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Home » forums » Procion MX dyes and other fiber reactive dyes

Dylon dyes

For a long time all we knew for sure about the dyes in Dylon dyes was that they contain a fiber reactive dye "like" Procion MX dye, as the company described it. Other fiber reactive dyes such as Drimarene K and Cibacron F dyes are a whole lot "like" Procion MX dyes, so we were not sure which type of fiber reactive dye the Dylon Cold Dyes contained. Other Dylon Dyes contain mostly Drimarene K type dyes, so it seemed a good bet their Cold Water dyes did, too.

Now they have an informative page entitled The Chemical Structure & Properties of Dyeing Factsheet, which says that Dylon Cold Water dyes really do contain dichlorotriazine dyes, the type in Procion MX type dyes, unlike Dylon Machine and Dylon Hand dyes, which contain "pyrimidine or vinylsulphone" dyes, i.e., Drimarene K or Remazol type dyes. (Drimarene K dyes are chlorodifluoropyrimidines, as listed on my About Fiber Reactive Dyes page.)

However, MSDS information available online indicates that, for example, Dylon Cold Water Dye A52 Black contains reactive orange 64 and reactive orange 86, presumably in addition to other dyes; while reactive orange 86 is the same as Procion orange MX-3RA, reactive orange 64 is, I think, the same as Levafix Orange E-3GA. They're apparrently mixing dye types, which is interesting. I wonder if different temperatures will yield slightly different colors, for these mixtures.

Dylon Washing Machine Dyes contain mostly Drimarene K dyes, as Olli Niemitalo reported from reading the ingredients list on the back of some dye packages, in Finland. (We cannot buy Dylon Washing Machine dye here in the US, because it's formulated for front-loading washing machines; in spite of the growing popularity of front-loading washing machines, Dylon told me that they had no plans to introduce the dye here.)

Dylon Permanent dyes, which are sold in the US, do contain mostly Drimarene K dyes, plus at least one vinyl sulfone (Remazol) dye. I think they may be equivalent to Dylon Hand Dye in Europe. The ingredient lists show the following (there may perhaps also be unlisted dyes):

Dylon namegeneric namealso known as...
29 deep pink reactive red 358 Drimarene Red R-7B
See also safety info
34 olive green reactive blue 225 Levafix Navy Blue EBNA
Drimarene Navy RKBN
reactive yellow 125 Levafix Gold Yellow ERA
Drimarene Gold Yellow K2R
51 burgundy reactive black 5
orange 64 Levafix Orange E3GA
Drimarene BRILL Orange K3R
red MDO 358
48 poppy red reactive red MDO358 see above
reactive orange 64
09 dark green reactive blue 225see above
reactive yellow 125see above
79 vivid turquoise reactive blue 116 Drimarene Turquoise K-2B CDG
Levafix Turquoise BLUE EBA
26 royal blue reactive blue MDO 358 see above
08 navy reactive black 5 Remazol Black B
reactive blue 225 see above
red MDO 358see above
TSPtrisodium phosphate
30 deep violet reactive red MDO 358 (surely it must also contain a blue?)
12 BlackReactive Black 5
TSPtrisodium phosphate

 
MSDS info indicates as follows:

2 Orange       Reactive Orange 64              
3 ScarletReactive Red 123
8 BlackReactive Orange 64
Reactive Blue 225

 
There is a real surprise, in the description of Dylon Multi-Purpose Dye, which is like Rit® dye, an all-purpose mixture:

This is a mixture of three types of dye; Direct, Acid and Disperse. Direct dyes dye cellulosic fibres, Acid dyes dye wool, silk and nylon and Disperse dyes dye some synthetic polymers e.g. plastic buttons. None of these dyes reacts with the fibre, their substantivity relies on weak ionic or molecular attractions. They have, therefore, relatively poor washfastness.

Since Disperse Dyes require higher than boiling temperatures to transfer well to polyester, unless you also add a toxic carrier chemical, the Disperse dye in Dylon Multi-Purpose Dye is apparently not there to dye polyester. Instead, it is apparently there to dye plastic buttons and the like. I'm not even sure that it's true. Acid dyes will work well on nylon buttons, after all, and we've never heard before of an all-purpose dye containing disperse dye.

By pburch at 2006-09-27 13:55 | Procion MX dyes and other fiber reactive dyes | login or register to post comments | previous forum topic | next forum topic

Fluffy's In Trouble. Dye Friends Please Help.

Dear Dye Friends-
Fluffy's in trouble. I have 4 tees due tomarrow and my yellow procion hasn't arrived, so I am having to use Dylon Permanent Fabric Dye for one of several colors in my 'global warming' tees. The Dylon instructions are for immersion dyeing. The shirts are soaked in soda ash and ready for all five colors. I usually squeeze on the colors/urea with yorker bottles or a toner refill syringe.

