is to mail-order a commercial dye fixative. Cationic dye fixatives such as Retayne, Raycafix, or Dharma Dye Fixative will fix most dyes, though they do not work on vat dyes such as indigo, nor on basic dyes. You will have to mail-order your Retayne or other brand of this product; most dye retailers online will sell it, see my page of dye suppliers around the world. These commercial dye fixative products are very useful for fixing the dye in almost any commercial garment that is not washfast, so it is good to have some on hand. Retayne is supposed to be added in hot water, which you may wish to avoid, but Dharma Dye Fixative is supposed to be added to a cold water rinse, which is less worrisome for your mohair. Of course, Dharma Dye Fixative is sold only by Dharma Trading Company, but other dye suppliers may have their own brand names of the same product.
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Message: I knitted a hand dyed yarn scarf (Yarn by Magic Ball "be sweet" baby mohair) - and it bled on my clothing. Any suggestions for color fasting the scarf?
See "Is there any way to "set" dye in purchased clothing or fabric? ", from the FAQ section of my site.
Hand dyed should not mean incompetently dyed. People who sell hand-dyed yarn that have not been properly fixed give a bad name to all dyers. Unless the item had a label indicating that the dye would come off, the maker is legally required to maker good on this. Is there any possibility that you can return it to the dyer, for refund or replacement with a properly fixed yarn? No, of course not, because you do not want to lose the scarf you spent so much time knitting.
Being unable (or unwilling) to return the item is a major problem, because you do not know what dye was used or how the dye was fixed. What care instructions were included with the yarn? Did it say to have wash in cool water, or to dry clean only, or what? Any reasonably professional hand-dyer will include these instructions with the yarn. If the yarn was dyed properly, and just did not have excess dye removed, then repeated washings will solve the problem. (If the yarn was dyed improperly, this might leave you with an undyed scarf.)
You should contact the company that markets this yarn, even if you are unwilling to return it. They have a web site at http://www.besweetproducts.com/ . They need to know that they are selling inferior products; their hand dyers can and should be supplying a better product. Perhaps they will have advice for how to fix their yarn.
Mohair is usually dyed with acid dyes. If the scarf was dyed with acid dyes but was not fixed properly, it might help to heat it in a cooking pot in the presence of an acid, such as vinegar. (Note that this will never work with cotton, but may work with animal fibers such as mohair.) However, you should never use a cooking pot that is intended for food use, because the dye is probably not safe to eat, and tiny amounts of stains might persist to contaminate future uses of the pot. So, not a very good idea, unless you are yourself a dyer and find it useful to invest in a stainless steel or enamel dye pot. Also, there is no guarantee that the dyer did not use a different dye type, in which case this would not help.
The best suggestion I have for you is to mail-order a commercial dye fixative. Cationic dye fixatives such as Retayne, Raycafix, or Dharma Dye Fixative will fix most dyes, though they do not work on vat dyes such as indigo, nor on basic dyes. You will have to mail-order your Retayne or other brand of this product; most dye retailers online will sell it, see my page of dye suppliers around the world. These commercial dye fixative products are very useful for fixing the dye in almost any commercial garment that is not washfast, so it is good to have some on hand. Retayne is supposed to be added in hot water, which you may wish to avoid, but Dharma Dye Fixative is supposed to be added to a cold water rinse, which is less worrisome for your mohair. Of course, Dharma Dye Fixative is sold only by Dharma Trading Company, but other dye suppliers may have their own brand names of the same product.
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Friday, May 05, 2006
I knitted it with 100% pure wool but the dye lot was the same but the wool has colour variations of the cream wool. I would like to dye it but I wonder if the heat from dyeing will shrink it and if possible could you tell me the best method of dyeing this large item.
Name: vicki
Message: Hello I have just knitted a poncho it is very heavy and quite large. I knitted it with 100% pure wool but the dye lot was the same but the wool has colour variations of the cream wool. I would like to dye it but I wonder if the heat from dyeing will shrink it and if possible could you tell me the best method of dyeing this large item.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
It does seem that shrinkage could be a major danger in dyeing this.
