Archives for January, 2014

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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

How would I dye the white parts of a red and white shemagh and not affect the red?

Name: Gene

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Country or region: USA

Message: I have a red and white shemagh. Can I dye the "white" of the shemagh to "Desert Tan" and leave the bright red? How would I dye the white and not affect the red?

Red is a particularly intense color (since a pale red is merely pink). If you dye your red and white cotton scarf a pale tan color, the red parts will still be red even after having tan added to them. Overdyeing with tan makes colors less brilliant, but even at a slightly less brilliant shade, your red will still be red. Obviously you should go for the palest tan that you will find satisfactory, so as to change the brightness of the red as little as possible.

Alternatively, you can add a thickener to your dye, if you use a good fiber reactive dye such as Procion, stretch your scarf out over a frame made of wood or plastic, and carefully paint dye onto just the white parts of the scarf, using soda ash in the dye or as a presoak in order to fix the dye. (You cannot use all-purpose dyes, such as Rit, for the painting method, because they run so badly that you end up with dyeing the whole piece anyway.) This painting method would avoid dulling the brightness of the red even a little, but it would be a huge amount of work.

You can buy a fiber reactive dye in some fabric or craft stores--look for Jacquard Procion dye, or Dylon Permanent dye--or you can order the dye online. Dylon Permanent dye contains the fixative already mixed in with the packet of dye. If you buy Jacquard Procion dye, you will need to get some sodium carbonate, which is sold as soda ash by dye suppliers, and is also available as washing soda in most grocery stores.

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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The purple liquid dye came out navy blue on wool, magenta on linen and cotton and a true purple (like the bottle) on the silk

Name: Aaren

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Country or region: USA

Message: Hello! My daughter did an experiment for school and she still is not convinced she understands why her all purpose Rit dye came out so differently on her swatches of cotton, silk, linen and wool. The basic purple liquid dye came out navy blue on wool, magenta on linen and cotton and a true purple (like the bottle) on the silk. Should she detail the chemistry of the fabric to explain it or is there something a little simpler she can tell her class that explains the varying results? She followed the directions exactly as it said to do for the different fabrics according to the bottle's instructions (water temperature, stirring time, etc.)
Thank you! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The dye on your daughter's wool is a completely different dye than that which is on her cotton and linen! The dye on the silk is a mixture of the two.

Rit all-purpose dye is a mixture of two unrelated dyes. Neither is a long-lasting dye, as both tend to bleed in the laundry, but they are inexpensive for the manufacturer to use.

One of the two types of dye in Rit all-purpose dye is a type of dye called acid dye, which sticks to protein fibers but not to cellulose fibers. That means it sticks to wool and silk, which are both animal fibers, made from proteins, but not to cotton or linen, which are plant fibers, composed of a carbohydrate called cellulose. The acid dye in the Rit dye mixture washed out of the cotton and linen but attached to the wool and to the silk.

The other dye in Rit is a type of dye called direct dye, which (rather loosely) sticks to cellulose fibers and to some proteins. As you can see, the direct dye in this particular color happens to stick to silk pretty well, but not much to wool. Direct dyes often attach well to protein fibers, but generally better to silk than to wool. The direct dye in the Rit dye mixture washed out of the wool but not out of the silk or the linen.

From your description, it seems as though the two dyes in this particular Rit dye mixture are not very well matched for color. It seems that the acid dye is a navy blue, while the direct dye is a magenta color. Of course, mixing blue with magenta results in purple. A particular dye may produce a slightly different color on one fiber that it does on another, if it is able to bond to both fibers, but in this case the difference in coloration on the different fibers is great enough that it may be that the different dyes in the mixture are not quite the same color as one another.

For more information, see the following pages on my website:

"What kinds of chemical bonds attach dyes to fibers?"

"All Purpose Dyes"

"Acid Dyes"

"About Direct Dyes"

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Saturday, January 18, 2014

Tthe dye bled right through the resist lines. Is there any way I can work with the 30mm weight and be more sure about my end product?

Name: Heather

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Country or region: North Carolina, US

Message: Please help! I started a silk painting project on 30mm crepe de chine silk and put in a lot of hours with all the resist lines (I applied the resist to both sides of the fabric). I am using the Pebeo Water-based Metallic Gutta from the tube. (I want to have the metallic lines on the fabric permanently.) I pushed the tip of the resist tube into the fabric. I know I could have had the fabric pulled tighter – as a beginner I didn’t know how important the stretching was and did not want to damage the fabric.