Can I add urea? How will the soda ash interact with Dylon Permanent? I need to skip the salt to keep the colors seperate... will Dylon do ok? The color is called Sunflower. Can I microwave this to speed up the color setting?

I'm thinking about just trying this as if it were procion.
I'll try to post a global warming tee, made with procion dye.

By FluffysCompleat... at Mon, 2006-10-16 19:20 | login or register to post comments

substituting Dylon Permanent for Procion MX dye in a pinch

You can get by fine with no urea: don't bother adding it to the Dylon Permanent.

Dylon Permanent has soda ash or the equivalent in it already, but a double dose shouldn't hurt anything much. The biggest difference is that the dye is far weaker than the dye you are used to. Each packet will only dye up to eight ounces of cotton fabric. You'll have to mix it up in only a small amount of water, compared to what the instructions say, maybe one-half or one cup instead of four cups of water. Then there will be way too much soda ash per cup of water, but what can you do? It'll probably work fine, though possibly not quite as bright as you might like. It's got to be better than nothing. Try applying it to just one shirt, microwave heat-setting it, and letting it cool and wash it out to see how well it works, before you do the rest of the shirts.

Go ahead and microwave to speed up the dye setting. I do this all the time. Take the wet dyed t-shirt, one at a time, and wrap it in plastic wrap, then bundle it together in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. Microwave for only thirty seconds at a time, and check to see if the fabric feels hot (still in its plastic) to your gloved hand. Repeat the microwaving as necessary until it is hot. Once it's hot, take it out and let it cool. Do not open the plastic until it is cool enough not to blast you in the face with steam. Do not microwave long enough to burst open the plastic with steam - watch it like a hawk and do not walk away while it is heating. Never microwave fabric until dry, because it will burn.

By pburch at Mon, 2006-10-16 19:51 | login or register to post comments

Definitely not Super-Strength

I'm making a tote for a prototype. I made up about 4 tablespoons at the strenghth that I use procion dyes, and the color is quite feeble. Other than creeping rather interestingly, and the dye sort of sinking behind the fibers, it seems to be useable.

I will need to sandwich it between two washcloths for microwaving, so the colors won't get on each other. (Don't try this at home!) I'll let that set while the washcloths get humid enough to microwave, in a quart ziplock, rolled up. I'll post my results, if I can put an image on photobucket.

Thanks SOOOO much, Paula!

By FluffysCompleat... at Mon, 2006-10-16 20:14 | login or register to post comments

Dylon dye contains a lot of stuff besides dye

Don't measure the Dylon Permanent dye in tablespoons! Most of the volume of the powder in the package is the soda ash, salt, or other auxiliary chemicals they mix with the dye. One entire packet of Dylon Permanent is roughly the equivalent of two teaspoons of standard strength Procion MX dye.

I would use plastic wrap instead of washcloths to keep the different parts of one shirt from touching each other. The dye will soak right through a washcloth, if it's like the ones I have. (I've dyed a lot of washcoths for everyday use.) You can just lay a big sheet of Saran wrap or the like on top of a wet dyed shirt, then roll it up, if you're careful. On the other hand, if you use washcloths, then you have some nicely dyed washcloths.

By pburch at Mon, 2006-10-16 20:49 | login or register to post comments

This Dylon is chunky like vegetable soup

I doubled the strength for a second go-round, and used a towel to keep the colors apart, in a shopping bag for microwaving. (I'll try plastic wrap next time!) Waved for one minute (in 1/2 minute increments). Cooled to room temp, and then dropped it into a cold delicate water-only first wash, then dried it in the dryer. Disappointing. The yellow wasn't dense, didn't take well, and seemed to leach colour intensity from the other colors used.

The Dylon was too chunky for ease of use with a syringe, and left different kinds of chunky dye plus something a lot like alginate remained in the bottom of the dyecup. Perhaps Dylon is useful for agitated solid immersion pastels where the fiber content is unknown, but NOT for vibrant watercoloring on cotton.

And this was strange: In the second application, to counteract the "sinking effect" where the color was driving in, I squirted in a bit of urea. The ammonia gas from the dye was stinky, and I thought, "Well, there goes my reaction!"

I'm going to have to use a lot more soft orange, hot pink and sunrise red in this batch of shirts, and sort of just streak in a bit of this yellow, let it cure overnight, wave it, cool and wash.

Thanks for helping me thru this experience, Paula. I'll post a comparison pic when I can photograph it in daylight.

By FluffysCompleat... at Mon, 2006-10-16 22:24 | login or register to post comments

Here's sort of the effect I'm going for...

This is *similar* to the shirts I'm working on. The yellow zone will have lots of orange, too.

Thanks for your advice!

