Name: Roger

Country: Trinidad and Tobago

Message: Hi Guys,

Can you tell me where I can possibly find the small tinlets of Dylon Hot water Multi Purpose Dye, namely, the color called 'Coffee'? It was widely available years ago. Is it that it is no longer in production. It's really very frustrating finding a product that you love and then suddenly learning that it is no longer produced! I recently bought the Dylon Dye in the new packaging, the closest color being 'Dark Brown'. So far, I'm not impressed. Even the Dye powder itself seems much more diluted than what was available before which seemed pretty concentrated. Why would Dylon make an inferior product to what they had before? 

I know that you said that the cold water dyes are better but the color I need is not availabale. I want a very Dark rich chocolate brown color. Anyways, can you direct me as to where I might be able to get the tins of Hot Water Multi Purpose Dye especially for that particular color? Or, are there alternatives that I can use? What do you think of the brand 'Wiki Wiki' line of Dyes? 

Manhattan Wardrobe Supply says that Dylon has discontinued the "Coffee" color of their Multi-Purpose dyes. I'm sorry, because I know it is very disheartening when a color that you have grown to depend on is no longer available. Dylon's color decisions are based on mysterious factors involving fashion predictions; they are not oriented toward fiber artists, who need reproducibility in their colors.

I'm afraid that you are going to have to start over again with a new type of dye. Brown dyes in general are composed of several different dye colors, mixed together. It is often difficult to predict how a new color of dye will turn out on your own materials. You will have to do a certain amount of testing before you will find the perfect dye color for your particular purposes.

Since you must start with a new dye, now would be a good time for you to consider switching to an entirely different type of dye. I believe that there is less frustration involved in using dye colors from a less fashion-oriented dye supplier. The kind of dye you should use depends on the type of fiber you are dyeing. If you are dyeing cotton, linen, rayon, or any other plant fiber, I do recommend fiber reactive dyes, as you have already noted. If you are dyeing nylon, or wool or another animal fiber, I recommend a good line of acid dyes, such as the WashFast Acid Dyes or the Lanaset dyes. If you are dyeing polyester, you must use a type of dye called disperse dye.

In order to find a premixed brown dye that is close to the color you want, you will do best to order from a large supplier that sells a great many different premixed dye colors, such as Dharma Trading Company, PRO Chemical & Dye, or Jacquard Products; Jacquard Products also sells their dyes through a number of other retailers. I believe that both Dharma and ProChem will ship to Trinidad and Tobago. The largest number of different premixed dye colors are available among the Procion MX dyes, which Dharma sells as "Dharma Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes" and ProChem sells as "PRO MX Reactive Dyes". 

Your best bet is to order several different likely shades of brown from either ProChem or Dharma, judging from the color chip on their website. For more predictable colors, you can order a printed color chart from either company (Dharma's color chart is included in their catalog). If none of the companies I recommend has quite the right brown, you can make the colors they do have darker by simply using twice as much dye powder, or lighter by using less dye powder; if the brown is a little bit too greenish, you can mix in a bit of red dye, or if it is too reddish, a bit of green dye. Let me know, if you get to that stage, whether you need more advice on color mixing.

There are several advantages is dealing with a specialized dye supplier, such as ProChem or Dharma, instead of with a fashion-oriented company like Dylon. The dyes are very concentrated, and you can get far more technical support from the suppliers. The cost of the dye needed to color one pound of fabric is much lower. The colors may be more consistent, and they are likely to be available for a longer period of time, though occasionally changes in dye manufacture can affect the availability of some dye mixtures.

I'm afraid that I can't say anything about the "Wiki Wiki" line of dyes, as your message is the first I have heard of them, and I can't find a source of information on them through a quick web search. I would be interested to know whatever you find out about them.

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