community of dyers

This forum is for all sorts of hand-dyers to post links to pictures of their work and discuss dyeing with other dyers. Please jump right in and post. We'd like to see your work!

Click on list of topics at the upper left to see a list of all forum topics. Choose the most closely related section to post your new topic, or reply to an existing post using 'add new comment' or 'reply', under the post.

Look under 'Recent comments' and 'New forum topics' in the right-hand margin to keep up with new posts. [Click 'read more' to see the rest of this post.]

I am a puppet builder and I am in need of dyes that are blacklight reactive. I need to dye Antron Fleece. I am looking for neon pink, green, yellow and orange. Does anyone know of ANY company I can get it from? RIT used to carry it, but it was discontinued several years ago. I need it like yesterday. =)

Barbara The Puppetlady
Puppetlady Workshop

Justine Richardson, from The Alliance for American Quilts, emailed me recently with an intriguing query. Do you know of any quilt that has been made with a chemistry-related theme?

I immediately started picturing what such a quilt might be. I'd like it to use hexagonal patches to represent the six-sided rings found in most dye molecules; further, I'd like the molecules depicted to include all of the dyes used to color the quilt (see What is the chemical structure of Procion MX dye? for examples). Perhaps the quilting itself, used to hold the layers of fabric together with the backing, might be a simplified cellulose molecule, something like this one, but with lines instead of balls:

I was wondering what type of dyes you use to do mudmee tie dying. I really like the colors but I can't get those with my procion mx reactive dyes. I really need a how to guide like on DVD or in a book. If anyone knows where to find a how to guide or has any information on how to do this, please let me know. If you don't know what mudmee is I'm talking about the kind of stuff they do on thaidye.com
Thanks for your help.

I am participating in a dyers' round robin, and have a piece of cloth I will be adding to. Currently, there are 3-4 colors on the cloth, and I am trying to determine a color or colors to add that will blend in a pleasing manner. I was hoping to do some experimenting using the dye mixer's applet, but the selection of colors on the applet is very limited. Any suggestions as to how I can get an idea of what colors to use? The colors already on the cloth are not all in my collection of dyes, plus the fabric is a rayon twill, so even if I experimented on cotton there is no guarantee it will look the same.

I am hoping to remove some color from silk fabric by painting on Rit color remover. I read in Dharma's instructions that one can do this using a steam iron, but am not clear exactly what to do. Has anybody tried it? I can't use the pot method because I don't want an even color, I want something mottled, or a pattern, if possible, but do I have to do this outside? How can I tell whether enough dye has gone if I have to keep the material covered with paper towels? Or should I use paper towels at all, instead of a pressing cloth?
I will be grateful for any step by step instructions.

I'm planning to dye a silk cotton blend orange with natural dyes. I'm thinking, after mordanting with alum, to dye yellow and then overdye with madder. Is this a good idea? Or should I dye with madder first and then overdye with something yellow? Or just try to get orange with one dye? Does anyone know of any flowers that produce a good dye? I live very close to a huge flower market and thought it would be fun to get something there for a dyestuff. Does anyone know how fast marigolds are? I was thinking of using goldenrod, but I think that is more of a weed that is probably not sold at a flower market, and I have no idea where to go pick it or even when it is in season.

Hello,

I have my class B, standard blue uniform pants, that are Nomex.
Several of us are looking at ways to darken the pants back to original or darker than original from new.

Its 98% Aramid Fiber 2% Carbon Filament

Target color is Navy Blue or a combo of Navy Blue and Black to reach a darker color.

What type of Dye would work?

Thanks
Dan

Hi, I am a newbie hobbyist and have enjoyed working with procion dyes to do some small silk paintings. I am interested in making a larger piece, mural size, and am wondering if it is absolutely necessary to keep the silk wet for 12 to 24 hours to produce the bright colors I would like. I would like the silk to maintain its luster and softness and that is why I enjoy using the procion dyes, but I am open to other options as well. I prefer to use heat set iron dyes and paints over a steamer, in fact I am not sure the large piece I do would fit in a steamer.
Thank you!

I've been dyeing a few years now, and gradually I've gone through what I imagine is the usual amateur crafter spectrum:

--dye for yourself
--dye for friends
--dye for friends who then pay you for your work
--dye and sell a few things, then a few more things
--dye and actually take things to an informal neighborhood market to sell

I've done all this without really considering the business aspects, because frankly, my net profit hovers around $0. I do it because I like to, and haven't sought out the cheapest sources of supply, et cetera, that would allow me to make more money from what I do.

