Archives for February, 2009

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Saturday, February 28, 2009

Which Procion MX dyes work best for illuminating discharge with vat dye?

Name: Jennifer

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Rit Color Remover

Rit Color Remover can be used to remove fiber reactive dyes or as the auxiliary chemicals for dyeing with vat dyes—or both at the same time!

Message: I am interested in learning more about the coloured vat dyes. Which Procion MX dyes work best to overdye/discharge with which colours of vat dye? Is there a chart available anywhere? As I experiment, some definitely seem to work well, while others are duds. I am predyeing cotton with an mx procion, then using itajime to resist areas, then overdyeing into a vat colour to discharge areas / and add more colour. Do any vat dyes discharge/recolour each other? Thanks so much for your help

The auxiliary chemicals for vat dyes, since they reduce the vat dyes to soluble form, can also reduce other types of dyes to remove some or all of their color. There are different recipes, with different reducing chemicals, but each of the different reducing chemicals should have similar results on the Procion MX or other fiber reactive dyes. (See What chemicals can be used to remove dye?, and compare them to the chemicals required for use with vat dyes in your recipe.)

If you're applying colored vat dyes onto fabric that has been dyed with Procion dyes, so that the color of the vat dye replaces the original color, then you will do best by starting with those reactive dyes that discharge most closely to white.

There are a few notes on which Procion MX dyes discharge best compiled into a chart on my page, "Which Procion MX dyes discharge the best? Which are good at resisting chlorine bleach?", in the rightmost columns. Ignore the columns on hypochlorite (bleach) discharge, since the results from bleach discharge are usually completely different from the results from reductive discharges. (You can't use bleach in place of the reductive discharge chemicals.) Here are the key points:

The best Procion MX dyes for reductive discharging include Blue MX-2G (cobalt blue or mixing blue), Yellow MX-8G (Dharma and Jacquard's lemon yellow and Prochem's sun yellow), and Red MX-5B (Dharma's light red, ProChem's mixing red, and Jacquard's magenta).
Avoid using Blue MX-G (cerulean blue or intense blue), Turquoise MX-G, and Yellow MX-3R or MX-3RA (Dharma's deep yellow and ProChem's golden yellow), because they either do not discharge at all with reductive discharges, or they discharge only a little.
A few other Procion MX type dyes give peculiar results when reductively discharged. Red MX-8B (fuchsia) discharges to yellow, and Blue MX-R (sky blue, royal blue, or basic blue) discharges to tan, while Yellow MX-GR (Dharma's golden yellow and ProChem's tangerine) discharges to an orange that is darker than the original.

Premixed colors are likely to contain turquoise and/or fuchsia, so you should avoid proprietary mixed dye colors for this, and use only the pure single-hue fiber reactive dyes, or mix them yourself, so that you know which dyes your mixtures contain, and whether they are dischargeable.

I would like to see your notes on which Procion MX dyes have been working well for you in illuminating discharge, and which have been duds. Do they agree with the information I have here? (To convert to and from generic names from your dye suppliers' names, see my chart, "Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?".)

In some cases, you might not find the Procion MX dyes to be ideal for discharging. There is another class of fiber reactive dyes that tends to be superior for discharge, the Remazol or vinyl sulfone dyes. They are easy to use, requiring only a little more warmth than Procion MX dyes, and can be used with the same recipes. The Remazol single-color black, reactive black 5, is unlike any Procion MX black, since it is not a mixture of several colors of dye; it is excellent for reductive discharge. You can buy reactive black 5 from PRO Chemical & Dye in the form of their Liquid Reactive Remazol dye; unfortunately, while Jacquard Products also packages a good line of Remazol dyes (which Dharma carries as the "Vinyl Sulphon" dyes), it does not include this excellent black, but instead a mixture of dyes that discharges relatively poorly. For more immediate gratification, you can often find "Dylon Permanent Black 12" at a Joann's fabric store or other crafts store; it is also reactive black 5, though the other chemicals included mean that you must follow the package instructions to use it, and it is less economical per use than the ProChem version.

For more information on discharging Remazol dyes, see:

Since all vat dyes share similar chemistry, not one of them can discharge another in the same way that they can discharge Procion or Remazol dyes. It's the thiox or dithionite in the vat dye mixture that does the discharging, not the vat dye itself. If you wish to discharge vat dyes, you must use an oxidative bleach, not a reductive discharge. Oxidative bleaches include chemicals such as chlorine bleach (hypochlorite) or sodium dichloroisocyanurate (used in swimming pools and also in Rit "Fast Fade for Jeans" or Dylon "Easy Bleach"), and they must be used in a completely different step from dyeing. You could, for example, draw on your vat-dyed items with a Clorox Bleach Pen, then rinse out, and neutralize the hypochlorite with Anti-Chlor or hydrogen peroxide, then wash thoroughly, before painting on another color of any class of dye.

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Friday, February 27, 2009

red dye is dry-crocking onto white binding

Name: Sandy

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Retayne

Retayne sets all-purpose dyes, such as Rit. It will not work on vat dyes, such as indigo denim.

Message: I am a manufacturer and have a huge problem. I have a dress made of 55% Linen 45% Rayon. The dress is red and has white binding along the armhole, neckline, center front and hems. The red fabric is crocking onto the white fabric. I've soaked the dress in Retayne then followed by a soaking of Carbona. After soaking the dress in Carbona the red came off the white but the red fabric itself turned orange. Is there any solution to this with the exception of Raycafix? Please help am desperate.

I'm sorry, but I don't think I have any good answer to the problem with the crocking of the dye on your red dress. Dye that is crocking (rubbing when dry) is a terrible problem. I don't know whether Raycafix will work with your dye. If you want to try it, call G&S Dyes in Toronto first to see whether they advise it.

If the fabric had not already been sewn to the white binding, I'd suggest soaking it in hot water, and then washing it in hot water, to try to get rid of the excess dye. This will sometimes work, though it may get rid of the color you want. However, if your problem dye was a direct dye that had been applied reasonably correctly, the Retayne would already have solved your problem. Instead it sounds like what you have there may be a vat dye that has been misapplied.

Carbona is a brand name for many very different products made by the Carbona company, but if what you used was Carbona Color Run Remover, then you were using sodium hydrosulfite, a chemical also known as sodium dithionite. This chemical works to remove direct dyes, acid dyes, and fiber reactive dyes, by reducing their bonds. However, it is not advisable to use it to try to discharge vat dyes, because it does not work. Instead, the reducing chemical turns the vat dye to a soluble form, so that it can run even better. When vat dye is chemically reduced, it will change color. The blue indigo used to dye denim for blue jeans turns yellow when it is reduced, and then back to blue when it is oxidized. It may be that orange is the color that your red vat dye turns when it is reduced.

I'm afraid that any kind of fix you can do will encourage the red to continue to run onto the white. If you were to treat the garment with something like the binder that is used in pigment dyeing, the water in the dyebath would probably cause more red to run.

If you could only stop the crocking, you could then redye the red part of the dress, to make it red again, but that's no a simple matter, either. If you immersion dye the dress in a bucket, the new layer of dye will color the white binding as well as the red/orange fabric. Perhaps this is the best approach, giving up altogether on the idea of that white binding. It makes sense to use white binding only if the colored fabric you use with it has been dyed in such a way that the dye will not run. Whoever decided to use white binding on that red fabric made a serious error in judgement.

Before using white binding with dyed fabric, it's best to test the fabric to see whether the dye will run. Properly fixed fiber reactive dye will not run at any temperature, once the excess unattached dye has been washed out. Inadequately fixed dye, and direct dye, can be fixed with Retayne or Raycafix before sewing, or the improperly fixed dye can be removed by washing the fabric in hot water, before sewing anything white onto it. Once the white binding has been sewn onto the dyed fabric, it's too late to use Retayne to prevent the dye from bleeding, and Retayne does not work on vat dyes, anyway.

It is possible to cover only some parts of a dress with dye, by using a fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, thickening it with alginate, and painting the dye only where you want it to be. However, it is likely that, even thickened, some of the wet dye will seep onto the white binding. It's a fussy procedure and there's a high risk that it won't work. It hardly matters, anyway, if you still have a problem with the original dye crocking. Crocking is a terrible problem.

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

How can I make already pigment-dyed feathers colorfast?

Name: Marco

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Washfast Acid dyes
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Washfast Acid dyes
Designed to permanently dye protein fibers -- animal fibers like wool, silk, angora, mohair, alpaca and nylon. These brilliant shades are carefully selected from available super milling and premetalized colors. They have excellent wash and light fastness properties.

Message: Hi there,
Maybe you can save me a bunch of trouble. I imported a bunch of dyed feather for fly tying from India, proportedly Pygment based dye. The dyes run when wet and the feather are for fly tying for fishing. How can I make already pygment dyed feathers color fast?? If you want to come fishing in Chile your time will be rewarded with my time!

Pigment dyes are not dyes at all, so they will not stick to the feathers on their own. Pigment dyes are typically insoluble pigments that are bound to the fiber with a colorless acrylic fabric paint binder. What you could do now is buy some colorless pigment binder, which is essentially fabric paint without the pigments, dilute it, and carefully paint it on to the feathers. If you are not careful, the binder might glue the sections of the feathers together, so this is not an ideal solution, but it's the only way to be sure to fix pigment dyes.

I've seen several brands of colorless binder. The Jacquard Products line of paints that includes Neopaque (opaque fabric paint) and Lumiere (metallic fabric paint) also includes a product called Neopaque Flowable Extender, which is a soft, clear, colorless fabric binder that can be used as a medium for pigments. I believe that you can dilute it with up to 25% water, like the pigmented Lumiere and Neopaque paints. Jacquard Products has one known agent in Chile; for contact info, see either their site, or my "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World" page, (scroll down to the section on South America). Another similar product is the PRObrite Neutral Base Extender, sold by PRO Chemical & Dye.

