community of dyers

Paula,
I'm wondering how quality plays into pricing. I just noticed last week that Dharma claims they "reject dye that doesn't pass our 'solubility test'". I've not seen that claim by other companies. Is this significant? I just ordered dyes for the first time from Prochem because I now live on the east coast and shipping was cheaper. I noticed much more difficulty mixing their dyes. I'm curious,
Laura
www.lauragattonihandwovens.com

At one time, Procion MX dyes were patented and made only by one dye manufacturer. They were introduced by ICI, which sold them to Zeneca, which sold them to BASF, which sold them to Dystar, or something like that. (I may have the order wrong.) During all this time, the dye companies' reliance on good customer relations probably outweighed any pressure to keep prices down, since there was no competition.

After the patents expired, a number of different factories around the world began making Procion MX dyes. Dystar now owns the Procion name, but they no longer make any Procion MX dyes, as far as I can find out, only other lines of Procion dyes, such as Procion H-E, and other kinds of dye. It was not, however, until a few years ago that quality problems began to arise. In particular, there were problems with lots of fuchsia dyes, which then caused the infamous red dot problem in premixed dye colors. There were particular problems when dye retailers relied upon their suppliers to provide dyes that were as soluble as they'd come to expect.

Dharma now tests the dyes that they buy before they make up their dye mixtures. So do PRO Chemical & Dye, and Rupert, Gibbon, & Spider (Jacquard Products); the latter two instituted their solubility testing earlier. If you get a truly bad batch of a particular dye color that refuses to dissolve in spite of correct technique, you can (if the dye was recently purchased), return it to your supplier for replacement.

Are all of your dye colors causing equally increased difficulties in dissolving, Laura, or just some?

I wonder if there's some other reason why you're having more troubles with dissolving dye than before you moved:

• Is the water colder?

  Fiber reactive dye should never be dissolved in water that is very warm or hot, but water that is colder than 70°F might make it more difficult.

• Are you trying some new dyes?

  ProChem's lemon yellow, which is yellow MX-4G, is more difficult to dissolve than yellow MX-8G (which is ProChem's sun yellow and Dharma's lemon yellow). Boysenberry is difficult to dissolve, too.

• Are you pasting up your dye by adding a small amount of water and mixing it until smooth first, before you add the rest of your water?

• Are you using salt in your recipes?

  Salt reduces dye solubility and should be added last, if you're using it, and not directly to the concentrated dye solutions.

Another possibility to try is adding a single small drop of a detergent to act as a surfactant when mixing up your dyes, either Synthrapol or hand dishwashing liquid. Also, letting the dye powder sit for a while, after you stirred it some, makes a big difference in how easy it is to dissolve. Stirring constantly is a little faster, but letting it rest means you can get by without nearly as much of your own time spent on stirring, total.

On the whole, I see an inverse relationship between dye quality and dye cost. The companies which do a lot of business in selling dyes tend to have fresher dyes than a local shop that may hold onto their stock for a long time before managing to sell it. Dyes which are packaged for novices and sold in grocery stores or general crafts shops are a lot more expensive than the dyes marketed by mail order for experienced hand dyers.

Is anyone else having more trouble dissolving dyes from one good cheap mail-order dye company than another?

-Paula