How can I avoid felting wool when I dye it?

I realize that dyeing wool fibre in a tea urn and agitating the fibre will cause some felting.

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However, I have managed to get felting simply by slowly draining off the hot water through the tap. Is this sufficient to cause felting, or is the water temperature also a factor? I am not aware of the urn actually boiling as it has a built-in thermostat.

Felting is caused not only by agitation, but also by sudden changes in temperature. This is why, in dyeing wool, recipes advise only gradual changes in temperature, bringing up the temperature of the dyebath slowly from room temperature only after adding the wool to it, then, after the dyeing period is complete, allowing the dyebath to cool to room temperature before removing and rinsing the wool in room-temperature water.

It is okay to use quite high temperatures in dyeing wool, even bringing the dyebath to a boil, as long as the change in temperature is sufficiently gradual. Do not rinse hot wool in room temperature water, or put room temperature wool into a hot dyebath, because you want to avoid the shock of the sudden temperature change.

Felting is also encouraged by exposing the wool to a high pH. It is important to dye wool under acid conditions, which is to say, at a low pH. What kind of dye are you using, and what else are you adding to your dyebath? There are some dyes which are sold already mixed with a high-pH chemical, designed for use in dyeing plant fibers, such as cotton. Silk is sturdier and can be dyed under these circumstances, but wool is sensitive to damage. Don't use a high-pH dye mixture, such as Dylon Permanent dye or Tulip Permanent dye, on wool. There are many different acid dyes that are suitable for use on wool; see my pages "About Acid Dyes" and "How to Dye Wool".

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Posted: Monday - January 24, 2011 at 09:35 AM

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How can I avoid felting wool when I dye it?

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