I think that you will get better results, more resistant to water, if you use an acid dye to dye your feathers in the future. There are many types of acid dyes on the market, such as Veniard fly tying dyes, Washfast Acid Dyes, Lanaset Dyes, and Jacquard Acid Dyes. Any dye that works on wool or silk is a good bet for dyeing feathers. If an acid dye is properly set, then it should be a lot more washfast than the pigment dyes that have been giving you problems.

Please always use waterproof gloves when you are working with dye, wear a face mask while mixing dye powders so as to avoid breathing dye dust, and reserve a cooking pot for dyeing use that you will not be reusing for the preparation of food.

I would love to go fishing in Chile if I were able to travel. Thanks for the offer.

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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

What happens if I dye a cotton jacket with a polyester lining?

Name: Avi

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Retayne

Retayne sets all-purpose dyes, such as Rit. It will not work on indigo denim.

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

Message: what happens if I dye a cotton jacket with a polyester lining. Will the happened to the lining. I will be using RIT dye. Thank you for your answer. Avi

I can't recommend that you use an all-purpose dye, such as Rit, on cotton. All-purpose dyes are notorious for giving bad results. Since the dye bonds only very loosely to the fiber, it tends to bleed every time it is washed, so that the color fades rapidly. There is a product, Retayne, that can be used to fix all-purpose dye permanently, though it also tends to cause greater light-fading. Unfortunately, cationic fixatives such as Retayne are almost never available locally and must be ordered by mail; if you're going to the trouble of mail-ordering Retayne, you may as well buy a higher quality dye instead.

Another problem with all-purpose dyes, such as Rit, is that they work best when the fabric and dye are heated together on the stovetop at 185°F or higher, which is considerably more trouble than using a cool water dye that needs only washing soda to fix it. (Note that you should not plan on reusing a dyeing pot for food.) You will get much better and longer-lasting results on cotton if you use a fiber reactive dye.

If you choose to use all-purpose dye in spite of its disadvantages, you will want to be very careful in laundering, afterwards. Hand-wash Rit-dyed garments separately, one at a time, in cool water. Do not wash Rit-dyed garments with any clothing you do not want the dye to run onto. Dry-cleaning, if you prefer, will help the all-purpose dye to last longer in your jacket. If you can get some Retayne, Rit Dye Fixative, or another cationic dye fixative, it will improve the washfastness of the dye considerably.

In any case, no matter what sort of dye you use, if it is capable of dyeing cotton, then it will leave the polyester undyed, at most staining it temporarily. This is as true of all-purpose dye as it is of better dyes, such as Procion MX dye, Tulip One Step Fashion Dye, Dylon Machine Dye or Dylon Permanent Dye. You can dye the cotton portion of your jacket, but both the polyester lining and the polyester thread that was used to sew the jacket will remain the original color, or close to it.

The only dye that will work on polyester is called disperse dye. Polyester is, chemically, so very different from cotton that there is no dye that can work on both. You cannot buy disperse dye in local shops, but instead will have to purchase it by mail-order. Polyester is more difficult to dye than other fibers; it cannot be dyed in merely hot water, but must be boiled for at least half an hour with the disperse dye. Most people in your situation will choose to keep the lining white, while redying the cotton jacket.

Of course, the jacket can be dyed only if it has already been washed. If the jacket is marked "dry clean only", you can expect the cotton outer portion to shrink considerably, while the polyester lining retains its original length. Before dyeing, always wash clothing thoroughly with detergent in the hottest water it can stand, because invisible stains will repel the dye, leaving lighter splotches.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

How do you minimize the toxic outflow in the waste water of the Procion particulates?

Name: Maryann

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Message: Hi, How do you minimize the toxic outflow in the waste water of the Procion particulates?

It depends on whether you are dyeing on a small scale, by hand, or whether you are instead running a factory in the textile industry.

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If you are disposing of small quantities of fiber reactive dyes, such as a hand dyer uses, in either the sewer or a septic tank, then there is no need to be concerned about any toxicity from the Procion MX dyes. It is safe to dispose of these dyes down the drain. If you have a septic tank, you may wish to neutralize any acids or bases you are using along with your dyes, before disposal.

If you are disposing of huge quantities of dyes from a textile factory, then the sheer quantity of the dyes being used and disposed of will require some sort of treatment. Dye effluent should not be discharged directly into a river or pond without appropriate treatment.

See my earlier posts, "Are Reactive Dyes eco-friendly?", and "Dye clean up".

As a general rule, there is no particulate matter to dispose of after dyeing with Procion dyes, because the dyes are water soluble. If you find yourself with large quantities of expired dye powder, too old to react with cotton fiber, it can still be used as an acid dye on protein fibers such as silk or wool.

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Monday, February 23, 2009

What dyes can be used to dye hair (that is not on a person)?

Rit dye is commonly used to dye human hair (for sale, not while it is on a person), but the black dye tends to bleed a lot. Is there another dye that will work in place of the Rit dye, without bleeding so much, that is used at a low pH that will not damage the hair?

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Washfast Acid dyes
at Paradise Fibers

Washfast Acid dyes

Designed to permanently dye protein fibers -- animal fibers like wool, silk, angora, mohair, alpaca and nylon. These brilliant shades are carefully selected from available super milling and premetalized colors. Substitute Ammonium Sulfate (for pastel to medium shades) or Citric Acid Crystals (for pastel to dark shades) for Acidic Acid 56% and obtain level dyeing results without the offensive odor. Apply at a boil for solid shade dyeing and steam set when printing, painting or rainbow dyeing. Two ounces of dye powder will color 12 pounds of wool to a medium shade in a solid shade dye bath.

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Rit dyes are all-purpose dyes, which means that they are a mixture of acid dyes, for proteins such as wool and hair, with direct dyes, for cotton. The type of acid dyes used in all-purpose dye is called strong acid or acid leveling. This type of acid dyes is good for getting everything a perfectly smooth solid color, but wretched at washfastness, compared to some other types of acid dyes; that is, they bleed more when wet. Also, they require more acid than the other dyes do. The milder acid requirements of other types of acid dyes are probably better for the hair. They still require a low pH, but not as low of a pH.

The acid dyes that are best for hand-dyeing protein fibers black are 1:2 metal complex dyes, also known as premetallized acid dyes. One brand is Lanaset, which is expensive but generally agreed to include the best black dye available for hand dyeing, the Lanaset Jet Black. Lanaset dyes can be purchased from several sources, including PRO Chemical & Dye, and Paradise Fibers.

A less expensive but still excellent black dye is the Washfast Acid Jet Black. It, too, is available from both PRO Chemical & Dye and Paradise Fibers. It will be far more wash-resistant and non-bleeding than any Rit dye. Both it and the Lanaset dyes will resist bleeding even when the item dyed with it is washed at 140°F, unlike Rit dyes which should not be washed at temperatures above 105°F.

All acid dyes, including Rit dye, will work best if they are set with moist heat. This can be obtained by dissolving the dye in hot water and immersing the fiber (in your case hair) in the dyebath at the recommended temperature, or by painting the wet dye on the fiber and then wrapping it up and steaming it. Typically, Rit dye should be used at a temperature of 185°F for sensitive fibers, such as silk. Using it at lower temperatures will result in less bonding of the dye to the fiber. You should include an acid, such as vinegar, when dyeing any protein fiber, such as hair or wool. The makers of Tintex all-purpose dye, which like all dyes labeled all-purpose, contains some acid dye, recommend adding 100 ml (7 tablespoons) of distilled white vinegar per gallon of water in the dyebath. For other dyes, use whatever form of acid is recommended in the recipes provided by the manufacturer; closely following their well-tested recipes will give you the best results.

Another option would be to make your all-purpose Rit dye more washfast by using a cationic aftertreatment, such as Retayne, which you can buy by mail-order. See "Commercial Dye Fixatives". In general I think it's better to use a more permanent dye, instead of using an aftertreatment, because the extra step is a bother, and these cationic dye fixatives tend to reduce the resistance of a dye to being faded by light. It is a real option, however, one which you might want to consider.

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Sunday, February 22, 2009

What is the difference between these all purpose dyes and synthetic indigo dye?

Name: Gifty

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Retayne

Retayne sets all-purpose dyes, such as Rit. It will not work on indigo denim.

A Handbook of
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Instant indigo is natural indigo processed by a new method from India. The indigo has been pre-reduced and then freeze--dried into a crystal. As long as you keep it dry, it will keep indefinitely. It is easy to use and gives deep, wonderful colors. It is suitable for all natural fibers and will also dye many synthetics such as nylon, tencel and rayon. In addition, it is very cost effective. Make sure to keep this dye in your freezer if you live in a humid climate.

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Message: What is the difference between these all purpose dyes and synthetic indigo dye? I know that the natural plant based indigo dyes are not used anymore. Can a rit blue denim dye be used interchangeably with synthetic indigo dye? Are they similar chemically? What are their differences? Can I refer to rit denim blue dye as indigo dye? What dyes are used for blue jeans/denim currently?

Natural indigo from plants is no longer used by the textile industry, but the same kind of dye from another source is still used industrially in huge amounts. Synthetic indigo is identical to natural indigo and is used to dye the blue warp threads that are woven with white weft threads to make the blue denim used in blue jeans. Natural indigo is still available to home dyers and is very popular among those who are expert at dyeing, but it is more difficult to use than other kinds of dye. Beginning dyers should use other kinds of dye. For more information about this class of dye, see "About Vat Dyes"; for more information on how indigo (whether synthetic or natural) is fixed to fibers, see "How do you fix indigo dye?".

