community of dyers

Hello all. I took about a year off from dye work for various life things going on and now I am back and having a fine old messy time again.

I bought some of the spray DeCoulerant discharge product on a whim, but am hesitant to use it without knowing a bit more of people's experiences with it. I planned to lay some "found objects" on a black cotton shirt from Dharma, spray, and then let it dry before ironing to discharge. However, I'm not sure how much to spray on... should the fabric be saturated? should I protect the back of the shirt from the front, or is it unlikely to soak through?

Ok long story short I was impatient so I decided to use some multi purpose Pearl Gray Tintex on a white cotton flat sheet that will soon be curtains. The colour turned out very mauve. Not good against stormy blue gray wall.

1. What are the chances of getting good discharge with dylon or rit colour remover?

2. What is the best recipe for a very pale Procion MX grey blue. I was thinking to try 50/50 Navy and Black.

Please help!

After reading your FAQ on discharging, it sounds like the best option for discharging indigo would be Dylon Easy Bleach or its Rit equivalent. Unfortunately, they don't seem easy to find any more. On the other hand, Wikipedia tells me that sodium dichloroisocyanurate is used for e.g. water purification. Can anyone give me some pointers on adapting, for example, these tablets (which according to a reviewer do contain sodium dichloroisocyanurate) to use for indigo discharge?

http://www.amazon.com/Quake-Kare-2GQK-Purification-Tablets/dp/B0007VSLK8

Hi
My first post here and probably a bit long winded too however, need some advice on this if possible.
I've already used bleach to discharge the colour from a couple of cheapish WW2 style cotton poplin army jackets and then coffee dyed them to look weathered/worn. Very pleased with the results, but those jackets had synthetic lining and the work was all done in cool water, so I didn't need to worry about any shrinking or linings changing colour. (not sure how weakened the shell fabric is now)

my latest project is the same style jacket but has a thin blanket wool lining and the label says 'dry clean only' although cotton poplin is fine on a pretty hot wash, so I guess it's regarding the lining. Anyway I want to use Rit colour remover this time to preserve the fabric and do it all in a large pot on the stove.

You know the anti chlor we all know and love?

Well I got into pyrotechnics and it turns out a solution of this stuff almost behaves like sulfuric acid (in fact it has the same ph as sulfuric acid), and thus when added to a mixture of potassium chlorate and sulfur sugar, it will immediately ignite!

The stuff is also good for destroying any remaining chlorate ions in a solution as well (leaving any other ions like perchlorate alone)...

So for those with chlorate weedkillers, keep the stuff away.

Hello,

I recently frogged a sickly pink cashmere sweater and would ideally like to remove some of the dye from the beautiful worsted yarn so it is more of light pink and I can over dye and make it an antique rose-ish colour.

Does anyone know if this at all possible? I have no idea what dye was used and also don't need the yarn to be a uniform hue. I just need to remove some of the saturation.

(It would be nice if it was a bit variegated, actually.)

I was told Formusol might be too harsh for cashmere...?

A friend of mine said that she read here that you can use acid to neutralize soda ash when dyeing and discharging on silk. I feel like a dunce, because I can't find this info in the FAQ, but Im pretty sure I'm just not seeing it! How is this done? In what proportions? I have a piece of 40% silk/60% cotton that came to me orange. I released it and it came out a perfect natural silk color. I dyed it but made an error on one of my colors and had to release again. One of my friends brought up concern for the fabric from all of the soda ash. Is this a valid concern?

hello to everybody,my first post,----i am wanting to bleach areas of a batik but do not want to have to rince it or wash it out to nutrelise bleach, as i would prefer to leave wax intact.Spoke to the person i buy procien mx from,he said it may be possible to paint areas with bleach then paint over with Sodium Metabisulphite without rinsing the hole batik,but then i want to make a new design with wax in part of bleached area and dye again.Some batiks i work on i like to wax and dye,wax over and dye,and wax and dye again and do not wash the dye out, using very fine wax lines as a resist, then if

In an attempt to help a friend, I've been trying to remove some of the dye from a printed cotton fabric. Lots of it. Bleach didn't work, so I turned to the recommended alternative, thiourea dioxide. This is said to remove colour by breaking disulphide bonds in dye molecules. To achieve this, one adds quite small amounts to simmering water along with a little washing soda & a squidge of washing up liquid. The bucket chemistry goes like this:

7L near boiling water

1.5 tablespoons Na2CO3

~4ml liquid detergent (presumably a wetting agent)

~5ml of crystalline thiourea dioxide

It is said that this mixture is alkaline.