I would like to realise some complicated drawings and I would like to know to delimitate the areas in a picture if there are another technique apart of gutta. I was thinking in something like transfers so the line could be thinner than I want and constant. Or if you recommend me gutta, what tecnique is better?

I'm thinking whether urea would increase solubility of other than reactive dyes. Maybe I read it somewhere, that one of urea's purpose in textile industry is moderating solubility of dyes. Is that true?

I would like to dye a jewish prayer shawl that happens to be wool. Will Procion MX dye work or do I need special dye for wool?

thanks

~Elisheva

I've found these two articles:
http://www.jacquardproducts.com/support/instructions/chemresist1.php
http://www.jacquardproducts.com/support/instructions/chemresist2.php

Does anyone know what effect we could get by applying this process?

Does anybody out there understand why the dye sometimes just rolls off the surface of a presoaked piece? I used to dye things damp, but have recently been experimenting with dryer pieces. I think mandala designs in particular come out better when they're dryer. You get richer color, less white and just more control over where the dye ends up. That is, IF you've manage to achieve exactly the right moisture content (or lack thereof!) I can't tell you how many times I've intricately folded a piece, tried to dye it and, failing, had to untie it and throw it back in to soak because the dye just won't absorb into the shirt! I'm so frustrated!!!

Hello--

I hope this is ok to post--I've seen a lot of similar topics on this site, but am still a bit confused.

This weekend we're planning to tie dye ~300 shirts for a spring fair fundraiser.

I know every dye is different and formulas can be problematic--but we're going to have volunteers coming in and out all weekend and need to keep things simple.

We're using 32 ounce squeeze bottles of dye, and we bought the Dharma fiber reactive dyes.

Per 32 ounce bottle--

2 to 5 tablespoons of dye (depending on whether it's the single or double strength)
2 tbsp of soda ash

1) Do these numbers sound reasonable? (For dye--I'm going off the numbers a dharma person gave me--but do you think we could cut it down a little to make sure we don't run out?)

Hi Everyone, this is my first post here. Anyway, I recently bought a brown corduroy 100% cotton jacket at a vintage clothing store. I didn't notice the discoloration in the dim store light til I paid (no refunds...doh!) and went out into the sunlight where it was pretty clear. It's kind of a gradual fade from a dirty brown to a warm tan over the entire surface. I don't know if it's a stain or sun-bleaching or what. I figure I can dye it, but is my only option to dye it black to cover the discoloration? Will I need to bleach it first? Please help educate a noob!

Thanks!

Ryan

Looking for tie dyer for t-shirts and wraps

Hi,

My name is Karen Cherniack and I am looking for help! I live in sourhern California and I need to find someone who does tie dye projects and possibly even some stamping and airbrush work. I am working on some t-shirts and wraps with rhinestone transfers and foils or stamping that I would like to do tie dye or air brush with.

Do any of you do this type of work? If you are in southern California great! Even if you are not I would still like to get in contact with you to see how we could explore working together.

Thanks so so much for your help!

I just did a huge batch of onesies, sheets and diaper cloths. since there were so many I actually put in a load of blue colored ones (darker colors) into the washing machine. I just took a look at it and it bled ALL over EVERYTHING! everything is blue and stained! what did I do wrong?! what can I do??? I am puting it in for another run again on the hottest setting. I still have a load of my red's next - but im afraid! also, after I dyed the stuff I let it sit for more than 2 days so it cant be that I didnt let it react - and its hot!!!

PLEASE PLEEEEEEEEEEASE HELP!!!!

~Elisheva

Sometimes a question comes through that just boggles my mind. Look at today's dyeblog entry, "A friend of mine told me that she uses RIT dye to dye her eggs". A little web searching turned up utterly preposterous claims that it's perfectly safe to use Rit clothing dye to dye eggs that will later be eaten, e.g., under here, here, here, and here.

Here we are concerned about whether someone reuses a dyepot for cooking, even after washing it thoroughly, and this woman's friend is giving her children Rit-dyed eggs to eat! This can't possibly be safe, because some of the shell dye always gets on the eggs when you go to peel them.

-Paula