"All-purpose" dye, such as Rit dye, is completely different. You should not refer to fabric you have dyed with Rit dye as indigo-dyed; doing so would be misleading, and possibly illegal if you are selling the garment, though you can describe the color of anything you like as being indigo blue. Indigo refers to a specific chemical, which is very different in both molecular structure and in how it attaches to the fiber. Unlike all other classes of dyes, vat dyes, including indigo, have a neutral charge. Other kinds of dye, including both the acid dyes and the direct dyes which are combined in the all-purpose dye mixture, as well as the fiber reactive dyes I recommend instead, have negative ionic charges. The biggest difference between these different types of dye lies in how they attach to your fiber. Indigo is held inside the fiber by being oxidized to a form which is not soluble in water; acid dyes are held to silk and wool (but not to cotton) by ionic bonds; direct dyes are attracted to cellulose by substantivity; and fiber reactive dyes form permanent covalent bonds to cellulose and other fibers. See "What kinds of chemical bonds attach dyes to fibers?".

All-purpose dye will dye many kinds of fiber, but most of them not very well. I do not recommend that you use all-purpose dye on cotton, because there are much better dyes available, which are easier to use correctly. The problem with all-purpose dye is that it does not bond very tightly to cotton, so it bleeds in the laundry every time you wash it, and the color fades away quickly. You can make it more permanent by using a cationic dye fixative, such as Retayne, but this product is difficult to find except by mail-order; if you're going to the trouble of mail-order, you should buy a higher quality dye, instead. See "Choosing the Right Dye for your Fiber".

Instead of either real indigo or all-purpose dye, if you are dyeing cotton, linen, hemp, or other natural fibers, I recommend that you use a completely different type of dye, which is called fiber reactive dye. There are several different types available, but all of them will last many times longer on your fabric before it fades. The brand that is available in the most different colors, and for the cheapest prices, is called Procion MX dye; it is fixed to the fabric at room temperature with soda ash or washing soda, so it is very easy to use. You can buy Procion MX dye by mail-order from suppliers such as Dharma Trading Company (the most economical source), as well as from art supply companies such as Blick Art Materials. You can also buy fiber reactive dyes in a good local crafts store. Look for Dylon Permanent dye, or Dylon Cold Water dye, or Tulip One Step Fashion Dye. In Europe and Australia, look for Dylon Machine dye, which is another brand of fiber reactive dye packaged for use in front-loading washing machines; it's not available in North America. Each of these dyes will last far longer on your fabric, through many more launderings, than all-purpose dye.

When you are sufficiently experienced with the easier-to-use dyes, you should then try dyeing with real indigo, if you're interested. Before getting started, please get a book that will tell you in detail how to manage the more complicated chemistry of the indigo dye bath. Indigo is a wonderful dye, but more challenging to use correctly than the fiber reactive dyes that are ideal for the complete novice at dyeing.

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Saturday, February 21, 2009

What colors can I dye my green Cordura nylon?

Name: Dean

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton or poly/rayon blends

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Washfast Acid dyes
at Paradise Fibers

Washfast Acid dyes
Also known as Nylomine dyes, excellent for use on nylon. One ounce of dye will dye six pounds of fiber!

Message: I need to dye some cordura nylon. It's green, I followed your instructions on how to do it properly. But my question is, what colors can I use to dye green what colors? i.e. red n green make brown and such. I'm not sure what colors I want just know I don't want greem. What are my choices, if you know? Thanks for all your time.

A fun way to explore color combinations is to use Olli Niemitalo's Dye Mixer Applet. Select one or two colors and adjust the slider bars until you have a close approximation of the color you have, then try adding other colors on another line. It's a great way to think about color mixing without the mess of actually doing it with dyes, so it can save you a lot of time.

As you already realize, the color you have already will show through any color of dye you use, because dye is transparent. You will not be able to get red, yellow, or blue by overdyeing something that is green. Green plus yellow makes a slightly yellower green. Green plus blue makes aqua. Green plus navy blue makes a greenish navy. Green plus a bright orange makes brown. Green plus red makes a brownish black. Green plus purple can make black, too, depending on the relative shades you start with. Black will be the easiest color other than green for you to obtain, by overdyeing with a lot of black dye, or with dark reds.

If you don't want black or brown, you might be able to remove some or all of the green in your cordura nylon by heating it with a dye removing chemical. Do not ever use chlorine bleach, which contains hypochlorite, on nylon, as it will be severely damaged. There are other dye removing chemicals that are safe to use with nylon, however. The easiest of these to obtain is called Rit Color Remover. It can be found in most grocery stores and pharmacies in the US, next to the packages of Rit dye. It is an excellent product, safer to use than household bleach. Use with care, following the instructions. Be sure to use good ventilation, and take particular care to avoid exposure to the fumes if you have asthma; you can use a face mask respirator with acid gas cartridges. (See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".)

The biggest problem in dyeing nylon is that sometimes the nylon is coated with a water-repellent finish, which will repel dye, preventing dyeing from working at all well. Even non-water-repellent nylon may contain oils or waxes from the spinning or weaving process which will interfere with dyeing; sometimes washing in hot water with detergent will remove them, but many times it will not. If you are lucky enough to have nylon which has no substances on it to interfere with dyeing, you can easily dye it by heating it with an acid dye. Dyeing nylon works best if you add some acid. The makers of Tintex all-purpose dye, which like all dyes labeled all-purpose, contains some acid dye, recommend adding 100 ml (7 tablespoons) of distilled white vinegar per gallon of water in the dyebath. Vinegar is of no use at all in dyeing cotton, but it is very useful in dyeing nylon.

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Friday, February 20, 2009

Can I do batik, then iron off the wax, then set the dye?

I have a question about batik and Procion H dyes. From what I have read,

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liquid Procion H dyes can be steam fixed in the microwave for tie dye. I find the regular steaming approach too complicated for doing batik. So I am trying the unconventional method of first soaking the silk in vinegar and water, let dry, do the batik, iron off the wax, then resoak in vinegar water and microwave in microwave container to steam. Is this very wrong?

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If you remove the wax before you've fixed your Procion H dyes properly, then the dye is likely to bleed from one section of the batik onto another before you fix the dyes. Even if this happens in only a small part of the design, it will completely ruin the effect.

If you don't want to steam-set your silk at all, you can use a different kind of dye. One excellent choice is Procion MX dye fixed with soda ash. This dye's reaction with the silk takes place at room temperature, if you use soda ash. You can mix up enough of each color to last you for a couple of weeks, but you will have to pour out just enough dye to use within an hour or so, because the dye's reactivity gets used up quickly once it touches the soda ash. This is true even if you presoak the fabric in soda ash and let it dry before painting, instead of adding the soda ash directly to the dye, because the tiny amounts of soda ash that are carried on your brush back to your open container will cause it to react.

After you have applied your Procion MX dye to the silk, with soda ash, keep it warm and moist overnight, then wash out the excess unreacted dye, first in cool water and then in very hot water. If you use soy wax (the type sold for making pillar candles) instead of paraffin and beeswax, you can even wash out the wax in hot water with plenty of detergent, instead of having to iron or boil the wax out. It is very easy to use Procion MX dye with soda ash to batik silk. It's exactly like tie-dyeing, with wax substituted for ties. You can buy a good tie-dye kit with Procion MX type dyes in local crafts stores. (Don't use all-purpose dye, such as Rit dye.)

Another option is to continue to use Procion H dyes, but fix them to the silk chemically after you have applied them, before you remove the wax, by using the high-pH chemical known as AfterFix, sold online by Dharma Trading Company, which is really sodium silicate. Allow your dye to dry, then paint on the Afterfix, cover with plastic wrap, and keep in a warm place for one hour, then wash out the AfterFix (don't let it dry on the silk). Do not use vinegar if you are going to use soda ash or AfterFix, because the acid in the vinegar will neutralize their pH and prevent them from working.

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[This answer was also posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on February 20, 2009.]

Thursday, February 19, 2009

how to dissolve fiber reactive dye

Name: Elisa

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Immersion Blender is an easy solution to problems with dissolving dye

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Message: Hi, this is a follow-up on my previous question I asked one day ago. I went ahead and used a 5-cup to one gallon ratio for the sodium carbonate decahydrate. Still haven't dyed yet, because I'm having a real hard time getting the fuchsia and turquoise to dissolve. I used 4 teaspoons (cooking teaspoons) per cup for fuchsia and 8 per cup for turquoise. I have read about the particle problem with fuchsia, and realize I may need to filter this, but I also have the same problem with the turquoise. They sure didn't dissolve in 20 minutes, or even 4 hours. I then diluted the dyes by adding equal volumes of tap water, making the ratio 2 teaspoons to one cup, I'm still trying to dissolve them. I wonder if our hard water is part of the problem.

Are you using Procion MX type dyes?

The best way to dissolve dye powder is to start by adding just a few drops of water to the dye powder. Mash and stir the water into the dye powder, adding a little more water as needed to make a smooth paste. This is called "pasting up" the dye.

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Extra jars save time in mixing dye with a blender

Do not use very hot water to dissolve fiber reactive dye. If you are dissolving acid dyes for wool or nylon, you can use boiling water, but boiling water can kill the reactivity of fiber reactive dye. Warmer water is easier to dissolve things in than colder water is, so use lukewarm water, between 75°F and 95°F, to dissolve your fiber reactive dye.