Hi - have dyed the above with Jaquard acid dye and its now too dark and want to remove about half of it or all if its easier. Am considering Jaquard Colour Remover or Jaquard Idye remover the latter being for all fabrics - I think the Jaquard Colour Remover is for wool but not sure if does nylon. Have tested a sample with dylon pre dye and its reduced the blue dye fully but goes back to a peachy colour (fabric was a sort of muted mauve to start). Would greatly appreciate pointers including what to do with the orange/peach if possible - much thanks Tlitha

I discharged the shape of an owl on a black shirt. I would like to dye the owl but do not want any sign of dye on the black part of the shirt. I am considering dye painting because of this but would really like the tie dyed effect. Any recommendations on the best way to do this? Thanks

There's a blog at the Gap store's website with a tutorial on how to bleach out designs from denim jeans:

DIY: Kiddie Jean Art

There's no concern about neutralizing the bleach afterwards, or in any other way preventing the fabric from being so damaged that it falls apart. That makes sense, I guess, given how fashionable pre-shredded jeans are.

In the FAQ, "How can I neutralize the damaging effects of chlorine bleach?" Paula, you say that, "Hydrogen peroxide is a third choice, perhaps preferable for asthmatics who are sensitive to the effects of sulfur-containing chemicals. It is more expensive than Anti-chlor or Bleach Stop, but it has the advantage of being readily available at pharmacies. Look for 3% hydrogen peroxide among the first aid supplies at your local drug store."

I'm wondering if you can elaborate on that a little more.

I have tried soaking my rinsed fabrics in both a full-strength bath of 3% peroxide and a bath of about 50/50 water/peroxide. I've soaked discharged fabrics anywhere from a few hours to overnight, and each time after I wash out the fabric and iron it, I can smell a strong odor of bleach.

Has anyone had any success discharging Lanaset dyes using Rongalit ST?

I've had success using Thiox, but I've got several bottles of Rongalit and thought they worked pretty much the same. I made a couple brief tests with the Rongalit, however, and had no success. Now I'm wondering if Thiox is the only thing that will work on the Lanaset dyes or if perhaps my Rongalit is just too old to work properly.

Thanks for any information you can share.

Hi I am newish to dyeing and am trying to remove the dye from a babywrap. I don't know the exact colour dye that was used but it is currently a turquoisey blue colour. As its a babywrap so going to be used for carrying my child I am concerned that the fabric is not damaged by the process but dylon predye (i think thats similar to rit) doesn't seem to be working. Is there anything else that might work on it that won't damage it (its cotton)?

Has anybody tried the Jacquard Castaway stamp pads to discharge fabric dyes? Dharma has just started carrying them, and they say they work well to discharge Procion MX dyes on fabric.

(See the reductive discharge columns on my discharging Procion MX dyes chart to get a preview of which colors might work best.)

Come January I will be taking over a dye studio. It is quite old with limited ventilation. The studio is on an open floor that shares another studio both beside and above it. I have several advanced students wishing to vat dye silk with Formosul. I am concerned about fumes and potential hazard to both those dyeing and those in the other studios. Should I be concerned?

Hi! This is my first post here. :)
I am a fiber art undergraduate student, and I have been experimenting with Rongalit ST on silk organza for a few weeks. I learned of this process from my sister who took a workshop from Jennifer Angus. She learned a method of altering the structure of silk organza so it accepts dye differently. Using a Rongalit print paste, I first print on undyed organza, then let it dry and steam if for about 10 minutes. Then I wash the paste out and dye the fabric, and where the cloth was printed the dye appears a different color. For example, Bordeaux appears dark green in the areas exposed to Rongalit.

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone here has tried the newly added DeColourant Discharge Cream in Dharma Trading's inventory. I wrote the customer inqueries people, specifically asking if it worked well with Procion MX dyed fabric, and the answer was 'very well, especially on cottons'.
Thanks
Bob
(go to their website for details)

I’m confused about neutralizing bleach. ½ t per gallon is recommended for Anti-Chlor when removing chlorine from tap water for use in fish tanks. So doesn’t that mean that ½ t will remove as much chlorine as is typically in the gallon of water? So now the water is neutralized, but how much more chlorine can that ½ t handle? How much bleach can be neutralized in that gallon of water? I can’t know how much is in the fabric I am neutralizing. How many pieces with an indeterminable amount of bleach can I put in that 1 gallon? It doesn’t make sense to me that ½ t will neutralize any amount that I may have used on my fabric, when it’s the same amount suggested to merely neutralize the chlorine in the water itself. It seems that the amount of Anti-Chlor should be dependent on the amount of bleach to be neutralized, not the water.