looking for an agent that will prevent the surface of fabric from dying

[nochii]

I'll try to explain:
say I want to dye fabric and want to print some circles that will stay
in the original color of the fabric.
I imagine that before I dye the whole fabric I'll have to "paint" the
circles using something that will prevent the dye from getting into
the actual design.

Is there something out there that I can use for that purpose?


thanks

R

[Penny S.]

nochii scribbled :
> I'll try to explain:
> say I want to dye fabric and want to print some circles that will stay
> in the original color of the fabric.
> I imagine that before I dye the whole fabric I'll have to "paint" the
> circles using something that will prevent the dye from getting into
> the actual design.
>
> Is there something out there that I can use for that purpose?
>
>
> thanks
>
> R

wax, it's called batik.

more info@ www.dharmatrading.com

[Trishty]

On 23 Jul 2003 10:06:45 -0700, nochii wrote:

> I'll try to explain:
> say I want to dye fabric and want to print some circles that will stay
> in the original color of the fabric.
> I imagine that before I dye the whole fabric I'll have to "paint" the
> circles using something that will prevent the dye from getting into
> the actual design.
>
> Is there something out there that I can use for that purpose?
>
>
> thanks
>
> R

That's a perfect description of resist dyeing. You paint the areas you
don't want dyed with 'resist' and then dye the whole item. Then you wash
the resist out. You generally have to use cold-water dye.

There are various sorts of resist, but the most common is wax - that
technique is called batik. There are some issues involved with batik, such
as the type of wax and how it's applied, that you need to know. It's a bit
lengthy to go into here, so if I were you, I'd try googling on the word
'batik' or 'batik techniques'. If you can't find anything, look on
www.amazon.com, where there are masses of books on the subject. Creative
Batik by Rosie Robinson is a pretty good one, with different techniques and
projects to try.

:) Trish

[Sally Holmes]

"nochii" > wrote in message
om...
> I'll try to explain:
> say I want to dye fabric and want to print some circles that will stay
> in the original color of the fabric.
> I imagine that before I dye the whole fabric I'll have to "paint" the
> circles using something that will prevent the dye from getting into
> the actual design.
>
> Is there something out there that I can use for that purpose?

It depends on what sort of dye you're using, which depends on what sort of
fabric you're using.

If you're dyeing cotton or other cellulose fibres, the best dye is Procion
MX. You can buy it from Dharma Trading, www.dharma.com, Prochem,
www.prochem.com , or Kemtex, www.kemtex.co.uk and lots of other places
including some craft shops. If it's silk you'll get good results with silk
paints, from the same places. Dharma and Prochem have good directions
on-line.

The substance that stops dye getting at the fabric is called a resist. There
are many: the most common are threads or rubber bands for tiedye, batik wax
for cottons and gutta for silk paints. If you're not going to be smooching
the fabric around much to get an even colour you can use wash-out PVA glue.
Just make sure it penetrates the fabric completely or it won't stop the dye
getting to it.

HTH

--
Sally Holmes
Wakefield, West Yorkshire
England