After you have pasted up the dye, add the rest of the water you are using to dissolve the dye. Some people prefer to use a blender, dedicated to dye mixing use only, or an immersion blender; both work very well. If you use an immersion blender, be sure that your dye containers are deep enough to avoid inconvenient splashing! I usually just mix my dye powder in a measuring cup with a spoon or a small stainless steel whisk, then let it rest for a few minutes, then mix again. Usually all but a few specks of the dye will be dissolved after a few minutes of stirring, with some resting time in the middle.

If your water is very hard, which means that it contains calcium, magnesium, or other minerals, it can make it more difficult to dissolve your dye. Using bottled water is good; alternatively, you can add a phosphate-containing water softener. Use whichever you find most convenient. The water softener you want to use contains the chemical sodium hexametaphosphate. The old unscented plain Calgon powder works fine, but, as far as I can tell, it is no longer available in store. Do not use the liquid Calgon, which contains polycarboxylates instead of phosphates, as it can interfere with dyeing. Any good dye supplier will be able to sell you sodium hexametaphoshate as a water softener. PRO Chemical & Dye calls theirs 'Metaphos', Dharma Trading Company calls theirs "Water Softener", and Jacquard Products calls theirs "Calgon T". It's a good idea, if you have hard water, to add a teaspoon of this product to each liter of water you use, even adding some to the washing machine when you wash out the excess unattached dye. Hard water can make the initial washing-out of the excess dye far more difficult. The unbound dye molecules can form dimers with the calcium ions, producing an extremely difficult-to-remove dye-mineral complex, which unfortunately is not nearly as permanent as the properly attached fiber reactive dye. There is always a lot of unreacted dye that must be washed out after dyeing, so hard water can be a real problem.

I usually use two to three teaspoons of dye powder per cup of water. It is more difficult to dissolve the larger amounts. Urea, which is used to keep the dye moist while it reacts with the fabric overnight, increases the solubilities of dyes a little, sometimes enough to make a difference. Add one tablespoon (15 ml) of clean white urea to each cup of soft water, or four tablespoons (60 ml) to each quart or liter of water, and use this mixture to dissolve your dye. (Urea itself is very easy to dissolve.)

Salt also makes it much more difficult to dissolve dye. If you are adding salt to your dye mixtures for any reason, be sure not to add it until you have added as much water to the dye as you are going to, and be careful not to use so much salt that your dye precipitates out, returning to the powder form at the bottom of your dye bottles.

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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

How much washing soda should I use for dyeing, as a substitute for soda ash?

Name: Elisa

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Message: I've searched and searched to find the answer to my question on your website, but no luck. I have purchased Procion MX dye, and finally got my hands on a good quantity of sodium carbonate decahydrate. I understand that I will need 2.7 times as much (as the anhydrous soldium carbonate) by weight, and that means 4.6 times as much by volume. That's clear, but your instructions say to use ONE HALF to ONE cup soda ash per gallon of water (for the solution that prepares the fiber to accept the dye) . That's quite a bit of variation! Should I just go with the one cup of soda ash recommendation per gallon? So then, because I have the hydrate form, may I use an even 5 cups of the decahydrate per gallon (let's call it 4 liters) of water, just to use nice whole numbers and make sure there is enough to keep the pH up enough? Or can I get away with, say 3 cups (close enough to 2.7)? I thank you for your help, my daughter is going to have the best fun with tie dye!

I'm afraid that that page of mine ("What is soda ash, and what's it for in dyeing?") is a little misleading, because it really does not matter that much exactly how much soda ash you use. Sodium carbonate is a wonderfully forgiving material for the purpose of setting the pH for a reaction with fiber reactive dyes; a wide range of concentrations will work just fine.

The usual amount of soda ash used in the presoak solution for tie-dyeing ranges from nine tablespoons per gallon (ProChem's recommendation) to one cup or sixteen tablespoons per gallon (Dharma's recommendation). ProChem says that nine tablespoons of their anhydrous soda ash is 80 grams; it's about 99% pure sodium carbonate.

Assuming that the ProChem sodium carbonate is 100% pure, their soda ash presoak works out to be 80 grams per 4 liters, or about 0.75 mole in 4 liters, or about 0.2 molar (the unit used by chemists to describe the concentration of a solution). Doug Wilson on the DyersLIST mailing list calculated that this concentration produces a pH of 11.7. What you need is a pH that, after further dilution of the sodium carbonate soak in the fabric by the water you mix with your dyes, will be around 10.5 to 11, so this is certainly sufficient. The Dharma recommendation, for one cup of sixteen tablespoon of soda ash per cup of presoak, contains almost twice as high a concentration of sodium carbonate, but it still works fine.

The wonderful thing about sodium carbonate is that it produces a close-enough pH over a wide range of concentrations. This is very unlike a strong base, such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which produces one full unit change in pH for every ten-fold increase or decrease in concentration. Given that a certain amount of sodium hydroxide will produce a pH of 11.7, using one-tenth as much will produce a pH of 10.7. If you use only one-tenth the amount of sodium carbonate that will produce a pH of 11.7, though, you will get a pH of 11.2, not nearly as big a difference.

This is because sodium carbonate is a weaker base, so not all of the sodium carbonate you add to water is present in its fully ionized form; some of it is in the ionized form, producing 2 Na⁺ ions and one CO₃^-- ion (which in turn reacts with water to produce OH^-), but some remains in the combined form as Na₂CO₃. If it is more dilute, a larger fraction of the sodium carbonate becomes ionized. In contrast, all of the sodium hydroxide you add is fully ionized, producing only Na+ and OH-, with no remaining NaOH still in combined form.

If the room in which your dye/fiber reaction is occurring is nice and warm, and the amount of dye sufficient, so that all the other reaction conditions are just right, then you can get by with a range of pHs, too. The optimum pH for the reaction of Procion MX dye with mercerized cotton is about 10.5 (see "What is the effect of pH in dyeing? What is the optimal pH?"). A pH that is a full pH unit down, however, at 9.5, will still work pretty well. Remember that, in the extreme case of a strong base such as sodium hydroxide, one pH unit expresses a ten-fold change in OH^- ion concentration. This means that if you use only one-tenth as much NaOH as you need, the reaction will still go. With sodium carbonate, since it's a weaker base, you can vary the concentration you use by even more for that same one-pH-unit change. So, even a small amount of sodium carbonate will probably still be sufficient to make the reaction work.

In conclusion, all of the concentrations that you mention of washing soda, or sodium carbonate decahydrate, will work. I would recommend using 200 grams of washing soda per gallon for the tie-dye presoak, but if you use twice as much, or half as much, it should work fine.

Good luck to your daughter. Tie-dyeing is a lot of fun.

By the way, since there is sometimes confusion on this matter, I must point out that we need to use sodium carbonate only with fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dyes or Remazol dyes. Soda ash and washing soda do not work at all with all-purpose dyes, such as Rit or Tintex dye. Whether or not we use sodium carbonate, all-purpose dye will bleed from one part of the tie-dye to another when it is first rinsed, and it will continue to bleed whenever it is washed, so that it fades very quickly, and ruins other laundry that it is washed with. Fiber reactive dye, when properly fixed with sodium carbonate, will last for years, and, after the unattached excess dye is washed out, is safe to wash with any color of laundry at any temperature.

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Do you know where I can send a couch slip cover to be dyed?

Name: Meredeth
Message: Do you know where I can send a couch slipcover to be dyed?

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Yes, I know of four redyers, three in the US and one in Canada. Use email or the telephone to agree on terms and prices, then mail your slipcover to the company. They will dye it and mail it back. Look on my page, "Where can I find someone to dye my clothing for me?", in the top section, labeled "Garment Redyers: changing the color of clothing you already have". Contact information is included there. You will need to tell the company you chose what the exact fiber content of your slip cover is, because it makes a hugh difference in how easily it may be dyed.

If your slipcover is made of a natural fiber, such as cotton or silk, it can most likely be redyed. If it is made of a polyester, however, only one of the companies listed will be willing to dye it. Most dyers are not interested in dyeing polyester. However, both nylon and rayon are both easily dyed.

There are some cases in which a slipcover cannot be dyed. If your slipcover has been treated with Scotchgard™ or other stain repellent, you will not be able to get it dyed, because stain repellent finishes repel both water and dye. If your slip cover is made from Olefin (also known as polypropylene or Herculon), it cannot be dyed, because polypropylene must be dyed while it is still in liquid form, before it is transformed into a fiber.

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Monday, February 16, 2009

I want to dye pearls

Name: Lawrence

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Light interference effects require special pigments, not dye.

Message: I want to dye pearls. I would like to be able to attain a large variety of colors, I would like the end result to be light fast or be able to obtain lightfastness with a subsequent over dying? In addition to that perhaps some light interference effects. I have looked at the internet pages referring to Rit and Jaquard dyes but I want something for dying several hundred kilos of pearls as well as can be done.

Light interference effects cannot be obtained with dye; instead, use a light interference pigment, such as Jacquard's Pearl Ex powders, mixed with an appropriate acrylic binder.

I think the best approach for obtaining true dye to color your pearls would be to contact your dye supplier and ask them for advice. Since you will be working on a large scale, you can contact a large textile dye supplier, such as Standard Dye (http://www.standarddyes.com/) or Organic Dyestuffs Corporation (http://www.organicdye.com/); these type of company will have minimum order sizes ranging from one pound to five kilos of dye powder, per color.

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You can dye pearls with acid dyes or food colorings

Your dye supplier should be able to supply you with advice on what dyes are best to use for your purposes, and with instructions for how to use them.

Fire Mountain Gems provides a tutorial on how to dye freshwater pearls intended for small-scale use; they recommend either all-purpose dyes or fiber reactive dyes. Instead of fixing the dye in place as you would for textiles, they recommend using a coating of artists' fixative to seal in the color.

