community of dyers

Is there a good resource on how to mix dye to achieve an exact color match? I am really new to dyeing- so I also just need some general dyeing resources. I will be dyeing cotton/spandex tights using procion mx dye. Thanks!

Hello,
I would like to dye some silk gauze peach using the Jacquard acid dyes, more of an orangey peach than a pinky peach. But they do not have a "peach" acid dye (only the Procion MX). Any input as to what colors I could combine to get what I want?
thanks!
Keri

I have been using Procion MX dyes from Dharma Trading and have tried most all the reds and have combined them but am having a hard time getting a true red on cottons. I'm so used to dyeing on silk and know what to expect but not with cotton. I've added the proper amount of soda ash, tried adding salt too but I either get a maroon color or the reds tend to be more pink. Any suggestions? Does someone have a good method and/or dye color mix to get good reds?

Reds I've used Oxblood, Chinese, Pagoda, Fire and Jungle. I've added some black to dry and deepen the color and then it's more maroon.

I am going to be custom dyeing a cotton/spandex sweatshirt for someone who wants me to match a color. I will be vat dyeing it. I have done some preliminary experiments and think I have a match using cotton muslin, but my concern is that I don't know how the color will look on cotton-spandex. Also, for my swatch test I left the fabric in the dye for less time than I probably will with the sweatshirt. Do I need to test with like fibers to ensure my color will come out the same?

I don't know if there's better forum section for this topic I want to share with you. Since I did some dye weighing recently, I got idea to take a picture of my setup.

Picture was taken after 2 PET bottles were already filled, so you can see that there's no visible mess necessary caused by using this method.
I haven't shot my mop, but it was almost clean after wiping the floor space. Floor? Yes, I work on the floor, don't ask me why...I have only few primaries to choose from, it's quick for me.
I fill 0.5 liter bottles with this method.

[Click on image to see at full size. -Paula]

Hi there-

I need to dye some silks in shades of gray, everywhere from charcoal to light gray (I'm making a mistcloak! Go read the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson if you don't know what that is. It's a very good read). Are the Procion grays remotely true on silks? I'm thinking about starting from Silk Black and diluting (but don't black dyes turn other colors when diluted?), or starting from a lighter gray (pewter, perhaps) and overdying/batching forever for the darker shades.

I already have a stash of Procion dye, so I'd like to stick with that if possible (and I'm thinking about tinting the gray slightly blue; I already have some of that...)

Paula, this question is for you, but I welcome comments from others as well. I have seen several posts about mixing dye powder into pre-mixed dye that has been sitting for awhile and I'm wondering if this is really a viable way to extend the life of the dye liquid? I have mostly tossed dyes that might have already been exhausted because they sat for longer than I thought they should, because the few times I used them I was disappointed in the intensity. My feeble idea of the bonding of dye molecules to water molecules is shaky at best, but it seems to me that if I have 16 ounces of liquid that contains the proportion of dye powder to water I usually use for medium strength color, and the dye has set for long enough for the dye molecules to bond to the water molecules, what will happen if I add more dye powder? Will the new dye molecules then be free to bond to my fabric if I use the dye within a reasonable amount of time? And if I don't, what will happen?

Hi There,

I am new to the forum and to dyeing material but I was so excited to stumble on this site and find people who are knowledgeable about mixing colors. I would like to dye some clothes a deep, rich pumpkin orange. Do you have any tips on dyes (premixed or ones I could mix together myself) that you think would work?

Thanks in advance for any and all comments.

Best,

Galeep

I'm having the darndest time mixing a decent baby blue. Like UNC Tarheel baby blue. Everything I'm coming up with is looking too bright.

I'd appreciate any suggestions.
TIA!

I started out looking for some color mixing recipes and found the link to those glorious Dreamline swatches. I disregarded your advice on printing, put some glossy photo paper in the printer and let er rip. They are so gorgeous I am haunted by them. I have the 3 primaries on hand to do the series starting with citron but need the red/rubine and navy for the others. It seems the rubine MX-B is only available from Aljo, but I've gotten Basic dyes from them before so no prob. and the navy comes from Standard. I'll follow that link to get my component dyes.

The recipes give percentages of each component but I don't see any help with DOS or how concentrated the dye should be. Is this just trial and error or am I missing something?

