|
Post by lomahfelt on Jul 28, 2019 3:10:41 GMT
I think finally I have found a place I can get an answer to a question I've had for the past 18mths... can you dye combed merino tops and get a perfect fluffy result? I dye pretty much all my wool, as I love playing with colours, and when I buy wool I never know what colour I might want next month, so I buy white. I have tried stove top and microwave...I think it is called immersion...where the fibre sits in the dye solution...stove top I have more water...microwave it is just to the depth of wool. I use a thermometer to make sure temp does not go too high...for wool I take it to approx 95*C...I use acid and/or premetalised dyes. I can get the colour into my wool well (except browns...that will be my next thread)...my only 'problem' is the final result always has a fine felted skin surface....not to the point of unusable (anymore!!!)... but I always have to work the roving before I can draft it out for felting. And there is no comparison to my dyed wool and the original white... layout with white is like a dream...fine and floaty... my couloured is often clumpy and takes 2-3x as long to layout, especially if I'm aiming for fine and even. I believe I take every precaution to not agitate the wool...although rinsing requires a lot of water to move through it so I expect this is where it is getting felted...I fill the tub with warm water then emerge wool...leave it approx 1min then let water go and repeat until water is clear...I exhaust the dye pot usually so it only takes a 4-5 rinses typically. I am considering if I should buy a drum carder to run the wool through after dyeing?....what does everyone else do?
|
|
|
Post by Shepherdess on Jul 28, 2019 11:00:08 GMT
Questions: The warm rinse water is it the same temp or hotter then the dye water you are taking it out of? Is your water hard or soft?
One thing that can help is to give the top a good shaking after it is dry. when you dye to take all the air out of the top. It is a good idea to dye in something like a mesh laundry bag so you can remove it from the water easily without much handling
|
|
|
Post by MTRuth on Jul 28, 2019 14:52:38 GMT
I find it hard to get "perfection" when dyeing. As Ann indicated, you need to keep the wool at the same temperature throughout the process. I think it's easier to dye and then run it through the drum carder to get smoothness.
|
|
|
Post by lomahfelt on Jul 29, 2019 1:58:17 GMT
Thanks ladies...at rinsing I tend to start with a fairly warm rinse...much the same as dye bath has cooled to...ie a very comfortable bath temp and then a gradual drop in temp each time but still warm...I stopped the cold rinse that most info sheets suggest some time ago as I thought it wasn't helpful...(and since I was wet felting my wool rather than spinning)...I reasoned that I needed a warm rinse as least as warm as my felting solution..ie I have had dye bleed because my felting water was too warm and I hadn't rinsed enough dye out...it is soooo tricky to judge this. When my wool is dry I spend about 30mins puffing and fluffing and teasing and shaking the wool back...that's on a piece of roving about 100-150g (merino only...other wools are not a problem). I think I have to accept hand dyed wool is slower to work with...or try carding it afterwards
|
|
|
Post by lomahfelt on Jul 29, 2019 2:11:38 GMT
re is the water hard or soft?....I would say in between.. it lathers well so not hard...but I don't think it is overly 'soft either...it is town supply so has been treated. I haven't tried dying my wool in a net bag...I do this for my silk fibres to help stop them 'misbehaving' in the bath!!!!...I am a member of a couple of wool crafty groups...will ask around if someone has a drum carder I can borrow to trial
|
|
|
Post by Shepherdess on Jul 29, 2019 11:56:11 GMT
Merino is definitely one of the hardest to do without felting it a little. As for bleeding even the big companies wool will blead a little when you are felting. It always seems to be done by the time your done felting and rinsing. So don't be hard on yourself.
|
|
|
Post by lomahfelt on Jul 30, 2019 3:53:30 GMT
yep nearly all my wool bleeds.. all good unless I'm doing red and white pattern... lol...recently I made a wrap with a natural silver merino that I had over dyed with a red...forgetting about bleed, I laid out the entire top with a cobweb of white silk fibre...oh what a pretty pink it turned!!!! my other issue with bleeding is my work room has carpet....have to reach quick for a towel if I hear that drip drip dripping.... thanks for info...I feel a lot more confident with my dying now...a good lesson to look at what I do achieve rather than what I don't. I was laying out a bit of my early dyed wool last night, and although it was holding together rather, I realised I was achieving a really fine layout because of this...ie the previous thing I made was white...and because the wool pulled away easier I was putting more down...hahaha sometimes the easiest way to fix something is change the way we look at it!!!
|
|
|
Post by Shepherdess on Jul 31, 2019 23:14:47 GMT
I like the red form world of wool. It seems to hold without bleeding. I feel for you with bleeding red. I made a white scarf and used some red commercial pencil roving. They call it country roving but it is 5 thing strands like its ready to go through the spinning machine. I made a nice design on top and then when I wet it the red blead into the white.
|
|
|
Post by Pandagirl on Aug 1, 2019 1:57:39 GMT
I like the red form world of wool. It seems to hold without bleeding. I feel for you with bleeding red. I made a white scarf and used some red commercial pencil roving. They call it country roving but it is 5 thing strands like its ready to go through the spinning machine. I made a nice design on top and then when I wet it the red blead into the white. 😕
|
|
|
Post by lomahfelt on Aug 5, 2019 7:14:37 GMT
I spent another day dying this weekend, trying a few different things...and I'm happy to say I have achieved a result in the finished quality of my merino tops that I'm happy with..4 batches that came out really nice and fluffy and will be easy to work with. I think the two factors that made a difference are: 1) being very particular with the rinse temperate being the same as the wool temp - not to the point where I used a thermometer!!!...but trying to match the temp by feel 2) No movement or running water for the rinse...just filled the tub, lay wool in and let it spread out, left for 5mins then repeated...as for the brown...I will mention that on the brown dye thread!!
|
|