Even food coloring, which is an acid dye that can be used on protein-containing materials, has been recommended for use in dyeing freshwater pearls, although you can expect other forms of acid dye to be more reliable. See the Blossomluxe tutorial, "Dye your own Freshwater Pearls". Be careful if you follow the recommendation to use vinegar in your pearl-dyeing bath; the acids often used with acid dyes, such as vinegar, will react with calcium carbonate, causing the pearl to dissolve, if the concentration of the acid or the length of time the pearls are exposed to the dyebath are sufficient.

In dyeing the eggs of birds, the substance to which the dye sticks is not the calcium carbonate mineral that is the predominant material in an egg shell, but instead the protein that is combined in small amounts with the mineral. Since acid dyes are the type of dye that works best on proteins, acid dyes, including food colorings, fiber reactive dyes used with vinegar, and all-purpose dyes which themselves contain acid dyes, are what work for dyeing eggs. Similarly, in dyeing pearls, the most permanent sort of dye will be an acid dye that binds to the proteins, conchiolin and perlucin, which serve as a matrix for the calcium carbonate crystals found in pearls.

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Sunday, February 15, 2009

What can be used for green dye?

What can be used for green dye?

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The easiest--to-use dyes you can use are the synthetic dyes. If you're dyeing cotton, buy some fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX or Remazol dye. This dye will be easier to apply than any other dye, because it can be applied at a warm room temperature and does not have to be cooked into the fabric or yarn. It will also last longer than any other type of dye, because it forms a permanent chemical bond to the cellulose in the cotton. It is so easy to use these synthetic dyes that even a beginner can get good results. Since there are very few dyes that are naturally green, you can buy a green mixture that contains both blue and yellow dyes, which produce green when used together, or you can mix your own different shades of green from any shade of blue plus yellow.

I get the impression that you're asking about natural dyes, though. There are many plants that will produce a very temporary green color on your fabric or yarn, if you mordant your fiber first by boiling it with alum—for cotton, mordant with alum, then with tannin, then with alum again—but none give very good permanent results. Those grass stains on the knees of your kids' pants only seem permanent when you're trying to wash them out; they quickly turn brown and fade, however. The green coloring in plants comes from chlorophyll, which quickly dulls to brown, so they're not much good as green dyes at all. What good is a dye color that doesn't last through two launderings?

The best way to produce a good green color with natural dyes is in a two-step process, dyeing with blue and yellow in two completely separate dyebaths. It does not work well to try to combine the two colors in one pot. The best plant-based blue is indigo; you can also buy the identical indigo chemical produced by synthetic means or from indigo-bearing plants. There are about fifty different plants around the world that produce the same indigo chemical; they have been independently discovered and used by a number of different cultures throughout history. The application of indigo is much more challenging than that of fiber reactive or direct dyes, require the creation of a low-oxygen dyebath. See "How to fix indigo dye", which was posted in the Dye Forum on September 23, 2008. You can also use logwood, with a copper mordant, for a darker, more subtle natural green dye; logwood is easier to apply than indigo, but rather expensive to buy, and impossible to grow in your own yard. J. N. Liles' book, The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing, includes recipes for all of these dyes, and also for less popular dyes such as Prussian Blue and Chrome Green.

For the second step, there are many different yellow plant-based dyes. (It is important to apply indigo before the yellow dye, since it is difficult to get a smooth blue using indigo on fabrics that have been mordanted for use with the yellow dye.) In fact, the vast majority of plant-based dyes produce yellow. Many, such as turmeric and saffron, are poorly lightfast, fading quickly if exposed to light at all. The best natural yellow dyes last longer; they include weld, quercitron, and fustic. See my blog entry from April 30, 2008, "How can I improve the lightfastness of turmeric dye?"

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

Where can I get cheap white scarves to tie dye?

My friend and I want to tie dye scarves.

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Where can I get inexpensive scarves that aren't made of polyester, so they'll be easy to dye? Do I have to sew them myself?

Don't try to make your own scarves. It's an unbelievable pain to get all the hems even, and it takes forever, when, if you know where to buy them, they cost only few dollars apiece.

Dyeable white scarves are very expensive when purchased locally, either that or they are made of non-dyeable synthetics. The crafts stores tend to sell polyester scarves that are no good at all for dyeing. Your best bet is to buy natural fiber scarves by mail-order. Don't worry if you don't have a credit card; you can order your scarves and mail in a check to pay for them.

You can order excellent dyeable scarves from Dharma Trading Company, or from SilkConnection.com, which is part of the same company as the dye suppliers, Jacquard Products. They have cotton scarves, rayon scarves, and all weights of silk scarves, from flat crepe silk to thick silk velvet. The cost ranges from 99 cents to $8 per scarf, depending on size and material. You can also order good Jacquard Products silk scarves from art supply stores such as Blick Art Materials, in the ad to the left on this page.

Silk, cotton, and rayon all dye up beautifully with any good tie-dye kit. Even silk satin tie-dyes wonderfully, in contrast to polyester satin. If you are ordering your scarves from Dharma, order your dyes there, too, as their prices and color selection are much better than you can find locally. Don't try to tie-dye with an all-purpose dye, such as Rit dye, because, since it's a hot water dye, it's a pain to use; worse, the dyes fade quickly and bleed badly in the laundry. If you want to buy your tie-dye kit locally, go to a good crafts store and look for a kit made by Dylon, Jacquard, Rainbow Rock, or Tulip. These kits all contain Procion MX dye, which can be used at room temperature, and, if you follow the instructions, will stay bright for years and won't bleed in the laundry at all (once you've washed out the unattached excess dye).

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[Portions of this answer were first posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on September 30, 2008.]

Friday, February 13, 2009

How Well Does Dyeing Clothes Black Work?

Hi, I bought a navy blue sweater yesterday and wanted to dye it deep black.

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Are there any ways of doing this so that the sweater will turn very black, so that the dye won't bleed in the wash or during usage and won't damage the sweater? It's made of95 % Cotton and 5 % Spandex. Thanks !!

If you use the right dye, you can dye your sweater a deep dark black that will last for years. The wrong dye will fade almost immediately, though, so buying the right dye is very important.

Don't buy all-purpose dye, such as Rit®. It is a hot water dye, but hot water will damage spandex. You should instead use a cold water dye. All-purpose dye also tends to fade very quickly, so it's an inferior dye even when your sweater is 100% cotton.

The dye you want to use is called fiber reactive dye. You will not be able to find this dye at the grocery store. If you have a good crafts store nearby, you can look there for Jacquard Procion MX dye, or Tulip One Step Fashion Dye, or Dylon Permanent Dye or Dylon Machine Dye. All of these dyes are excellent fiber reactive dyes. For much better prices and hundreds of color choices, order your dye by mail instead of trying to find it in a local store. In the US, order your dye from PRO Chemical & Dye or Dharma Trading Company. For other countries, see my page, Sources of Dyeing Supplies Around the World.

No matter what dye you buy, it takes a lot more dye to get a good deep dark black. Use two to four times as much dye as the packet recommends. Use a plastic bucket or the washing machine (if the sweater is machine washable), add salt and/or soda ash if required by the instructions on the package of dye, and stir constantly so that the color is even. If you do not use enough dye, you will get the wrong color, and if you do not stir enough, you will get blotchy or streaky results. Closely follow a good recipe for the dye you select.

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Thursday, February 12, 2009

I'd like to dye a fleece coat

Name: Liz

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Message: Hi, I'd like to dye a fleece coat. Is it exactly like dying any other polyester? (it's not dry clean) Many Thanks

There is one problem shared by many 100% polyester fleece coats. In order to keep the fleece fabric from letting water through, it is common to use a DWR (Durable Water Repellent) coating on the surface of the polyester.

A DWR coating is good for your comfort when wearing the coat, but it torpedos any chance you might have of dyeing the fabric successfully. Not only will it repel water, but it will also repel dye. The result of a DWR finish is fabric that will dye to a much paler color than desired, or it may produce unpredictable splotches of uneven color. You will not be able to completely remove a DWR finish.

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If your fleece coat is completely free of any water-resistant coating, you can dye it by boiling it with a special polyester dye in a very large non-aluminum pot, one that is large enough for the coat to move in freely as you boil and stir it. If the pot is too small, or if you do not stir enough, or if there is any sort of invisible dirt on the coat, then the dye will not take evenly, resulting in different shades of the same dye color on different regions of the coat. Another problem is that you should not plan on reusing the pot for cooking, because textile dyes are not tested to be food-safe. A cooking pot large enough for a coat to move in freely will be very expensive.

Ordinary dyes will not work on polyester fleece. The only type of dye that will work on polyester is disperse dye. I see from your email address that you are located in France. I don't know of a retail source for disperse dye in France; mail-order sources for disperse dyes in Europe include Kemtex Educational Supplies in the UK, and Zijdelings in the Netherlands. Fibrecrafts in the UK also carries Jacquard iDye and iDye Poly.

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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

How do you tie dye shoelaces?

Can you use regular dye to tie-dye shoelaces?

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To easily dye shoelaces any color, you will need to buy 100% cotton shoelaces. These are generally not available in local stores, but you can buy them by mail-order from Dharma Trading Company. Use a good fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, Tulip One Step Fashion Dye, Dylon Permanent Dye, or any good tie-dye kit (not all-purpose dye, such as Rit). Any good tie-dye dye can be easily used at room temperature, with no need for the boiling hot water that all-purpose dyes require. You can tie the shoelaces if you want parts to remain white, or you can just lay them out flat and squirt or paint the dye on. For bright, non-muddy colors, be careful about color placement. If you place red next to green, or orange next to blue, or yellow next to purple, the colors will run together and make brown.