I waited a few days, ironed the fabric to set the gutta. Then, when I painted (using Dupont dyes), there were large areas where the dye bled right through the resist lines, into the other colors on the other side. I felt so helpless and frustrated!

I need to start over, I am pretty sure. This project means a lot to me and has been years in the making, and I want it to be right. Also, it is a big project – two panels that are 22”x72” each. I *love* the weight and feel of the 30mm crepe de chine. I do NOT like the transparency of the lighter weight silks (especially 12mm crepe de chine). Is there any way I can work with the 30mm weight and be more sure about my end product? Would wax be what I need?

If waxing is the way to go - should I choose emulsified wax, resistad, hot wax (electric tjanting necessary?), or cold wax? Not entirely sure what the differences are in these methods. I want something that is relatively easy to use, with little risk and great results. Should not cost a fortune or be too toxic.

Also, using the Dupont dyes, if I use wax, would I just steam the pieces to remove the wax, or would I need to iron between newsprint before steaming?

I know this is a long message - I appreciate your time and help very much.
Thanks!
Heather

Hi Heather,

First what you need to do is get a number of scrap pieces of the 30 momme weight crepe de chine you like; perhaps you have some large scraps left from your first try, but if not, you should buy some fabric just for testing purposes. It is expensive, but there is no alternative. You will need to do a number of small-scale tests before you begin again on your large project. 30mm is an extraordinarily heavy weight for crepe de chine, at five and a half ounces per square yard; I don't know of any pre-made scarves of this weight.

How do you plan to stretch the large panels when you begin work on them again? I've used the wooden bars painters buy to stretch canvases on, selected to be considerably larger than the piece; I used rubber bands attached to plastic-coated clips to stretch the silk within the frame. I've also used a plastic stretcher bar system, Arty's Easy Fix, along with an extension for larger sizes, which is sold by silk painting suppliers including PRO Chemical & Dye and Dharma Trading Company, and find it to be a wonderful convenience. For quickly stretching very small pieces, you can use an embroiderer's hoop, which might be a handy way for you to stretch your test pieces. Blick Art Materials sells an inexpensive wooden stretcher frame for silk painting, but it is too small for your project.

With experimentation you may very well find that same brand of water-based gutta to work better for you, once you have the fabric stretched more tightly than before, but I would want to experiment with only the simplest of loop designs in order to very quickly see whether or not it is working. Many people do find that type of gutta substitute to work, but generally on much thinner silk. Perhaps it is not as suitable for a 30 momme weight silk.

By the way, I call that water-based gutta a "gutta substitute" because it is actually not gutta, but rather a type of fabric paint; real gutta is a sort of rubber that is dissolved in organic solvents, which are hazardous to breathe. Real gutta will work better as a dam than water-based gutta to prevent dyes from running, and may be the best choice, if its properties agree with what you want (and if you can arrange for excellent cross-ventilation and/or a proper respirator for organic solvents). If you buy real gutta with metallic dust added to it it, you will have to avoid ever dry-cleaning the piece, because the metallic rubber would be removed by the dry cleaning solvents, leaving you with white lines instead of the metallic effect.

There are many different water-based gutta substitutes. Dharma alone sells Pebeo, Sennelier, Silkpaint!, Jacquard, and Dupont water-based guttas. There are so many because they vary in how well they work for different artists and different projects. Ideally, you should buy one small container of each of several water-based guttas, as well as one of real gutta, and test them to see which you like the best. By holding your test piece up to the light, look carefully to see that there is not the slightest break in any of your lines, heat-set if required, and test with dyes, just as you used them before. Be careful not to apply too much of the liquid dye at one time, because too large a quantity of liquid may overwhelm lines that would do fine at resisting a slower flow of dye.

Dharma Trading Company has a page detailing many of the problems that can occur with various resists: see their Gutta/Resist Alert page. As they point out, applying resists is more difficult to do successfully than any other aspect of dyeing, and it requires quite a bit of practice to get it right. You can never expect your first attempts to be successful, which is why it is so important to do small-scale tests with every material and every method of applying it, before starting on a large or important project.

I love using real wax as a resist, but I have to admit it can be quite a bit of a pain. The wax has to be hot enough to really penetrate the fabric, which for me means using an electric frying pan to heat the wax, since a double boiler set-up with water in the bottom never gets hot enough, and heating wax directly on a gas stove is too hazardous. Drawing with a tjanting takes some time to get the hang of, and you have to always hold a rag in your other hand to catch drips that will otherwise spoil your design. Precision work with a tjanting is difficult. An electric tjanting can be helpful but will not make it easy. Of course wax can't give you the metallic effect, so you would have to go back over the white lines later with a good metallic fabric paint, after you have removed the wax, if the metallic effect is important for the outlines in your design. The wax will melt and come out onto the absorbent paper (use plenty!) when you steam the dyes.

