community of dyers

I found a Polish MSDS that says Dylon Velvet Black does contain reactive black 5. Not sure if it's referring to Dylon Permanent rather than Dylon Machine Dye, but they may both be the same. I'd still like to see the ingredients list, if it contains any useful information. Either the dye was wrong, or else it was a coincidence that both thiox and discharge paste failed on the same piece.

Reactive black 5 is supposed to be good for reductive discharge. I don't know what's going wrong for you. When you ironed, you used a steam iron, correct? A dry iron won't discharge Jacquard discharge paste. Do thiox or Jacquard Discharge Paste ever go bad? Did you follow ProChem's Thiox instructions, or another set of instructions?

Paula

Thanks for the reply.

I used the thiox /soda ash combination in the indigo dyeing kit that you posted a picture of recently. I was desparate to try discharge, and JoAnn's of course had no thiox but the kit was on sale.

Perhaps the ratio of thiox/soda ash required is different for indigo dyeing?

I have another packet of the Black Velvet at home - I'll check the back of the package tonight for ingredients.

Thanks,
Kate

Interesting question. I know you can reduce other dyes while dyeing with vat dyes, in illuminating discharge, as the chemicals required for the vat dyes will also discharge other dyes, but I guess there are things that can go wrong.

All I see listed online in the ingredients for the Jacquard Tie Dye Kit are indigo, reducing agent, gloves, rubber bands, wood blocks, and instructions. I wonder if "reducing agent" refers to a mixture of sodium dithionite and soda ash, as recommended in Jacquard's instructions for pre-reduced indigo. They call for 150 grams Sodium Hydrosulfite and 250 grams Soda Ash. That's the same combination you find in Rit Color Remover, but I don't know the proportions in that. (Sodium dithionite is another name for sodium hydrosulfite.)

No, look, it is thiox. The MSDS pages for the Jacquard Indigo Dye Kit include soda ash and thiourea dioxide. So it's the same chemicals as Jacquard Color Remover, not Rit Color Remover. I wonder what the concentrations are. What if you simply did not use enough Thiox? Is there any way to tell whether or not you did?

ProChem's Directions for Thiox mention some things that can go wrong. They say, " Do not allow the discharge paste to completely dry on the fabric before steaming or the Thiox does not strip the color. Steam for 20 to 30 minutes. Discard discharge paste after one day." You also might need to use more thiox than expected: "if the color is not discharging rapidly enough then increase the amount of Thiox. You can use up to five times the amount listed in all the recipes above without harming the fabric."

-Paula

On ProChem's site regarding a book on indigo vat dyeing - "The recipe for the hydrosulfite indigo vat can be made using our Thiox as a substitute, decreasing the amount by one-fifth."

So I imagine the thiox/soda ash mixture I got from the indigo kit only had a little bit of thiox in it.

The Dylon Black Velvet DOES have the Black Reactive 5, Paula, and it discharged well once I figured out what I was doing wrong.

I plan to overdye and hope I will have some good pics to post soon!

Oh, that's excellent. I'm glad the dye finally consented to discharge.

I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.

-Paula