You can also use all-purpose dyes, such as Rit dye, for coloring 100% cotton shoelaces a single solid color. All-purpose dye works best when the material to be dyed is simmered for half an hour at 190°F with the dye. It will not last nearly as long as a good fiber reactive dye, and it does not work as well for multiple colors, since all-purpose dye tends to run when wet.

Most of the shoelaces you can buy in stores are made of synthetic fibers that won't take any ordinary dye. Usually they are not even labeled as to their fiber content; if your package does not say 100% cotton, you can assume that your shoelaces are 100% synthetic fibers, which are more difficult to dye.

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The only dye you can use to dye polyester shoelaces is disperse dye, which you can't buy locally. All-purpose dye, such as Rit, will not work on polyester shoelaces, and neither will the fiber reactive dyes found in good tie-dye kits. You can mail-order disperse dyes as "Prosperse" dye from PRO Chemical & Dye or "iDye Poly" from Blick Art Materials. To use them, you have to boil the laces in the dye for half an hour or longer. Nylon shoelaces are easier to dye, as they can be dyed by boiling them with acid dye, or with all-purpose dye since it also contains acid dye, but they also will not take the dye from a tie-dye kit, unless you can substitute an acid, such as vinegar, for the soda ash (impossible for those kits that have the soda ash already mixed in with the dye powder).

Alternatively, to permanently color synthetic-fiber shoelaces, you can buy Fabric Transfer Crayons, which contain disperse dyes instead of the wax found in ordinary crayons. Use the Disperse dye crayons to color your designs onto paper, and then use a hot iron to transfer the design to the synthetic fiber. This will not work on natural fibers, but works great on polyester, acetate, nylon, and even acrylic. (Be careful not to melt the plastic aglets at the end of the shoelaces!)

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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

How do I fix a dye job that has gone bad?

Name: Alice
Message: How do I fix a dye job that has gone bad. I dyed a 100% cotton garment with Rit and got the color I wanted, but after washing the garment once the color changed. Can I redye this garment and if so, what steps should I follow and what products should I use?

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Unfortunately, I get a lot of emails from people who have had bad experiences in dyeing with all-purpose dyes, such as Rit dye. The color often comes out to be different than expected, and the dye is not very wash-resistant at all.

First try washing the garment in the hottest water it can stand, and leave it soaking in the hot water for a while. This will remove a lot of your dye, because the dye molecules in all-purpose dye bind only very loosely to the fiber.

If soaking and washing in hot water are not adequate in removing your all-purpose dye, then you will want to try to remove the remaining dye chemically. See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?". There are two main approaches you can take on 100% cotton fabric. One is to use chlorine bleach in the washing machine, always being sure to add the water to the machine first, and diluting the bleach before it touches your clothing. Try one to two cups of household bleach (which contains hypochlorite) per top-loading washing machine load (use less for a front-loader). Bleach will be more effective, and more corrosive, in warm water than in cold water. Of course, when removing dyes, the last thing you want is "color safe" oxygen bleach, which will not work.

If you want to be kinder to your clothing, you will want to avoid the use of chlorine bleach, which can be damaging. The easiest alternative to find is Rit Color Remover, which you should be able to buy in the same place that you bought your Rit Dye. Although I do not recommend the use of Rit all-purpose dye on cotton, I do strongly recommend the use of Rit Color Remover, which is an excellent product. Although it works best when heated on the stovetop, Rit Color Remover is much easier to use in the washing machine, so I would encourage you to try that, instead. Use the hottest water possible, for maximum effectiveness, and use several packages per washing machine load. If you have asthma, take care to avoid breathing any fumes from Rit Color Remover and similar products.

Once you have removed the all-purpose dye to your satisfaction, you will want to get a higher-quality dye to repeat your dyeing the right way. I do not advise the use of all-purpose dye on cotton. You will get much better results using fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. You will not be able to buy this dye in the grocery store, but you can find it at a good crafts store, and often in sewing stores, as well. Look for Dylon Permanent Dye, Tulip One Step Fashion Dye, or, if you're in Europe or Australia, Dylon Machine Dye. You can get much better prices and a vastly wider choice of colors if you mail-order your dye, instead, from dye suppliers such as PRO Chemical & Dye, Dharma Trading Company, or Aljo Mfg. See "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".

Fiber reactive dyes are better for cotton in every way. They will last a hundred times longer, in spite of frequent laundering, and they are much easier to apply, too. Unlike all-purpose dye, fiber reactive dyes can be used at room temperature, 70°F and above, so you don't have to boil your garment in the dye (which is how to get the best results possible with Rit dye). If you want a single solid color, you can dye your garment in the washing machine with salt and soda ash, or you can use a five-gallon bucket and stir the garment in the dyebath (the washing machine is easier, though it requires more dye powder). See "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?".

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Monday, February 09, 2009

Dyeing a polyester/mylar/acetate dress with PROsperse disperse dye

Name: Aimee
Message: Hi Paula,
The dress I want to dye has TWO layers: a solid Acetate underlayer and a Polyester lace overlay with a silvery mylar design woven into it. I'm considering using PROsperse dye. (1)Can you tell me if the mylar will have an undesirable reaction to the PROsperse dye? (2)Will the acetate and polyester layers, which are currently a light rosey beige, likely match after being dyed with PROsperse? (3)I imagine the mylar would remain silvery/metallic. Is this likely, or might it end up metallic with same tint as dye or lose it's metallic-ness altogether? (This is actually my wedding dress from 2007. I want to dye it a vivid color so I can get more use out of it)

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Stainless Steel 10 Gallon Stock Pot with Lid

This is a very interesting question. My first thought was that the mylar might melt when boiled, but in fact mylar is a type of polyester, so that should not be a problem; the melting point is 254°C (489°F). Since mylar is polyester film, it should take the dye about the same as the polyester lace overlay. I think that it will retain its metallic sheen, though to a duller extend since sone wavelengths of light will now be absorbed by the dye, so not as much light will be reflecting back at you.

Unfortunately, what we've observed in many cases is that a premixed dye color, containing two or more dyes of different colors, will produce a different hue on one fiber than another. This is because one of the colors in a mixture may work better on one fiber, while another works better on the other fiber, creating an imbalance in color. Just as silk produces a different color than cotton does when colored with the same dye, under the same conditions, we can expect acetate to produce a different color than polyester does; for example, if you use a turquoise dye mixture, it might come out green on the acetate, or the other way around. The only way to be sure that different fibers will produce pretty much the same hue is to use an unmixed, single-hue dye. This may or may not be available in the color you want, but since there are several possibilities, you'll probably be able to find one you like. With an unmixed single-hue dye, one fiber may take the color more or less intensely than another fiber does, but the hue will be a reasonably close match.

Some dye suppliers refuse to let you know what the dyes they sell are, keeping the Colour Index generic names for each dye a secret. One of the many things we like about PRO Chemical & Dye is that they are willing to share this information. The disperse dyes that have a Colour Index name are single-hue unmixed colors, and therefore the most likely to be suitable for dyeing your different fibers. You can see a list of PROsperse Disperse Dyes on my page about disperse dyes, but I recommend that you then also call ProChem and ask them specifically whether the dye you have in mind is a mixture. This is because, over time, sometimes a pure dye color becomes unavailable from the manufacturers, so that retailers such as ProChem are forced to replace them with approximations mixed in-house from other dye colors. It's always best to call to make sure that this has not been the case for the dye you have in mind.

Another issue is whether the different fabrics in the dress are starting out the same color. Since dye is transparent, the ultimate color will include whatever the original color was. Chances are that the different colors on one dress will continue to blend well after they have been overdyed, but it may be difficult to predict exactly what colors you will see.

Also,
(4)will natural cotton fiber or synthetic nylon take the PROsperse dye? If so, I thought I might throw in a few random small items with the dress.

Nylon will take disperse dye, but cotton will not. The disperse dye may stain the cotton, but it should be mostly gone after a couple of washings. It will, however, dye the thread at the seams, since most cotton garments are sewn together with polyester thread. I recommend that you attempt to dye only materials made of synthetic fibers with your ProSperse disperse dye, including nylon, polyester, acetate, and acrylic.

I'd love to see you try this, because I'm very interested in what the mylar will do when you dye it, and whether or not my predictions hold true. However, I must point out that the most difficult pat of this procedure will be the boiling. You absolutely cannot use disperse dyes in the washing machine, because temperatures below a full boil will not work with disperse dye. You will need to have a very large non-aluminum cooking pot, large enough that your dress can move freely as you boil it with the dye. For a smooth solid color, you will need to stir the dyebath frequently. If the pot is too small, or if you do not stir frequently enough, or if there is any invisible substance that is on only part of the dress, then you will end up with a splotchy or even tie-dyed look, which is good if that's what you're going for, but very disappointing if you really want a single smooth solid color.

Disperse dyes work best on polyester when used with a somewhat toxic carrier chemical, the Dye Carrier NSC, which is reported to have an unpleasant smell, and it is important to have good ventilation as you use it, with fans in fully-open windows blowing outward and a fan in another fully-open window blowing inward. You can use disperse dye by boiling it without the carrier chemical, but the color produced on polyester will be significantly lighter. Both nylon and acetate will take disperse dyes well without the carrier chemical, so they are likely to produce darker colors than the polyester will, though the hue should be a close enough match for the different colors to look good together.

Please examine ProChem's direction for dyeing with their disperse dyes, to make sure that you are ready to do it right. You will need to have another large cooking pot ready with water heated to 180°F in order to rinse the the Dye Carrier NSC from the fabric immediately after you finish the dyeing part of the process.