If you are interested in a vareigated or rainbow dye appearance, you could apply fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX or Cibacron F, by painting or squirting it on from plastic bottles, then let the dye set in a black garbage bag in the sun. Here are two sets of instructions for this procedure:
- Garbage Bag Dyeing with Wool using PRO MX Reactive Dyes
- Cold Batch Dyeing of Wool with Reactive Dye (PDF)
Procion MX and Cibacron F dyes are more commonly used for dyeing cotton and rayon; they are ideal for tie-dyeing and batik. You can use them interchangeably. You can purchase them by mail-order; see my list of different companies around the world that sell dye supplies.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Message: Hello I have just knitted a poncho it is very heavy and quite large. I knitted it with 100% pure wool but the dye lot was the same but the wool has colour variations of the cream wool. I would like to dye it but I wonder if the heat from dyeing will shrink it and if possible could you tell me the best method of dyeing this large item.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
It does seem that shrinkage could be a major danger in dyeing this.
If you are interested in a vareigated or rainbow dye appearance, you could apply fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX or Cibacron F, by painting or squirting it on from plastic bottles, then let the dye set in a black garbage bag in the sun. Here are two sets of instructions for this procedure:
- Garbage Bag Dyeing with Wool using PRO MX Reactive Dyes
- Cold Batch Dyeing of Wool with Reactive Dye (PDF)
Procion MX and Cibacron F dyes are more commonly used for dyeing cotton and rayon; they are ideal for tie-dyeing and batik. You can use them interchangeably. You can purchase them by mail-order; see my list of different companies around the world that sell dye supplies.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Thursday, May 04, 2006
How can I tell the difference between the dyes if none of the dyes have any labels?
Name: Byron
Message: hey, I am an art teacher in Casablanca Morocco and I have to buy my dyes in an open air market. How can I tell the difference between the dyes if none of the dyes have any labels? THanks for whatever help you can give
This is a very interesting question.
Often people assume that dyes available in non-industrialized countries are natural dyes, but in fact they are usually synthetic dyes. I would like to urge you to maintain the utmost caution in avoiding direct exposure to these dyes, since some dyes which are considered too dangerous for individuals to use in the US or Europe are completely unregulated in other countries. Always wear plastic or rubber gloves when placing your hands in or near the dye. Never reuse a dye pot for cooking or serving food. Do not breathe dye powder. We are quite certain that some dye workers around the world who use the more toxic dyes, and often scoff at reasonable precautions as though they were unmanly, meet early and painful deaths due to diseases such as bladder cancer.
To find out what kind of dyes you have, you will need to familiarize yourself with the different general classes of dye, and do some test dyeing. See the overview about dyes at my web site, and on all the pages linked to from that page. The process of testing would be considerably shortened if you were able to obtain a multi-fiber test fabric ribbon from TestFabrics, Inc. of West Pittiston, Pennsylvania, but that is probably not practical given your location. Their nearest agent to you appears to be in Egypt.
Here is an overview of tests that you could use for your dyes....
Fiber reactive dye: If a dye works well on prewashed untreated cotton when applied overnight at room temperature with soda ash, it is a cool water fiber reactive dye. (There are also hot water fiber reactive dyes.)
Direct dye: If a dye does not stay in cotton when applied at room temperature, but does if boiled with the cotton for an hour, it is probably a direct dye, which is an inexpensive class of dyes with poor washfastness.
All-purpose dye: If it does this and also works on wool when used with a bit of vinegar, it is more likely the mixture of direct and acid dyes which is commonly sold as all-purpose dye; note that neither all-purpose nor direct dye will work on polyester or acetate.
Acid dye: If you heat the dye with white wool yarn and a tablespoon of vinegar, an acid dye will tend to leave the water and adhere to the wool, and will tend to stay permanently when washed in cool water. Acid dyes can be used on wool, silk, and nylon, but not on cellulosic fibers such as cotton, linen or rayon, and not on other 100% synthetic fibers such as polyester.
Vat dye: Vat dyes are commonly available throughout Africa. These dyes must be applied in a low-oxygen dyebath, since they are soluble when reduced but insoluble when oxidized. It's not the best dye for a novice to use; improperly applied, the dye will rub off on the wearer during use, showing that the dyer did not use the correct methods. Dyes which wash out after being set with the methods normally used for acid dyes on wool or direct or reactive dyes on cotton are likely to be vat dyes. You can learn how to use vat dyes by following the instructions provided for PRO Chemical & Dye's vat dyes. Also do web searches for more information on indigo and other vat dyes. It may be easier to find the chemicals used in "natural" indigo dyeing recipes; indigo may be natural or synthetic, and all other available vat dyes are synthetic, but the natural methods should work the same for the synthetic vat dyes.
