Looking for an intense blue Procion MX dye color


Name: M West

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Procion mx fiber reactive cold water dye

Procion MX  Dye

ideal for cotton, rayon, linen, and silk

When mixed with soda ash, Procion dyes are permanent, colorfast, and very washable. You can easily create a palette of brilliant colors ranging from light pastels to deep, vibrant hues.

 
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Jacquard tie dye kit

Jacquard Tie Dye Kit

Dye up to 15 adult-size T-shirts, with vivid, electric colors that are so colorfast they can be washed with the daily laundry.



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Country or region: USA
Message: TRYING TO FIND A PROCION MX COLOR THAT IS THE CLOSEST TO H Liquid Blue H-5RL 33% AS SEEN ON THE PRO CHEM WEBSITE. THANK YOU SO MUCH

ProChem's Procion H Liquid Blue H-5RL 33% was a beautiful brilliant lapis blue, which they represented on their site by the gorgeous blue color on the left of the two chips below:
BlueH5rl.jpg H 5r
ProChem discontinued selling their liquid form of the Procion H dyes, but they still carry the powder form. I believe that their powder PRO Reddish Blue H-5R H-Reactive Dye is probably the same dye, but it is represented by a darker color chip on their web site, as copied in the color chip on the right, above; you will always get a darker color if you use more dye, and a lighter color if you use less dye, relative to the amount of fiber you are dyeing, so it's hard to judge any dye color from a single color chip. It's an anthraquinone dye, known generically as Colour Index Reactive Blue 234.

blue-turq-top-remazol-web.jpgAmong liquid reactive dyes, the Remazol dye, Colour Index Reactive Blue 19, which ProChem sells as their LR406 Intense Blue, is very similar in color to the color chip on the left above, and has a very similar chemical structure, as well, since both are anthraquinone dyes. Here, at the left, is a picture of a woven rayon shirt that I dyed with a combination of Reactive Blue 19 and the brilliant turquoise Reactive Blue 21; look at the more royal blue sections of the shirt to get an idea of what the Reactive Blue 19 dye looks like.

However, I gather from your message that it's the color that you want to duplicate, not the specific dye, and that you would prefer to use Procion Mx dyes. Procion MX dyes are similar in chemical structure to the Procion H dyes, but they react with the fiber you're dyeing at a much lower temperature. Where Procion H dyes require steam-setting, or application in a hot water dyebath, and Remazol dyes work best with hot tap water temperatures of at least 120° Fahrenheit, Procion MX dyes work very well at room temperature. Any temperature over 70°F will work well for Procion MX dyes, when you are using soda ash as the dye fixative, so there is no need for heat-setting at all.

RB163.jpg I usually prefer to work with the pure single-hue unmixed Procion MX dyes, as listed on my page, "Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?". The most brilliant medium blue among the unmixed Procion MX dyes is reactive blue 163, or Procion Blue MX-G, which ProChem calls Intense Blue, and other dye companies call Cerulean Blue. It is a lovely clear intense blue. (I'm including an image of this dye color from Dr. Steve Mihok's excellent pages on blue dyes for fly traps.) This color is a little more greenish than the color you are seeking. You can 'correct' the color to a truer blue by adding a few grains of red MX-5B (light red or mixing red or magenta, generically known as reactive red 2) or of red MX-8B (fuchsia, or reactive red 11). 

The hue of Procion Blue MX-R, which ProChem calls Basic Blue, and Dharma Trading Company calls Sky Blue, is close to the lapis blue you're seeking, but the color is definitely duller and darker, if you use enough dye powder to get an intense blue, so that's probably not what you're after. I would call it more of a navy blue. It's a nice blue, but not clear and bright like Cerulean Blue, and not as useful for mixing other bright colors, either.

You may prefer to buy a pre-mixed brilliant blue Procion MX blue dye. Consider ProChem's 404 Brightest Blue, which is a very popular mixture. Dharma sells a rather similar color in their mixture PR95 Procion Royal Blue. Premixed colors do not work quite as well to use as primaries for mixing other colors, but they are a great convenience whenever you find one that is exactly the color you're looking for.

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Posted: Monday - July 12, 2010 at 10:50 AM          

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