If you do dye your dress, please let me know how it goes! I hope that your dress is not too fragile for the rather rigorous treatment required in order to dye polyester.

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Sunday, February 08, 2009

Procion MX Clothing Dye On Metal?

Will Procion MX clothing dye color metal? I have a nice trench coat that

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I want to redye, and it has a lot of eyelets, D-rings, etc. I intend to use Jet Black Procion MX dye. Will the Procion MX dye stain or affect stainless steel? Thanks!

Stainless steel will be completely unaffected by Procion MX dyes. It will look fine afterwards. In contrast, aluminum metal will react with the soda ash (not with the dye itself), and will turn dark.

You might want to know that the stitching that holds the coat together, and any decorative topstitching, is almost certainly made of polyester thread, which, like the stainless steel, will stay whatever color it was before dyeing. Only natural fibers, such as cotton, rayon, or bamboo, will take the dye.

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[Portions of this answer were first posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on October 6, 2008.]

Saturday, February 07, 2009

How can I make my own hand-dyed ribbon?

Name: Dawn

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Message: I am interested in trying to dye my own ribbon. I make and sell hand made one of a kind jewelry. With all of the beautiful colors out and I am seeing a lot of hand dyed ribbon---I would like to try it. Could you please instruct me on how to go about doing this or tell me where I can find some info on dying ribbons Thank you....Dawn

There are a lot of ways that you can color your own ribbon. Your three main choices are dyes, fabric paints, and markers.

Markers are the easiest choice if you are coloring just a short length of ribbon. Don't use regular markers intended for use on paper, unless the ribbon will never be washed. Permanent markers such as Sharpie pens will work, but they will wash out more quickly than fabric markers.

Fabric markers are the best kind of markers to use. Check the label to see if they need to be heat-set; heat-setting is easy (just iron as directed), but it's important not to skip this step if it's called for. A couple of good brands are Marvy Uchida Broad Tip Markers and Jacquard Products' Tee Juice Markers. Anything specifically labeled as a fabric marker will be fine, but the Tee Juice markers have an added advantage of having a squeezable barrel, so you can get a lot of the fabric paint in the marker onto the fabric quickly, if you like, and the colors can be blended together.

Fabric paints will work well, too. You'll want to use a transparent fabric paint, such as Dye-na-Flow or Setacolor. Again, check the label to see whether you need to heat-set after the paint is dry. You can dip the ribbon in the paint, paint it on, spray it on with a hand-pump sprayer, apply it with sponges, paint the fabric paint onto small stamps and stamp them on them——whatever you want to try. Don't forget the possibilities provided by metallic and pearlescent fabric paints, such as Lumiere. The metallics look wonderful on top of fabric dyes or other fabric paints.

For large quantities, or for anything that will be subject to a lot of wear, a true dye is a better choice. In this case, you need to be certain of the fiber content of your ribbon. Silk ribbon can be dyed with acid dyes, also known as silk dyes, which must be steamed to heat-set them, or with the easy-to-use cool water fiber reactive dyes that are used on cotton, such as Procion MX dyes. You can use any good tie-dye kit for this purpose, if you like, or you can buy Procion dye plus soda ash and urea and mix your colors for yourself; this is the most economical option for large quantities. Rayon ribbon dyes beautifully with Procion MX dyes, but acetate, also known as rayon acetate, does not. Nylon ribbon can be dyed with acid dyes, which must be heat set by steaming. Polyester ribbon is the most difficult of all to dye, and probably best colored with a fabric paint instead of a true dye; you can also use Fabric Transfer Crayons to color designs on paper, and then transfer them to synthetic fibers such as polyester or acetate by pressing with a hot iron.

A product that is between a true dye and a fabric paint is ColorHue Instant-set Silk Dye, sold by Things Japanese. (Please tell them that I sent you.) This brand is colored with true dyes, but they are bound to the fabric more like a fabric paint. It's a good choice when you do not want your colors to run and blend together. It works best on silk and should not be used on synthetic-fiber ribbons such as polyester. Like fabric paint, this form of dye is very convenient to apply, since no auxiliary chemicals are needed; no heat setting is required.

If you are dyeing large quantities of ribbon, the question of how you will manage the ribbon to keep it from tangling is important to think about. You will need to wind up your ribbon into skeins, so that the dye or paint can easily reach every bit of the ribbon, and yet the ribbon does not tangle into a mess. See my April 12, 2008 blog entry, "How to dye silk ribbon to be variegated in color".

Be careful when buying "satin" ribbon, as it can be made of easily-dyeable silk, but it's more likely to be made of difficult-to-dye polyester. If you have difficulties finding natural-fiber ribbons, a source you can consider is Testfabrics, Inc.

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Friday, February 06, 2009

Is there some way to make my own superwash wool?

Name: E. May

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Message: First I would like to thank you for such a wonderful site. I often refer people to it when asked in forums about dyeing with kool-aid or why acrylic won't dye with kool-aid and what to use to dye acrylic.

You seem to know about the makeup of wool and chemical reactions. Is there some way to make my own superwash wool? I really want to try it but can't seem to find any information. I would really love to know this answer but understand if you can't find the time or don't know.

Superwash wool is created in a surprisingly toxic way. There are several different processes that can be used to make Superwash wool, but all of them start with its chlorination by caustic chlorine-based chemicals. I don't think it's a good idea to consider working at home with these chemicals, because they can cause burns and, under the conditions used, can easily produce deadly chlorine gas.

The hypochlorite often used to chlorinate Superwash wool is similar to the active ingredient in household bleach, but it is more dangerous because it is unstable under the acidic conditions used. The sodium hydroxide (caustic soda or lye) that is normally added to household bleach keeps the pH high so that chlorine gas will not be produced, which makes it safer to use. However, the high pH of sodium hydroxide would destroy wool. Wool is very sensitive to high pH and does best if kept at mildly to moderately acid conditions. This is why we never dye wool in the presence of soda ash, which is widely used to dye cotton; although wool takes, for example, Procion MX dyes very well when dyed with soda ash as the auxiliary chemical, the amount of damage is considerable, so it is preferable to dye wool using a mild acid, instead.

After the wool is chlorinated, it is washed and the chlorine is neutralized, after which a patented synthetic resin coating is applied, essentially gluing down the scales that would otherwise interact under the mechanical stress of washing to produce felting. I don't know of any source for this product for home or studio use.

It is surprising that, after all of the chemical changes produced in wool by the Superwash process, the wool remains very easy to dye. Superwash wool is an excellent material for dyeing at home with acid dyes. I have never heard of any harm whatsoever that might be done to anyone by Superwash wool, as compared to natural wool, and yet I suspect that it might be less popular if more people knew what the treatment entails. In some respects, it may not be entirely correct to refer to Superwash wool as a natural fiber.

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Thursday, February 05, 2009

Can I airbrush a dark gray wool overcoat with dye to make it purple, like the Joker's coat in Dark Knight?

Name: Janet Allen

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Neopaque is an opaque fabric paint, so white will cover a black background.

Message: My son is an actor and wants to have a PURPLE overcoat like the Joker in Dark Knight. I found a dark grey wool overcoat at a second-hand shop for only $5! So, if it gets ruined, we're not losing much, other than a nice coat. About 25 years ago I helped in a theatre department once and the costume designer used an airbrush to spray dye on costumes to get the look he wanted. Is there any way to do something like that to give this dark grey coat a purple/navy cast without actually having to submerge it?

To start with, since dye is transparent, there's no way any dye could turn a dark gray to any other color except black. Dye can turn things darker in color, but never lighter.

Even if the dark color were not a problem, airbrushing dye won't work as a means to avoid immersing the fabric, since dye must be rinsed thoroughly after application. Without washing after dyeing, excess dye will rub off onto the wearer, other clothing, and any furniture the coat happens to touch.

Although it might be possible to use a discharge chemical such as Formosul to lighten the color of wool, that would certainly require extensive immersion in hot water, just as you are trying to avoid.

What might work reasonably well would be airbrushing with fabric paint. This is something I would not recommend for an expensive wool coat, but your situation is perfect for experimenting. Unfortunately, most fabric paints won't cover a dark color any more than dye will. To get a fabric paint that will cover the original dark color, look for the word "opaque" on the label. A good brand is Jacquard Products' Neopaque fabric paint. You can dilute it with up to 25% as much water for airbrushing. Don't expect to get a perfectly smooth solid color with fabric paint, but you can certainly make the coat more purple in color. You'll probably need to blend purple with navy blue to get the color you want.

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Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Should I add salt when dyeing my computer mouse with all-purpose dye?

Name: Syreeta

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Message: Hello there.

I thought I would ask you before I try just in case it goes wrong. I know that "all-purpose" dyes have acid and direct dyes in them and it's the acid that does all the work. What my question is, is that I'll be using Dylon's Multi Purpose dye to try and dye a white plastic item (I'm based in the UK and unable to get hold of products like Krylon's special fusion paints). I read from an old link on one of Dylon's websites (Australian one I think) saying that you SHOULD NOT add salt if you're dyeing buttons (or any other item).

I've been to a modelmakers forum and a guy there said he dyed some plastic tyres for his model cars black and ADDED SALT (as well as used a method without a stovetop and pan, which he says will prevent some plastic items warping). What I want to know is what would happen if I ignored Dylon's warning and added the salt and tried dyeing my item the way the guy on the forums did it? Would the salt actually improve the final result or make it worse? just to let you know, the item will be a computer mouse (just the casing of course), as I can't buy the colour I want and skins don't exist.

Please let me know your thoughts on this. Thanks in advance!