Emulsified wax or cold wax is less likely to be satisfactory at containing dye within the lines than is hot wax or real gutta, and like real wax it is not available in metallics. It might be worth experimenting if you have the time for it. Please do let me know, if you try either, how well they work out for you.

I'm sorry that you had such a disappointment in your first attempt at this project. I am sure that you will find a way to get the results you want, after spending time on testing different products and thicknesses of application.

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Friday, January 17, 2014

Is there a discharge chemical for disperse dyes that you know of?

Name: Mary

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Country or region: Colorado

Message: Is there a discharge chemical for disperse dyes that you know of?

Yes. You will probably want to use the same discharge chemicals for disperse dyes (a type of dye used for synthetic fibers only) that you use for silk dyes.

Disperse dye molecules contain many of the same chromophore sections as the molecules of dyes of other classes. As a result, reducing-type discharge dye chemicals will often work on disperse dyes, although, as with any class of dyes, there may be some dyes which discharge poorly or not at all. The color of dyes comes from the arrangement of double bonds in the dye molecules; reducing-type discharges convert these to single bonds, turning the dye colorless.

Avoid the use of chlorine bleach, which is based on hypochlorite, when discharging synthetic fiber materials. When bleached, polyester tends to develop a dull yellow stain which cannot be removed, while other fibers such as nylon and spandex, like silk, are so badly damaged that they seem to just dissolve. Any reducing-type discharge chemical will be preferable to chlorine bleach.

All of the sulfur-based discharges have similar effects; they all work best in hot water, too. A dye that resists one reductive discharge chemical is likely to respond poorly to others. One of the most convenient discharge agents to use on a small scale is Rit Color Remover, a product that is much more satisfactory than the dyes of the same brand name. It contains sodium hydrosulfite, and can be purchased in local fabric stores. There are several other popular discharge chemicals that you can use; my page, "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?", lists a number of them. Scroll down past the section on oxidative bleaches, including chlorine bleach, to the section on the other kind of discharge, reductive discharges.

Industrially, two of the most popular discharge agents for disperse dyes are Rongalit C and tin (II) chloride. Rongalit C is commonly used by dye artists in the form of Formosul, as well as deColourant Mist and deColourant Paste. I don't know of anyone who is using tin (II) chloride for hand work, but it is the same chemical known as stannous chloride, not to be confused with tin(IV) chloride or stannic chloride. Since it is used as a mordant for dyeing fabric with natural dyes, it can be obtained from natural-dyes suppliers such as Aurora Silk. Tin is somewhat hazardous, so must be used with care. I do not have a recipe for using tin as a discharge agent.

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Monday, January 13, 2014

Can you tell me what is the correct temperature for measurement the pH when dyeing with reactive dye?

Name: Miguel

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0 - 13.0 pH

Country or region: Peru

Message: Please, can you tell me what is the correct temperature for measurement the pH when dyeing with reactive dye? For example, with a dye similar to Cibacron (Sunfron), we need to measure pH after the addition of caustic soda to 60 C, in this point the pH will be 11.2. This because the pH is in inverse relation with temperature. Thank you.

Unless indicated otherwise, for any pH measurement, whenever possible, use the standard temperature of 25°C (77 °F). This is the same for reactive dyes as for other chemicals. You will need to cool the mixture of dye and sodium hydroxide down to 25 degrees in order to take the measurement.

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Thursday, January 09, 2014

To paint flames onto a cotton lycra skate costumes, do I need to do each colour separately? That is, paint the yellow, let set, rinse and dry and then repeat with next colour?

Name: Brenda

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Country or region: Canada

Message: I am attempting to paint flames onto a cotton lycra skate costumes. The flames are only on part of the costume, in reds, oranges and yellow with black outlines. I'm using Procion dyes and painting directly onto the cotton lycra. Do I need to do each colour seperately? That is, paint the yellow, let set, rinse and dry and then repeat with next colour? or do I paint the flames then let set/cure and rinse? I'm concerned about the colours bleeding into the white areas while
1) applying them
2) rinsing them?
Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks

Paint the flames, let them cure in a warm place, then wash them out the following day. You can do all the colors at once, with Procion dye; if you allow them plenty of time to react with the cotton and the soda ash, in a warm enough room, they will not stain the rest of the cotton when you wash them out. This is the same as in tie-dyeing cottons with Procion dye. You have to allow enough time that every dye molecule has reacted, either with the fabric or with the water, so that it will no longer be capable of forming a permanent bond to the fabric when the wash water carries it around.

