I am doing arashi shibori in 100% light silk and using Dupont acid dye. I have problems having even colors with dark colors. Any suggestions?

Name: Corina

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Shibori: Creating Color and Texture On Silk

by Karren Brito

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Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing

by Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, Mary Kellogg Rice, and Jane J. Barton

Country or region: Canada

Message: I am doing arashi shibori in 100% light silk and using Dupont acid dye. I have problems having even colors with dark colors. Any suggestions?

I'm not a great fan of any of the French silk dyes, including H. Dupont, Pebeo, Sennelier, and Kniazeff, because they contain a wide range of different dye types, but you almost never know which dye type you have in any particular color. Some colors contain acid dyes, some contain basic dyes, and some even contain fiber reactive dyes. The manufacturers of the French silk dyes are very secretive about their formulas, making it extremely difficult to know how to trouble-shoot problems. (See my forum post "what's in the French silk dyes?".)

If you look at the bottles of H. Dupont Silk Dyes, assuming that they are the dyes with which I'm familiar, you will not see them described as acid dyes, only as "colors for silk and wool". Their purpose seems to be entirely for painting, not for immersion dyeing for shibori, nor for producing an even solid color. If you want to produce more even colors, I think you will be happier with another type of dye, one in which level coloring is one of the manufacturer's goals.

The two forms of acid dyes I've seen most recommended for silk shibori are the WashFast Acid dyes, and the Lanaset dyes. Lanaset dyes are more washfast than the WashFast acid dyes (in spite of the name of the latter), and, with the recommended auxiliary chemicals, are better for obtaining level colors, but both should be much more reliable at producing a smooth even color, and both more light-resistant and washfast than most colors of the French silk painting dyes. Lanaset dyes are more expensive than WashFast Acid Dyes, but they produce very concentrated, rich colors. All powdered dyes are highly economical, in the long run, when compared to small jars of silk paint. A good Canadian source for both of these dye classes is Maiwa Handprints, while good US sources include PRO Chemical & Dye, Earth Guild, and Paradise Fibers.

There is more information available about how to solve specific dyeing issues with the Lanaset or WashFast dyes than there is for any of the French silk painting dyes. Karren Brito provides detailed information about using WashFast Acid Dyes and Lanaset dyes in her book, Shibori: Creating Color and Texture On Silk. It's a very good book, and I would recommend you take a look at it. It's currently out of print, but you might be able to find a copy at your local public library, or through interlibrary loan.

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