Adding salt is done when you dissolve the dye in a relatively large amount of water, so that the electronegativity of the dye molecules and the fiber molecules doesn't make them repel each other. The salt will not help to fix the dye, but it helps dye to get where it needs to go. There is no reason for you to add salt to your dyebath; there is already salt in the Dylon Multi Purpose dye. I don't think it will make any significant difference if you add more salt, though, unless your dye is concentrated enough that the salt causes it to come out of solution. Salt reduces the solubility of dye. In some cases adding too much salt will make the dye color more mottled, less smooth in color.

What you might want to do is add some plain distilled white vinegar. Vinegar is an acid, and acid dyes work best in the presence of an acid. (The dyes themselves are not acids.) This will help only if you are dyeing nylon, however (or a protein-based textile fiber such as wool). It will not make any difference for most plastics other than nylon.

I hope that you can get another computer mouse to use if your first experiment does not work out. It really helps if you have an inexpensive source of parts. If you have a broken mouse on hand, you could try running tests on it before you dye your good mouse.

In general you will get darker, more intensely colored results if you heat your item in the dyebath to a simmer (87°C), but of course there is the risk that you will warp the plastic if you do. I can't predict whether you will get good results without heat, or even with heat, since I don't know exactly what plastic it is that you will be dyeing. Hot water will work better than cold water, but many plastics will not accept any dye at all. It looks like the plastic a computer mouse is made of is most likely ABS plastic (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene). You might be able to get some multi-purpose dye to soak into this material, depending on the color you want; we won't know until you try. I doubt that you will be able to get anything darker than a pastel color, at best.

I think that you will get better results if you use a product called vinyl dye. You can buy vinyl dye in the UK by mail-ordering it from a company called US Automotive. I don't know anything about this company, not having ordered from them myself, but the vinyl dye that they sell will probably give you the best results, if your mouse is made of a plastic other than nylon. Apply multiple thin coats if necessary to get the desired color; don't apply a thick coat. Vinyl dye is somewhere between a dye and a paint in the way that it soaks into the plastic only partially. Even better, I found a UK source for Krylon Fusion paint. This would probably be the best choice for recoloring your computer mouse.

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Tuesday, February 03, 2009

What is the chemistry of dye fix for fiber reactive dyes?

Name: Saleem

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Retayne

Retayne sets all-purpose dyes, such as Rit. It will not work on indigo denim.

Rit Dye Fixative

Rit Dye Fixative is very similar to Retayne.

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Sodium Hydroxide
also known as caustic soda or lye

Message: Hi sir or madam I want a what chemistry of dye fix of reactive dyeing I mean fixnol how I make what chemical use fixnol.

I do not understand your question. What is fixnol? I have never heard of it, and there is nothing to be found using that word in a Google web search. Is it a high-pH chemical like sodium silicate, or is it something else? Are you spelling the word correctly?

Formaldehyde-free Fixing Agent B-508 the name of chemical but I want self made if you have any idea what chemical use this chemical if not where I learn then I made this dye fix.

Fixing Agent B-508 appears to be a cationic dye fixative. See "Commercial Dye Fixatives". American hand-dyers buy this type of chemical under the name Retayne, and British hand-dyers under the name Fixitol P, but there are many different formulas used in the textile industry.

I don't believe that it will be possible for you to make this product yourself, but you might be able to find another cationic dye fixative under a different brand name from another supplier. (Be careful to check whether or not they contain formaldehyde.) Alternatively, you may be able to do without it altogether, since the whole point of fiber reactive dyes is that they can bond to textile fibers without any need for this type of reagent.

Fiber reactive dyes are fixed to natural fibers, such as cotton, by allowing them to react with the fiber in the presence of a high-pH chemical, such as sodium carbonate (soda ash) or sodium hydroxide (caustic soda). The temperature at which the reaction takes place is critical, and varies according to exactly which fiber reactive dye you are using. Some fiber reactive dyes work well at a room temperature of 21°C (70°F), while others require 60°C (140°F) or even higher. You must find out what the temperature and pH requirements are for the class of fiber reactive dyes you are using. See "About Fiber Reactive Dyes". Salt may also be required, depending on the ratio of dye to water; high ratios of water require salt in order to help the dye leave the water solution and get into the fiber, where it can react.

The way that cellulose reacts with most fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dye or Drimarene K dye, is shown in a drawing in the May 19, 2005 posting in this blog, "Chemical reaction for a dichlorotriazine dye with cellulose". The high-pH chemical activates the cellulose molecule which can then attack the fiber reactive dye molecule, resulting in nucleophilic substitution.

After dyeing, whether you perform it in a continuous or batchwise process, excess unattached dye must be washed out. Boiling water is often used for this purpose; cooler water is less efficient. For some dyes an initial rinsing with cool water, before the hot-water washout, is important, to remove the auxiliary chemicals and the associated high pH. Some dyes (such as Procion MX dyes) become more difficult to wash out if the initial washout is done in hot water, while others (including Remazol dyes) may be stripped if washed under hot alkaline conditions, so it's important to remove the auxiliary chemicals before subjecting these dyes to hot water.

Cationic dye fixatives are not required at all in order to fix fiber reactive dyes to textile fibers, if the temperature and auxiliary chemicals such as salt and soda ash are correct. However, they can be used either to make up for deficiencies in the dyeing setup, or to make up for inadequate washout.

The way that cationic dye fixatives work is that the molecules in the fixative have a positive charge. In contrast, the molecules of most dyes, including all fiber reactive dyes, and all cellulosic fibers, such as cotton, have negative charges. The dye which is located adjacent to the fiber, but which has not bonded to it properly as fiber reactive dyes can, can be glued in place to the fiber by the addition of a cationic dye fixative.

There are drawbacks to the use of cationic dye fixatives. Foremost among them is the loss of lightfastness which is generally seen after treatment with cationic dye fixatives. A dye that has been fixed in place with a cationic dye fixative becomes less resistant to the fading effect of the sun and other sources of light. Another drawback is that many of these fixatives contain the known carcinogen formaldehyde, though this is not a problem with your formaldehyde-free formula. A third drawback, obviously, is your difficulty in finding an economical source for this product.

Proper fixing of fiber reactive dyes makes it unnecessary to use a cationic dye fixative. The chemical bond between a properly fixed fiber reactive dye and a cellulose fiber is extremely strong, stronger than any cationic dye fixative. The use of the cationic dye fixative is important with poorly washfast dyes such as direct dyes, but in the case of fiber reactive dyes it is used only when it is impractical to use a proper chemical reaction between the dye and the fiber, or when water and energy supplies make it necessary to skip some of the washing-out steps.

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Monday, February 02, 2009

How do I make a tie dye mushroom pattern?

How do I make a tie dye mushroom pattern?

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Fold your shirt in half vertically, then use an ordinary pencil or a child's washable marker to draw half of the mushroom on your shirt, with the center at the fold.

Next start pleating (making small accordian folds) along the line, starting at one end where it crosses the center fold. Keep following the line as it curves along, continuing to make small folds, until you get to the other end, where the line again crosses the center fold line. Use artificial sinew or other strong waxed fine string to tie as tightly as you can on the line.

Apply one color of dye inside the tie, and another outside. If you wish, you can dribble another color right along the tied line itself. Do not use a hot water dye such as Rit for this sort of tie dye. You must use the kind of cool water dye that's in any good tie-dye kit. You cannot buy good dye at the grocery store, but you can buy a good tie-dye kit at any crafts store, and sometimes even at Walmart or Target. Look for a kit made by Jacquard, Dylon, Rainbow Rock, or Tulip. Follow the instructions in the kit carefully.

The technique is the same as the one used for tie-dyeing a heart shape. See the Tie Dye Wiki for a tutorial with good photographs on how to dye a heart shape. Also see Mushroom tie for tie-dyeing on the Dye Forum.

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Sunday, February 01, 2009

Does anyone ever use liquid form procion H dyes for batiking?

Name: Janine

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Message: Does anyone ever use liquid form procion H dyes for batiking? I tried it but found it very watery and hard to brush on over the wax to get between the wax onto the fine silk. Can I first do tie-dye with the procion H and then the MX after with batik?

Procion H dyes can be as intense and brilliant as Procion MX dyes. They are very similar, chemically, to the Procion MX dyes, which will probably give you the same problem in painting them on, since they, too, are mixed up in water.

However, unlike Procion MX dyes, Procion H dyes are not used for room temperature batik, unless you steam them afterwards, because they are hot water dyes; the much greater heat in the dyebath required to set the dyes will melt the wax. This is not a problem with steam-setting, since the dye can be set at the same time that the wax is melted onto the unprinted newsprint used to wrap the silk for steaming.

If your Procion H dyes are producing pale colors, this may be caused by not steam-setting them, or it may be caused by using too little dye powder or liquid dye concentrate, when mixing up the dye paint to apply to the batik.

If you don't like the thinness of your dyes, you can make thicker dye paints by adding sodium alginate or another thickener.

You can redye your fabric several times, depending on the thickness of the fabric. A thick sturdy silk, as thick as the cotton in a t-shirt, say, will take five or more distinct layers of dye and show a difference each time, but a very fine, sheer silk can be dyed only once or twice, after which all of the dye receptor sites are used up, and no more color can be added. Procion H and Procion MX dyes are so similar, chemically, that they probably use the very same dye sites. Acid dyes use different dye sites.

I don't think I can give you further advice without asking you more questions. Which Procion H dyes are you using: are you buying them from G&S Dyes in Toronto, from PRO Chemical & Dye, from a reseller of Jacquard Products such as Dharma Trading Company, or from a European or Asian source? The auxiliary ingredients included in some of these will make a difference.

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