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How much soda ash solution?

I have been doing large batches (6-8 pieces) of LWI recently, and it occurred to me that I might need to adjust the quantity of soda ash solution I add to the batch. Is there a limit to how many items a cup of soda ash solution will handle? If so, how do I determine the right quantity of liquid to add? Currently, I am using 1 tsp of soda ash per cup of dye water, plus 1 for the liquid I dissolve it in.

Judy

By tiedyejudy at 2007-10-13 14:02 | Low Water Immersion | login or register to post comments | previous forum topic | next forum topic

how much soda ash in low water immersion dyeing

The way to determine if the amount of soda ash that you are using is optimal is to make up a similar bath with the same amounts of water, soda ash, and fabric—that is, everything but the dye—and test the pH. You have to leave out the dye since the color makes pH paper impossible to use, but that's okay. If your pH is between 10.5 and 11.5, you're using the right amount of soda ash.

I always use one teaspoon of soda ash for every cup of water, the total volume of water, once I've added all the water I'm going to add, and including the amount of water I use to dissolve the soda ash. I'm pretty sure that this is more soda ash than is actually necessary, probably at least twice as much. I do not worry about how many pounds of fiber; a larger weight of fiber requires more water to moisten it, so it works out as being more soda ash, anyway.

Paula

By pburch at Sat, 2007-10-13 14:57 | login or register to post comments

Soda ash question

Okay, let me re-phrase the question. Is one cup of water sufficient for making the soda ash solution, no matter how many garments I am going to apply it to? It doesn't seem to be a lot of water to cover 6 garments. In the case of my batch today, I used 8 cups of water between the dyes applied, extra water added, and the cup of water I used to dissolve the soda ash. When I apply the solution to the garments, I have to be really prudent about trying to spread it over the whole batch. I was thinking if I increased the amount of water I dissolved the soda ash in, it would spread further.

Judy
Judy Sall Originals
http://www.tiedyejudy.com
"Life without tie-dye is waaaaaaaaaaaay dull!"

By tiedyejudy at Sat, 2007-10-13 19:09 | login or register to post comments

how much water to dissolve the soda ash in

Maybe you should try it. Sometimes I dissolve my soda ash in two cups of water, if it's a large amount.

I'm amazed at how quickly those soda ash molecules diffuse through an unstirred container of water that's almost full of fabric. I've never had a problem with the dye fixing poorly in LWI.

Paula

By pburch at Sat, 2007-10-13 19:13 | login or register to post comments

soda ash and lwi

I dunno... I mix up my soda ash solution just like I do for presoaking, 1 cup per gallon. My LWI stuff doesn't have a lot of water added to it, just the dye and maybe a little water to get it to start moving thru the damp fabric. Hmm. And the last few batches I actually mixed the soda ash solution a lot stronger... because I didn't have an extra bucket to use. As long as it sets the dye, that's the important part, right?

Can you actually use too much soda ash to fix the dye? I did all the math one time with measurements and even for LWI it came out to about a cup per gallon so I went with that. I think it's probably fine for me, as my LWI is actually rather dry.

Vyx

By Vyxxan at Mon, 2007-10-22 16:16 | login or register to post comments

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