It is extremely important to practice before starting work on your skate costumes: try using a cheap 100% cotton t-shirt to test your chosen technique first, or some cotton/lycra yardage that is similar to your costumes. For all of the garments you paint, be sure to place a large piece of waterproofed cardboard (waterproofed with house paint or by wrapping in plastic wrap) or some sort of stiff plastic inside, so no dye leaks through from the front layer to the back of the garment.

The biggest issue is how far the dye will spread on the fabric. There are several different ways to keep the dye from spreading all over your costumes, so that you end up with flames and not just big blobs of flame-like colors. It's okay for your yellows, reds, and oranges to overlap, but it's very important that your black dye not spread into the lighter colors. You may want to do the black dye first, let it cure, wash out the excess, and only then start work with your yellow, orange and red dyes.

One application method is to thicken the dye so that it does not spread, by mixing in sodium alginate or Superclear (purchased from a dye supplier, such as Dharma Trading Company). This is probably the most popular method for dye painting on cotton/spandex fabric. It makes the dye mixture thick like oil paint or artists' acrylics. You can either mix your soda ash directly into your thickened dye (keeping in mind that you must use the dye paint mixture immediately after adding the soda ash), or you can presoak the garments in soda ash, exactly as for tie-dyeing, and then hang them up to dry so that the soda ash is in the fabric when you paint the dye on. (Note that your paint brush will carry soda ash from the fabric back to your supply of dye paint when you dip your brush again, so pour out only a little of your dye mixture to use at once time, so as not to contaminate most of your dye; this will allow the rest of the dye to last for several days before use, instead of reacting immediately.) For more information on thickening dye, say my page, "Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners".

Alternatively, to keep the dye from spreading when you paint it on, you can paint an anti-diffusant, such as Jacquard Products' No Flow or Sennelier's Stop Flow, onto the fabric and allow it to dry; afterwards, dye painted on will not spread in the usual fashion. Apply the No Flow to the entire area where you will be painting. As with all of these methods, it is important to try a test on a scrap of fabric first, so you can see how it works and how heavily you need to apply it. (See Jacquard Products' page about No Flow.)

A third method is to use the black outlines to contain the dye from spreading. This is known as the Serti technique, at least when it's used for silk painting (see Dharma Trading Company's explanation of using the Serti technique in silk painting). Instead of silk paint, on cotton you will use Procion MX dyes. While a substance called "gutta" is commonly used in silk painting, you can use a fabric paint (referred to in Dharma's piece as a colored water-based resist) for this purpose, as well. If you use a black fabric paint to color the outlines, both front and back of the fabric, letting it dry and then heat-setting if the manufacturer recommends doing so, and stretch the fabric over something, the wet dye you paint inside the outline will spread only until it reaches the outline, and then stop. There are many choices of paint for the outlines. For example, Dupont makes something labeled "colored gutta in tubes" which is actually not gutta (a liquid rubber product), but instead a fabric paint. You have to be careful when squeezing it on so the paint penetrates into the fabric, but this is not difficult. Jacquard Textile Color is a fabric paint that comes in jars which, like most fabric paints, can be used to make outlines that lightly applied liquid dye will not cross, assuming, in every case, that there is no break in the line.

After you have applied the dye, not forgetting to use soda ash in some form, you must allow the dye to react with the cotton. The fabric must stay at least a little moist for the entire time; the dye reaction will stop once the last bit of moisture has evaporated. You can keep the fabric moist either by mixing urea with your dyes when you dissolve them, or by wrapping your fabric in plastic. Urea is easier, maintaing sufficient moisture in the fabric even after it appears to have dried out. The dye must be kept warm for it to react. If the room in which the damp dye-painted fabric is reacting falls below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, then the dye reaction will slow down so far that it may never complete, though it will speed up again if you get it warm again. If your house or studio is colder than 70 degrees, there are several different ways to provide enough warmth for your dye reactions; see my page, "What is the effect of temperature on fiber reactive dyes?", for some suggestions.

When you wash out your dye, after allowing at least overnight, or longer, for the dye reaction to complete, first rinse with plain cool water, or with cool water and a little Synthrapol, but not with regular detergents, then wash in the hottest water that the fabric can tolerate, to remove excess dye. You'll need several washings to remove all of the excess unattached dye.

