Name: Honor

Message: Dear Paula,
 I am currently dyeing a 100% cotton fabric with Procion MX dyes. I then want to block or "stamp" a design on the fabric, but I would prefer using a dye instead of a paint. Can You recommend any 'paintable dyes', or thickeners to create a paintable texture in a dye. And if there are any additional steps inorder to insure that the additional 'blocked' patterns adhere to the fabric.
Thank you so much and I hope to hear from you soon!

There are two good thickeners you can use for your Procion MX dyes (and other fiber reactive dyes): one is a liquid called Superclear, and the other a powder called sodium alginate. You can also buy sodium alginate already mixed into something called Print Paste Mix, from PRO Chemical & Dye. See "Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners".

I strongly recommend that you use the water softener sodium hexametaphosphate in your dye mixtures when working with sodium alginate, to prevent it from forming a gel.

It's handy to use your soda ash, for fixing the Procion MX dye, by presoaking the fabric and then letting it line-dry. You can do this with the fabric you have already dyed and washed out.

A good guide to painting and printing with Procion MX dye is Ann Johnston's 2001 book, Color by Design: Paint and Print with Dye

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