More Dyeing – the dyes and the process
A continuation of my fabric dyeing posts. The first here the second here.
Procion MX Dyes come as a powder and there are many recipes for mixing dye concentrates. As I mentioned on the TV website I don’t really measure anything. So it’s best you look else for specific recipes. I add some dye powder to some water along with some urea – not very informative. I suggest Ann Johnston’s book Color By Accident
I mix my dye concentrates in 20 ounce water bottles. I mix a few pure red, yellow and blues and a few of the other pure procion dye colors. Each in its own water bottle. I rarely buy a mixed color figuring I can mix it myself – although the grays and blacks can be useful).
I use a funnel to get the dye powder and urea into the bottle first:
Then add warm water and shake until it all dissolves. Some dyes are more cooperative than others.
Then comes the fun part – mixing colors. I mix together 1 cup of the dye concentrates (I add water if I want a lighter color). I test my combination on my fabric to make sure I’m getting a color I want. The wet fabric doesn’t really look like the final washed and dried color but over time you get a feel for how it changes – although I’m still surprised at times.
In this example the dye mixture I made started out too pink so I added blue and yellow to get it more to my liking:
Once it seems right I dump the color onto the fabric:
Wearing rubber gloves, which should be worn throughout the entire process as the dyes are toxic, I mush the dye into the fabric. The more mushing the more solid the color. I go for a lot of mushing as I like a fairly solid colored fabric:
Next comes the soda ash, which changes the pH of the water and fiber so the chemical reaction can occur. You can buy it from the big dye houses but I bought a big bag from a pool supply store as it’s cheaper. I also bought urea from a feed supply store and use that instead of urea from the dye houses.
I add salt into my soda ash mixture. Although Ann Johnston’s low water immersion recipes don’t use salt I think the results are much better if some salt is added. I’ve never seen a recipe with salt so I don’t really have any idea how much to use so I just dump some in. I also am not exactly sure what the salt does but my theory is it forces the dye out of the water and into the fiber, but I could be making that up. I do know my colors are more saturated if I use salt.
I mix up several gallons of soda ash & salt at one time:
I put 1 cup of the soda ash solution into each of the bins of fabric and again mush it around.
After this round 1 is done. Basically repeat for as many layers as you want:
You can see round 2 is lighter than round 1 – there is less dye available to bond with the next piece of fabric as much of it has already bonded to the previous layer.
There are many variations on this method of dyeing. How long to wait between adding the different parts, whether or not to add soda ash in between layers. I suggest Ann’s book for details and other ideas. I found what works for me and stick with it. It’s pretty basic and simple and not meant to result in anything other than solid colors.
I think I’ll have one last post about dyeing – how I wash out the fabric. And also wrap up anything else I can think of.
Posted by Lisa in: Quilting Process
THese dyeing posts are very informative. Do you use table salt or non-iodized pickling or kosher salt? Or does it matter?
Thanks so much for the tutorials.
Another very informative post Lisa. I was desperate for some soda ash a couple of weeks ago and the home improvement centers had no more pool supplies so after doing some research on the internet I was off to the grocery store to buy washing soda. Washing soda is soda ash and it is cheaper than buying in from a dye company. First I tried baking soda – that did not work so well – it has a different chemical composition – more O molecules I think.
Lisa-
I’ve been dyeing fabric for years, and agree that somehow the salt brightens the dyes. I use one half cup of salt per gallon of water (or soda ash solution). I buy the salt in 20-pound bags from a local salt supplier.
Thanks for all the great posts, and congrats on your success.
Dagmar
Lisa – Thanks for so generously sharing your information, can’t wait for Thanksgiving to be over so I can try your method!
Joyce – I use whatever I have on hand. I need to get a big bag of it like Dagmar does as the small jars don’t last long.
Patty – here is some intresting information about soda ash – http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/sodaash.shtml – she talks about what can be used as a subsitute and how washing soda works (you just need more of it because is has water in it)
Dagmar – thanks for a real recipe – that is probably about how much salt I use. I view it like cooking – you just dump in what feels right!. And thanks .
Claire – you’re welcome. I’ll try to get the last post finished tonight or tomorrow.