Planet

[I edited the link. -P]

By FluffysCompleat... at Mon, 2006-10-16 19:25 | login or register to post comments

more about Dylon Cold Water Dyes

It's interesting to see the approach taken to mixing the dyes on the Dylon color range. It's all about fashion and dyeing things the exact color that's been mixed. There are no unmixed primary colors for mixing your own colors. There are a lot of different dye colors that contain different proportions of the same dyes. The table below is what I gleaned from MSDS information about Dylon Cold Water dyes. The color chips are copied from the Dick Blick catalog.

Note that a number of dye ingredients are omitted from this table, apparently not being subject to the same regulations as the ones that are listed, for whatever actual reason.

A 10 PrimroseC.I. REACTIVE YELLOW 111 1-5%**   
A22-Sahara SunC.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 4 < 1%= Procion type
Orange MX-2R		   
A18-NasturtiumC.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 4 15-30%
C.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 86 15-30%		orange 86 = Procion type
Orange MX-3R(A)		   
A29- Koala BrownC.I. REACTIVE RED 2 5-15%
C.I. REACTIVE BLUE 81 5-15%		   
A27-MandarinC.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 4 15-30%
C.I. REACTIVE RED 2 15-30%		   
A14-CoralC.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 4 30-50%
C.I. REACTIVE RED 2 5-15%		   
A25-Bronze RoseC.I. REACTIVE RED 2 15-30%
C.I. REACTIVE BLUE 4 5-15%		   
A5-Dawn PinkC.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 4 1-5%
C.I. REACTIVE RED 2 1-5%		   
A11-Tahiti RoseC.I. REACTIVE RED 2 1-5%reactive red 2 is Procion
type MX-5B		   
A17-Cafe au LaitC.I. REACTIVE RED 2 1-5%
C.I. REACTIVE RED 11 1-5%
C.I. REACTIVE BLUE 4 5-15%		   
A20-Radiant Pinknot listed on MSDS   
A16-CamelliaC.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 86 5-15%
C.I. REACTIVE RED 2 30-50%		   
A21-Mexican RedC.I. REACTIVE RED 2 50-70%
C.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 86 15-30%		   
A19-Purple VineC.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 4 5-15%
C.I. REACTIVE RED 11 15-30%
C.I. REACTIVE BLUE 109 5-15%		reactive red 11 is Procion
type red MX-8B ( fuchsia)		   
A26-Ultra VioletC.I. REACTIVE BLUE 109 30-50%
C.I. REACTIVE RED 11 15-30%
C.I. REACTIVE RED 2 1-5%		reactive blue 109 = Procion
type blue MX-2G		   
A3-LilacC.I. REACTIVE BLUE 4 5-15%
C.I. REACTIVE RED 2 1-5%		   
A28-Riviera Bluenot listed on MSDS   
A13-French NavyC.I. REACTIVE BLUE 81 15-30%
C.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 4 1-5%		   
A6-Moon BlueC.I. REACTIVE BLUE 4 15-30%   
A2-Sea GreenC.I. REACTIVE BLUE 109 1-5%[and?]   
A30-Turquoise SagaC.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 86 1-5%[and?]   
A24-Leaf GreenC.I. REACTIVE BLUE 4 15-30%
C.I. REACTIVE YELLOW 86 15-30%
C.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 86 5-15%		reactive blue 4 is Procion
type blue MX-R;
yellow 86 is yellow MX-8G		   
A23-Bahama Bluenot listed on MSDS   
A15-Tartan GreenC.I. REACTIVE YELLOW 111 5-15%
C.I. REACTIVE YELLOW 125 5-15%		**, ***   
A51-GreyC.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 64 5-15%
C.I. REACTIVE YELLOW 111 1-5%		[and?]; *; **   
A52-BlackC.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 64 15-30%
C.I. REACTIVE ORANGE 86 5-15%		[and?]; *   

*Reactive Orange 64 is 2-[[6-[(5-chloro-2,6-difluoro-4-pyrimidinyl)amino]-1-hydroxy-3-sulpho-2-naphthyl]azo]naphthalene-1,5-disulphonic acid, sodium salt . That means it is a Drimarene K type dye.
**Reactive Orange 111 is 2H-Naphtho(1,2-d) triazole-5,9-disulfonic acid, 7-((5-chloro-2,6-difluoro- 4-pyrimidinyl)amino)-2- (4-((hexahydro-2,4,6- trioxo-5- pyrimidinyl)azo)-3-sulfophenyl)-, trisodium salt. What is that? Vinyl sulfone?
***Reactive yellow 125 is disodium 7-[[2-(acetylamino)-4-[(5-chloro-2,6-difluoro-4-pyrimidinyl)amino]phenyl]azo]naphthalene-1,3-disulphonate. It is a Drimarene K type dye.