I would like to come up with a rich deep purple in Procion MX dyes; think liturgical purple, as used in Lent and Advent. I would be using this on silk, probably heavy crepe de chine.

What are your favorite colors for holiday-themed dying?

In particular, I'm looking for the best "Christmas Green". Forest Green from Dharma seems a little too blue to me. I've also mixed up a nice Blue Spruce (1:1 lemon yellow: Cobalt), which I use often in my blue/green themed clothes, but it's a little too earthy.

What red mix goes best? Anybody got a recipe for a good cranberry color?

OK, my mom wants me to tie-dye some shirts for my brother and his family in their school colors, since they often go to sports events. Colors are red and white.

Thing is, so far most of the reds I've tried have haloed some yellow. I've done them with fuschia and a bit of lemon yellow (Jacquard colors), with scarlet, with fire engine red (which went pink on me).

I toyed with trying fuschia and bright orange (if memory serves, bright orange is a pure color) to try to minimize the halo, but before I try it on this or that bit of fabric and then don't manage to get the proportions "just right" again, I thought I'd ask if anyone here has better options.

I am participating in a dyers' round robin, and have a piece of cloth I will be adding to. Currently, there are 3-4 colors on the cloth, and I am trying to determine a color or colors to add that will blend in a pleasing manner. I was hoping to do some experimenting using the dye mixer's applet, but the selection of colors on the applet is very limited. Any suggestions as to how I can get an idea of what colors to use? The colors already on the cloth are not all in my collection of dyes, plus the fabric is a rayon twill, so even if I experimented on cotton there is no guarantee it will look the same.

I've been approached by a business to supply quite a lot of dyed scarves in a fairly short time, and before I commit myself, I have to do some trials. The colours they want are lavenders, dusty pinks and reds for one theme, and variations of indigo, delft, cerulean and china blue for the other. I have on hand Dharma Tradings Royal Blue and Turquoise, Jungle Red and Magenta, Warm Yellow and Lemon Yellow and several blacks (all MX) My first question is, what kind of blues are cerulean and delft? My second question is, with the dyes I have, is it possible to mix them to get the colours they want? I have the weekend to experiment, but any helpful hints to speed me along the way will be very, very much appreciated!

[I moved this here so it would be more easily found, I hope you don't mind, Maureen! -Paula]

I'm new to the forum and to dyeing, so I apologize if this has been covered: how do I get a really dark brown (the color of bittersweet chocolate, but not dark enough to confuse with black) on cotton? The "dark" brown advertised by Procion looks decidedly medium-brown on all of the color-sample sheets. Might it work to experiment with combining that dye with dark red and black? I'm willing to do lots of experimenting, but I'd like to know whether anyone else has had success getting a nice, rich, dark brown that's colorfast.

Komikos

I will freely admit that I don't mix my own colors much. I've had a lot of fun using Dharma's premixed Procion MX colors and watching what happens when I use them. I don't really want to spend my time mixing and remixing colors trying to get the one I want.

But now I am paying the price for that unwillingness. Dharma has a color called Golden Brown. It's a very nice brown and I've dyed silk with it in the past. But now I'm trying to dye lighter shades of it. The less dye I use and the shorter I make my soak time... the oranger it gets! Instead of getting a pale golden brown I'm getting a sort of terra-cotta orange.

I have several orders for shirts done in Miami Dolphins colors. Of course, the Dolphins orange is no problem. It's the teal / blue-green color that is going to be an issue. I have tried several pre-mixed colors: Marine (Pro-Chem--too dark) and another color ordered from Dharma (the name escapes me now--not even close). In my book, this color is particularly hard to figure out at least for me. Many months ago I 'accidently' mixed the teal/blue-green Dolphins color. Of course, I did not write it down. Does anyone have any ideas? I appreciate all your help. Thanks!
Toni

I'm not sure if anyone has heard but the " RIT DYE " Company has dis-contiued the Peach color dye. According to my Rit dye chart the recipe for flesh is as follows...........

(2) tsps. of Tan
(1) tsp. of peach

My question is how do you make the peach color or does anyone have a formula for " FLESH " dye.

I use this to dye puppet fabric.

SS Puppets/aka Billy

Maiwa Handprints, a good source for dyes and supplies in Vancouver, has a PDF page of instructions for Procion MX dyes that includes color mixing recipes. I believe that these recipes are calculated for use on cotton or other cellulose fabric, not silk....