Dyeing experiments

[Sue Carlson Dunn]

Well, after all that useful information from Sonya, Helen and Els
(many thanks!), I just had to have a dabble...

I found some black food colouring liquid at the back of a cupboard and
sloshed some into a bowl with some warm water. Then I soaked about 100
yards of the yellow cashmere in some warm water with added vinegar,
squeezed it out and chucked it in the dye bath for half an hour. When
it came out, I rinsed it and almost all of the colour washed out, so I
sloshed some vinegar into the dye bath and tried again. The colour
stuck this time! Then the hank went into hot water (with vinegar) in
the oven at about 90C (maybe less) for another half hour. Then rinse
under the tap, blot on a towel and hang up to dry.

The result is a hank of cashmere that is a rather uninspiring
mid-brown colour with some dark brown and light brown patches - but
the experiment worked!

Ferreting around in the cupboards again revealed blue and yellow food
colouring - now I'm getting ambitious! Soaked another hank in acid
water, then made up strong colours in two egg cups and stuck opposite
ends of the hank in each for half an hour. Rinse and into the oven as
before.

This one turned out pale green with a dark yellow/orange end and a
purple end.

Great fun, even if the kitchen does smell like a chippy!

I'll put some pictures on my Project Pages when everything has dried.
Now what else can I find to play with...? Hmm, let's see now...
beetroot, turmeric, red wine, tomato paste, gravy browning... I'll
just think of all those things that are so difficult to wash out when
you really want them to! ;-)

--
Sue CD...quietly unravelling in Cumbria...
Pot Luck Crafts www.howhill.com
Sue's Project Pages www.howhill.com/projects
Please take off your shoes to email me!

[Sonya Cirillo]

Cool - glad you're finding things that work! You'll find a color combo
you like soon at this rate :)

Sonya

>
> I'll put some pictures on my Project Pages when everything has dried.
> Now what else can I find to play with...? Hmm, let's see now...
> beetroot, turmeric, red wine, tomato paste, gravy browning... I'll
> just think of all those things that are so difficult to wash out when
> you really want them to! ;-)
>
> --
> Sue CD...quietly unravelling in Cumbria...
> Pot Luck Crafts www.howhill.com
> Sue's Project Pages www.howhill.com/projects
> Please take off your shoes to email me!
>
>

[Helen \Halla\ Fleischer]

| On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 15:37:36 +0100, "Sue Carlson Dunn" > wrote:

>Well, after all that useful information from Sonya, Helen and Els
>(many thanks!), I just had to have a dabble...
>
>I found some black food colouring liquid at the back of a cupboard and
>sloshed some into a bowl with some warm water. Then I soaked about 100
>yards of the yellow cashmere in some warm water with added vinegar,
>squeezed it out and chucked it in the dye bath for half an hour. When
>it came out, I rinsed it and almost all of the colour washed out, so I
>sloshed some vinegar into the dye bath and tried again. The colour
>stuck this time! Then the hank went into hot water (with vinegar) in
>the oven at about 90C (maybe less) for another half hour. Then rinse
>under the tap, blot on a towel and hang up to dry.

Okay, I think you're mixing up the painting methods and the vat methods
here. If you're soaking the whole skein, you mix up a dye bath with both
the color and the vinegar in them, no need to do separate steps.

>The result is a hank of cashmere that is a rather uninspiring
>mid-brown colour with some dark brown and light brown patches - but
>the experiment worked!
>
>Ferreting around in the cupboards again revealed blue and yellow food
>colouring - now I'm getting ambitious! Soaked another hank in acid
>water, then made up strong colours in two egg cups and stuck opposite
>ends of the hank in each for half an hour. Rinse and into the oven as
>before.

And here, no need to rinse before you heat set, only after. Also no need
pre-soak in the vinegar if you're sticking the skein into liquid dye. The
vinegar can be in the liquid. The painting method is to pre-soak and
squeeze to just damp, then apply the color, heat set it and THEN rinse. The
vinegar can be mixed into the color or the pre-soak in that case, which
ever you find easier. The color sets when is it both warm and acidic at the
same time.

>I'll put some pictures on my Project Pages when everything has dried.
>Now what else can I find to play with...? Hmm, let's see now...
>beetroot, turmeric, red wine, tomato paste, gravy browning... I'll
>just think of all those things that are so difficult to wash out when
>you really want them to! ;-)

Beet root color is not light fast, though. It gradually fades to grey, as
does wine. Turmeric is quite a nice dye; resistant to light and washing.


Helen "Halla" Fleischer,
Fantasy & Fiber Artist in Fairland, MD USA
http://home.covad.net/~drgandalf/halla/

[Sue Carlson Dunn]

"Helen "Halla" Fleischer" > wrote in message
...
> Okay, I think you're mixing up the painting methods and the vat
methods
> here. If you're soaking the whole skein, you mix up a dye bath with
both
> the color and the vinegar in them, no need to do separate steps.

Yes, I realised that when I re-read your comprehensive 'structions!
But the vinegar "pre-wash" did bring quite a bit of dirt out of the
yarn, and because the water here is quite hard and I was just
experimenting I thought that a bit of vinegar in everything wouldn't
go amiss. Now that I know that the theory works, I'll simplify the
technique, although probably keep the vinegar pre-wash as a cleaning
stage.

> Beet root color is not light fast, though. It gradually fades to
grey, as
> does wine. Turmeric is quite a nice dye; resistant to light and
washing.

Thanks - I have about half a pound of turmeric in various pots, mostly
gifts from fellow curry-lovers!
--
Sue CD...quietly unravelling in Cumbria...
Pot Luck Crafts www.howhill.com
Sue's Project Pages www.howhill.com/projects
Please take off your shoes to email me!

[Ophelia]

"Sue Carlson Dunn" > wrote in message
...
> "Helen "Halla" Fleischer" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Okay, I think you're mixing up the painting methods and the vat
> methods
> > here. If you're soaking the whole skein, you mix up a dye bath with
> both
> > the color and the vinegar in them, no need to do separate steps.
>
> Yes, I realised that when I re-read your comprehensive 'structions!


Please may I have the comprehensive 'structions' ?

Ophelia

[Ophelia]

"Sue Carlson Dunn" > wrote in message
...
> "Ophelia" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Sue Carlson Dunn" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > "Helen "Halla" Fleischer" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> > > > Okay, I think you're mixing up the painting methods and the vat
> > > methods
> > > > here. If you're soaking the whole skein, you mix up a dye bath
> with
> > > both
> > > > the color and the vinegar in them, no need to do separate steps.
> > >
> > > Yes, I realised that when I re-read your comprehensive
> 'structions!
> >
> >
> > Please may I have the comprehensive 'structions' ?
>
> Have a look at the thread with subject line "A question of
> dyeing..." - it's all there in glorious detail!

Thank you Sue:))

O