Vat dyes can be used on both cellulose fibers such as cotton, and protein fibers such as wool. They cannot be used on synthetics other than viscose rayon (which is very much like cotton).
Disperse Dye: If you paint your unknown dye onto paper, having first mixed it with water to make a paint, and then iron it onto polyester fabric with a very hot, dry iron, if it works well, then what you have is disperse dye. This seems less likely than the other possibilities, since disperse dye is useless on natural fibers.
Basic Dye: The earliest synthetic dyes were all Basic dyes. They are not at all lightfast, and some are quite toxic. They are the best dyes for use on synthetic acrylic fiber, though they must be simmered with it (never reuse the dyepot for food!); they can also be used on cotton, silk, and wool if they are pre-mordanted as for dyeing with natural dyes, or by pre-dyeing with direct type dye.
Naphthol Dye: Finally, the other major class of dye is naphthol dye, in which the different components combine chemically in the fiber to create different colors. These are commonly used in Indonesia and some Asian countries. Many of the components of naphthol dyes are quite carcinogenic; I urge you to be particularly cautious in their use. However, some direct dyes and some acid dyes are also quite dangerous.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Message: hey, I am an art teacher in Casablanca Morocco and I have to buy my dyes in an open air market. How can I tell the difference between the dyes if none of the dyes have any labels? THanks for whatever help you can give
This is a very interesting question.
Often people assume that dyes available in non-industrialized countries are natural dyes, but in fact they are usually synthetic dyes. I would like to urge you to maintain the utmost caution in avoiding direct exposure to these dyes, since some dyes which are considered too dangerous for individuals to use in the US or Europe are completely unregulated in other countries. Always wear plastic or rubber gloves when placing your hands in or near the dye. Never reuse a dye pot for cooking or serving food. Do not breathe dye powder. We are quite certain that some dye workers around the world who use the more toxic dyes, and often scoff at reasonable precautions as though they were unmanly, meet early and painful deaths due to diseases such as bladder cancer.
To find out what kind of dyes you have, you will need to familiarize yourself with the different general classes of dye, and do some test dyeing. See the overview about dyes at my web site, and on all the pages linked to from that page. The process of testing would be considerably shortened if you were able to obtain a multi-fiber test fabric ribbon from TestFabrics, Inc. of West Pittiston, Pennsylvania, but that is probably not practical given your location. Their nearest agent to you appears to be in Egypt.
Here is an overview of tests that you could use for your dyes....
Fiber reactive dye: If a dye works well on prewashed untreated cotton when applied overnight at room temperature with soda ash, it is a cool water fiber reactive dye. (There are also hot water fiber reactive dyes.)
Direct dye: If a dye does not stay in cotton when applied at room temperature, but does if boiled with the cotton for an hour, it is probably a direct dye, which is an inexpensive class of dyes with poor washfastness.
All-purpose dye: If it does this and also works on wool when used with a bit of vinegar, it is more likely the mixture of direct and acid dyes which is commonly sold as all-purpose dye; note that neither all-purpose nor direct dye will work on polyester or acetate.
Acid dye: If you heat the dye with white wool yarn and a tablespoon of vinegar, an acid dye will tend to leave the water and adhere to the wool, and will tend to stay permanently when washed in cool water. Acid dyes can be used on wool, silk, and nylon, but not on cellulosic fibers such as cotton, linen or rayon, and not on other 100% synthetic fibers such as polyester.
Vat dye: Vat dyes are commonly available throughout Africa. These dyes must be applied in a low-oxygen dyebath, since they are soluble when reduced but insoluble when oxidized. It's not the best dye for a novice to use; improperly applied, the dye will rub off on the wearer during use, showing that the dyer did not use the correct methods. Dyes which wash out after being set with the methods normally used for acid dyes on wool or direct or reactive dyes on cotton are likely to be vat dyes. You can learn how to use vat dyes by following the instructions provided for PRO Chemical & Dye's vat dyes. Also do web searches for more information on indigo and other vat dyes. It may be easier to find the chemicals used in "natural" indigo dyeing recipes; indigo may be natural or synthetic, and all other available vat dyes are synthetic, but the natural methods should work the same for the synthetic vat dyes.
