community of dyers

The most washfast dye for silk is definitely fiber reactive dye, including Procion MX dye, used with soda ash. It does not act as a fiber reactive dye when used with citric acid or vinegar, so it is not as washfast then. When you substitute an acid for the soda ash, Procion MX dye acts as an acid dye, not as a fiber reactive dye. When used as an acid dye, Procion MX dye is significantly less washfast than some other acid dyes, such as the Lanaset dyes.

Citric acid is in no way safer in clothing than soda ash, once you've rinsed it out afterwards. You use soda ash (or washing soda) on baby clothes all the time, in the form of laundry detergent; it's not a problem because it rinses out completely.

You might be thinking that citric acid is safer than soda ash because you have seen citric acid in food ingredient lists, but in fact citric acid is dangerous to eat when undiluted, because it can cause serious burns. It is safe in food only because it is diluted. Both soda ash and citric acid are dangerous to eat when they are undiluted, but only because of the pH extremes they produce; both are safe to eat if they are very well-diluted (assuming you have food grade quality), not that this matters since you would never use your dyeing supplies in food.

Silk dyes very well with soda ash and Procion MX type dyes. The premixed colors will not produce quite the same hues as they would on cotton, but the hues they do produce will be bright and as permanent as you can get. The pure unmixed dye colors will produce essentially the same color on silk as on cotton.

Thank you, that's very helpful :) I'm not worried about soda ah, but I think I was thinking that using the procion dyes would mean they were safer, but using them as acid dyes would give the better colours. I shall study procion instructions and do colour experiments with mini silks!

I have used cheap silk scarves from Dharma and from Silk Connection (which is part of Jacquard Products). Both are fine for use as playsilks. Sometimes, when I prewash them, they get tiny holes, which are a problem for silk painting. Other people have reported that they are sometimes sewn with polyester or waxed silk thread, which means the thread stays white when you dye it. Not a problem for playsilks.

I like to dye 35" square scarves, using tie-dye or LWI, and reuse them repeatedly as package wrapping. You can tie them on a shirt-size or smaller box so that the box does not show at all.

-Paula

So anything special I need to do for the silk when using fiber reactive dyes? Or just use a regular old cotton recipe?

I have used kool-aid on wool yarn before and am looking forward to doing that on silks with my son when he is bigger just for fun, but he's not quite old enough to enjoy it yet and several of them will probably be gifted, so might as well use "real" dye.

I think I'll just go ahead and get some silks from dharma...I need to order some other things there anyways. That is an excellent idea about using them as wrapping! I'll definitely be doing that for Christmas. Thanks for the size recommendation, too..I had been debating to get the 35" or the 45" ones.

Now, I can't wait to start... off to rummage through my apartment for a pole LOL.

You can just use the regular old cotton recipe, for dyeing silks with Procion MX dye. It works fine. The silk will be a little softer afterwards, as the result of the soda ash, but it will still have some shine.

Kool-aid is not quite as satisfactory on silk as it is on wool. Wool takes food coloring better than silk does. It still makes a fine project.

I bought a lot of 35" scarves for about $1 each on sale from Silk Connection some years ago. They have a sale on both 35" and 45" silk chiffon scarves now, for $3.50, which is a good price for chiffon. The 8 momme Habotai silk is cheaper at Dharma than at Silk Connection now, though.

Paula

Just an additional comment on Paula's good answer... you don't need to batch silk in Procion MX & soda ash as long as cotton to get brilliant colors... 4 to 6 hours in a warm place is sufficient, compared to the 12 to 24 often recommended for cotton.

my blog: A Good Day to Dye

Thanks... I am always impatiently waiting to rinse my projects... I guess I won't have to wait as long with the silks :)

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to comment since I didn't see any mention here of using vinegar for silk with Procion dyes. It is what I use and it works 10 times as well as soda ash! I used to use soda ash for silk scarves, and the colors shifted a LOT. Sometimes it was a nice effect, but it wasn't anything like dyeing on cotton and getting clear, crisp colors. I switched to vinegar and haven't had a problem since. Check out these silks I recently sold out of on etsy (and no, it's not photoshop tricks, they really are that dark!):

Pookel, your scarves are delightfully vibrant. Have you tried citric acid crystals instead of vinegar? That's what I use. I use 10% WOG with MX dyes (more for acid dyes). The crystals dissolve almost instantly (very easily). The best thing is the solution doesn't stink at all! Unlike vinegar, which is so potent, especially when heated. Anyway, something to think about -- available in some food stores (I think it's used for ?canning or some other cooking thing I know nothing about) or from dye houses (Dharma, ProChem etc.).

--Pia

Thank you, Pia! I haven't tried citric acid, but keep meaning to.

Hey pookel,

Did you batch the silk dyebath for a long time at room temperature or did you steam?

I did some silk scarves in procion mx with vinegar last Christmas and just let them sit in the dyebath overnight (following a professional dyers' unusual recommendation, since I wasn't set up to steam) and the scarves seem to have worked out quite well.

Just curious,
Allison

Actually, I boiled them on the stove! I have an 8-qt stainless steel stockpot that I use for all my "vat" dyeing. I mixed up the batch, stirred them for a while, turned on the stove, and let it simmer for a few minutes before dumping and rinsing.

When I tiedye silk, I always microwave it before rinsing. I figure even if sitting overnight is good enough, it doesn't hurt to heat it too.