 
I really wonder why they included a yellow and an orange dye that are not Procion MX type! What is the advantage of mixing dye types? Do they do something different that no Procion MX type of dye of those colors will do? I can't imagine, since we have a nice range of yellows and oranges in the dichlorotriazine line. Don't the dyes with a higher optimal temperature give different colored results, in mixtures with Procion MX dyes, depending on what dyeing temperature you use?

By pburch at Thu, 2006-09-28 06:59 | login or register to post comments

mixing powder dyes

I can't imagine how they mixed dyes in large scale - sure they have some machines to do it, but even if it's closed in a tank, dye powder must be everywhere in the closest area due to manipulation

By Jaja at Mon, 2006-10-02 00:16 | login or register to post comments

dylon

i am a great fan of dylon black, great for tie dye,lwi and shibori since it gives true black and most important no haloing.
regarding this see my blog for some photos and postings.
href="http://amovablefeast.blogspot.com/

i also use their brown when in a hurry and pewter and reindeer beige are great for overdyeing.

neki

By neki rivera at Sun, 2006-10-01 09:16 | login or register to post comments

Dylon black

i am a great fan of dylon black, great for tie dye,lwi and shibori since it gives true black and most important no haloing.

Is that the Dylon Cold Water or the Dylon Permanent dye? I, too, love the Dylon Permanent black, reactive black 5, which is a Remazol type dye; it's likely that the same dye is in Dylon Washing Machine dye and Dylon Hand dye. Here we can buy it cheaper as "Liquid Reactive Dye" from PRO Chemical & Dye. It is my favorite black ever, and it even discharges well.

Is the Dylon Cold Water black good, also, does anyone know? All I have listed for its ingredients is two oranges, one of them the same type as Procion MX dye. No telling what the non-orange dye in the mixture is.

By pburch at Sun, 2006-10-01 09:49 | login or register to post comments

Dylon

it isn't the cold water one. maybe it's the permanent although i don't know for sure. think that the terminology here might be somewhat different. only thing i know for sure is that it's #8. over here we get cold water, washing machine and the "regular" which is the one i use.
and yes it discharges well.
many years ago i used the cold water black and did not like it. to me it wasn't real black, had a mauveish overcast .went back to reliable #8.

neki rivera

By neki rivera at Tue, 2006-10-03 01:40 | login or register to post comments

Dylon Multi-Purpose black or Dylon Pure Dye black

It looks like what you have may be a different black entirely! In most of the Dylon lines of dye, the ones which contain mostly Drimarene K and Remazol dyes, the black dye is number 12. In Dylon Cold dye, which mostly contains Procion MX dyes with a few others, the black is number 52. Only in the Dylon Multi-Purpose dye line is the black given the number 8. No, I'm wrong. This MSDS page for Dylon Pure Color lists an "8 Black" which contains reactive orange 64 and reactive blue 225. This is not at all the same as Dylon Multi-Purpose Dye!

Have you tried this on cotton, or only on silk? Does it last well on cotton, without bleeding in the wash?

Multi Purpose dye tends to be disappointing on cotton. It is all purpose dye, meaning that it is a mixture of quick fading direct dye for cotton, plus acid dye for protein fibers and nylon. For reasonable washfastness on cotton, direct dye needs to be after-treated with a cationic dye fixative. All-purpose dyes are usually more satisfactory on protein fibers. I have not tried Dylon Multi-Purpose dye, though. It might be superior to other brands of all-purpose black dye.

In contrast, the Dylon Pure Dye "8 Black" that contains reactive orange 64 and reactive blue 225 is a reactive dye and should be quite washfast even on cotton. Reactive orange 64 and reactive blue 225 are both Drimarene K type dyes and should be quite satisfactory.

However, both of these "8 Black" Dylon dyes are mixtures of dyes. The combination of blue 225 and orange 64 might halo much less than the Procion MX blacks, if the two dyes in the mixture happen to be very similar in reactivity and molecular weight. It's only when the properties of different dyes vary that they will separate out on the fiber.

By pburch at Tue, 2006-10-03 07:34 | login or register to post comments

dylon multi-purpose vs.dylon pure dye black

well, no i've just used it on silk yarn and fabric and wool yarn.like it more on silk yarn but it has more to do with the spinning of the yarn than with the dye itself. actually the dye is called ebony black#8. i'll check out some time this week and see if i can get info from my stockist and i'll share.

neki rivera

By neki rivera at Tue, 2006-10-03 09:20 | login or register to post comments

dylon black

took me a long time to get back from the stockist around the corner!
the man could not provide any info regarding the dye,no list of components no safety sheet,nada. said dylon doesn't provide that kind of info.little does he know....
sorry.

neki

By neki rivera at Tue, 2006-10-10 10:58 | login or register to post comments

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