Vat dyes can be used on both cellulose fibers such as cotton, and protein fibers such as wool. They cannot be used on synthetics other than viscose rayon (which is very much like cotton).
Disperse Dye: If you paint your unknown dye onto paper, having first mixed it with water to make a paint, and then iron it onto polyester fabric with a very hot, dry iron, if it works well, then what you have is disperse dye. This seems less likely than the other possibilities, since disperse dye is useless on natural fibers.
Basic Dye: The earliest synthetic dyes were all Basic dyes. They are not at all lightfast, and some are quite toxic. They are the best dyes for use on synthetic acrylic fiber, though they must be simmered with it (never reuse the dyepot for food!); they can also be used on cotton, silk, and wool if they are pre-mordanted as for dyeing with natural dyes, or by pre-dyeing with direct type dye.
Naphthol Dye: Finally, the other major class of dye is naphthol dye, in which the different components combine chemically in the fiber to create different colors. These are commonly used in Indonesia and some Asian countries. Many of the components of naphthol dyes are quite carcinogenic; I urge you to be particularly cautious in their use. However, some direct dyes and some acid dyes are also quite dangerous.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
finding a custom dyer for an afgan and for pigment dyeing a jacket
Name: Steve
Message: I have 2 questions. I have a cotton afghan which is tan/offwhite in color. I'd like to get it dyed a chocolate brown. Do you do commissions?
No, I'm sorry, I cannot take on any additional projects at this time. You can, however, find someone who does on the custom dyers listing from my web site. Contact the dyers by email or telephone to obtain a price quote and mailing instructions. Some of the custom dyers who do this sort of work include True Color Fabric Dyeing and Dye Pro Services.
That leads to my second question....I also have a white cotton jean jacket (not denim..I think it's canvas) which I'd like to get pigment dyed...to either black or something very close (gray/black even is fine). Can you explain what pigment dyeing is?
Pigment dyeing is the use of fabric paint, instead of dye, to get a look of instant age, since the pigments wear off of the fabric much more quickly and easily than good dye. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers", from the "About Dyes" section of my website.
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[page updated November 29, 2007]
Message: I have 2 questions. I have a cotton afghan which is tan/offwhite in color. I'd like to get it dyed a chocolate brown. Do you do commissions?
No, I'm sorry, I cannot take on any additional projects at this time. You can, however, find someone who does on the custom dyers listing from my web site. Contact the dyers by email or telephone to obtain a price quote and mailing instructions. Some of the custom dyers who do this sort of work include True Color Fabric Dyeing and Dye Pro Services.
That leads to my second question....I also have a white cotton jean jacket (not denim..I think it's canvas) which I'd like to get pigment dyed...to either black or something very close (gray/black even is fine). Can you explain what pigment dyeing is?
Pigment dyeing is the use of fabric paint, instead of dye, to get a look of instant age, since the pigments wear off of the fabric much more quickly and easily than good dye. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers", from the "About Dyes" section of my website.
(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)
[page updated November 29, 2007]
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
How to tie-dye a heart shape
Name: Lillie
Message: I want to tie dye a heart pattern. I noticed the instructions given under "learn folding techniques for tie dye" for diamonds, ovals and squares. I understand how to form pleats along the line but where do we place the rubber bandsin reference to the line? Are they placed along the line?
hearts, arrows, stars, peace signs, the alien and more
Michael Fowler's Art of Tie-Dye
Learn The Basics of Making Exceptional Tie Dye
High quality Procion dyes make your shirts bright
Larger kit for 15 adult t-shirts
Yes, they are placed along the line.
The best instructions available for this sort of thing, short of actually taking a workshop directly from a famous tie-dyer, can be viewed on a DVD that actually shows you how to tie-dye a heart shape. It is much easier to understand a video than a series of drawings. The two videos I know that do an excellent job of explaining this are Michael Fowler's The Art of Tie-Dye and True Tie Dye's Advanced Tie Dye Techniques - Making Shapes and Mandalas.