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Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Name: Krista

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Country or region: USA

Message: I'm a beginner and have been reading online profusely and watching lots of YouTube videos, and I'm so happy to have found your site. I haven't been able to find anything regarding dyeing organic cotton Sherpa using low-water immersion or ice-dying techniques. Acquaintances tell me it's difficult. Do you have any advice as I don't want to waste such lovely fabric or dye? Thanks in advance on any tips you might have.

"Sherpa" as the name for a weave of fabric is a new one for me; it seems to be a long-looped version of French terry. 100% cotton always dyes well, though, as long as it is not treated with a surface finish such as wrinkle-resistance or stain-resistance; cotton labeled 'organic' is less likely to have been treated with a problematic finish, since these finishes often contain formaldehyde.

(You are using Procion MX or another fiber reactive dye, right? Instructions for using a less suitable dye, such as Rit all-purpose dye, would be different.)

There are two problems with dyeing such a thick fabric. One is that you may not get the sharp crinkle patterns that you can get with a thinner, crisper fabric; this problem is made up for, in my opinion, by the feel of the fabric.

The other problem is that a yard of this fabric weighs a lot. You'll need to use a lot more dye powder per yard of fabric, or per garment, than you will for a lighter fabric. You must weigh your fabric, so that you will be able to estimate correctly how much dye to use. You can do this the precise way, by calculating the percent of the fabric weight and multiplying it by the amount of dye suggested by your dye supplier or in a chart, or you can do this by roughly estimating how much more dye you'll need to use than for something you already dye frequently; for example, if a garment weighs two and a half pounds, you'll need to use five times as much dye as you would normally use for a t-shirt. Take a look at my page, "How much Procion MX dye should I use?", scrolling down to the table for immersion dyeing.

For low-water immersion dyeing, you will also need a larger container than usual, since the thickness of the fabric makes it take up much more room. Consider a bucket, a large plastic storage bin, or a plastic dishpan, depending on what you're dyeing. Make sure that your container is the right size for your fabric to be tightly contained, for the greatest possible definition between differently colored parts of the fabric. Be careful to use enough water, too, so that the dissolved dye thoroughly penetrates. Everything is the same as in dyeing smaller items, except that you will need to multiply the amount of dye, water, and soda ash, each by the same number. It can be very satisfying to dye large pieces of thick fabric.

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Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Can I dye a Carteret Blue coat brown for my new job?

John Rivera asked on Facebook:

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Question, I have a Carteret Blue Coat I brought about two years ago it's in excellent condition but, my new job requires I wear Brown, So my question is can I dye it Brown n if so, will it look brown?

Is Carteret Blue a shade of blue, or is Carteret a brand of coats? A web search suggests that Carteret Blue may be a very bright medium royal blue, similar to International Klein Blue. Depending on what shade of brown you want, you can produce brown by overdyeing blue with an orange dye, or with a brown dye.

However, it may not be possible to dye your coat. Most coats intended for outdoor use are treated with a DWR (durable water repellent) finish, which rejects dye altogether; this finish is frequently not mentioned on the label or in any promotional materials about the coat. Even after a DWR-coated garment has gotten so dirty that it is no longer water resistant, the coating is still there and still repels dye. Washing and drying such a coat will often restore at least part of the water repellency.

In addition, there is the extremely important question of what fiber the coat is made from. A polyester coat, even if it has not been treated with a DWR finish, cannot be dyed except by boiling it for some time in a very large cooking pot with a special kind of polyester dye called disperse dye. If any part of the coat is made of polypropylene (popular mainly for socks and high-tech undergarments, but possibly also to be found in some linings), it cannot be dyed at all with any sort of dye. Spandex, a fiber used to make fabric stretchy, should be protected from high heat, so it's not good for dyeing if it is combined with polyester. Nylon is best dyed with a type of dye called acid dyes, which will not color polyester or cotton, while cotton is best dyed with reactive dyes but can also be dyed with several other types of dye that do not work on polyester or nylon. You can expect the trim, such as zippers, knit cuffs, stitching, and buttons to remain the original color after you dye a cotton jacket; would having blue trim ruin the look of your jacket, once it is brown?

If you tell me what the fiber content of your jacket is, I might be able to supply more information, but you should first check for a DWR finish: sprinkle a few small drops of water on the coat. If they bead up on the surface, rather than soaking immediately into the fabric, you should forget about dyeing the jacket and find a way to buy a new one.

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Monday, January 06, 2014

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

Name: Jean

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Holly Brackmann's book
The Surface Designer's Handbook

includes directions for dyeing with Procion dyes

Country or region: SF Bay Area, USA

Message: Paula,

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

Many thanks.

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

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

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

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

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

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