Here also are the very useful instructions that were posted by Michael Fowler on his old Tie-dyed.com web site. (The photographs and text quoted below are copyrighted by Fiber-arts.com.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Fowler's "Tie Dye Heart Pattern" instructions:
"1. Lay your prewashed blank apparel or fabric flat on a table.
"2. Wet the fabric until it is uniformly damp (spray bottle), but not dripping. Then, fold the fabric in half- down the middle of the fabric (as shown above). This step is similar to a heart cutout on paper.
"3. Create a heart template on cardboard/posterboard or draw a freehand half-heart. Use a fabric marker or heat-transfer pencil to temporarily markup the fabric.
Message: I want to tie dye a heart pattern. I noticed the instructions given under "learn folding techniques for tie dye" for diamonds, ovals and squares. I understand how to form pleats along the line but where do we place the rubber bandsin reference to the line? Are they placed along the line?
—ADVERTISEMENTS—
How to Tie-Dye Shapes and Mandalashearts, arrows, stars, peace signs, the alien and more
Michael Fowler's Art of Tie-Dye
Learn The Basics of Making Exceptional Tie Dye
High quality Procion dyes make your shirts bright
Larger kit for 15 adult t-shirts
Yes, they are placed along the line.
The best instructions available for this sort of thing, short of actually taking a workshop directly from a famous tie-dyer, can be viewed on a DVD that actually shows you how to tie-dye a heart shape. It is much easier to understand a video than a series of drawings. The two videos I know that do an excellent job of explaining this are Michael Fowler's The Art of Tie-Dye and True Tie Dye's Advanced Tie Dye Techniques - Making Shapes and Mandalas.
Here also are the very useful instructions that were posted by Michael Fowler on his old Tie-dyed.com web site. (The photographs and text quoted below are copyrighted by Fiber-arts.com.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Fowler's "Tie Dye Heart Pattern" instructions:
"1. Lay your prewashed blank apparel or fabric flat on a table.
"2. Wet the fabric until it is uniformly damp (spray bottle), but not dripping. Then, fold the fabric in half- down the middle of the fabric (as shown above). This step is similar to a heart cutout on paper.
"3. Create a heart template on cardboard/posterboard or draw a freehand half-heart. Use a fabric marker or heat-transfer pencil to temporarily markup the fabric.
"4. Accordion fold the fabric along the drawn heart-shape line, forcing it
into a straight
line.
"Note: Often hearts are made by stitching the shape and resist dyeing, the heart shape is created by the undyed, resisted areas. These illustrations detail how to fold a heart and the technique will also transfer to many other popular shapes.
"5. Once the arc of the curve is forced into a straight line, the fold becomes a straight accordion fold.
"6. Your accordion folded line should now reflect a small straight line (shown directly above).
"7. View the small portion above. Dye placed in the small area will create the dyed shape of the heart.
"8. Use cotton string to tie along the drawn line. To create a color ring (band) around the heart, tie an additional parallel band. (optional)
"Note: Often hearts are made by stitching the shape and resist dyeing, the heart shape is created by the undyed, resisted areas. These illustrations detail how to fold a heart and the technique will also transfer to many other popular shapes.
"5. Once the arc of the curve is forced into a straight line, the fold becomes a straight accordion fold.
"6. Your accordion folded line should now reflect a small straight line (shown directly above).
"7. View the small portion above. Dye placed in the small area will create the dyed shape of the heart.
"8. Use cotton string to tie along the drawn line. To create a color ring (band) around the heart, tie an additional parallel band. (optional)
"To dye the heart, place a dye color in the smaller area next to the tied
cotton string (or rubberband) and use your hands to squeeze/blend a solid color
w/ little or no white areas. The heart looks great with or without a color band
(parallel line of color placed on the outside of the heart line) to define the
shape.
"The outside fabric color (bleed area) also defines the heart shape and you
will also get a resist from the tied string that creates an outline of the
heart. For further details on applying dye colors, view Michael Fowler's Art of Tie-Dye DVD. "
[end of quote from Michael Fowler's "Tie Dye Heart Pattern" instructions]
----------------------------
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