Dying fibres with Procion fibre reactive dyes

[zed]

I used Lyn's tutorial: rosiepink.typepad.co.uk/rosiepink/tutorial-hand-dyeing-scri.html

I tied up samples of fibre and left them to dye in the tub, I didn't agitate them because I knew some would separate and I just wanted an idea of what would dye

This is cotton top, nylon top and fake angora:


Hemp, flax and banana (could be flax, hemp, the labels got soggy!):


Milk, Ramie, Viscose and Soy:


And this is silk, bamboo and Ingeo:

[Teri Berry]

Wow - you have got some wildly varying results there Zed - did they all go in the same dye tub for the same length of time and what colour did it say on the packet?

Top tip I learned from my spinners guild is to tie knots in the string, 1 knot for hemp, 2 knots for cotton etc that way there are no labels to get soggy

[Deleted]

Hello Zed, I love looking at all your experiments.. Pretty neat colors and I love them all..

Lyn you scrim tutorial is great. I had not seen it before.. I have lots of undyed scrim and one day I will give it a go..

We have inches and inches of snow.. This Winter is starting out again like last Winter which was our worst on record... Extremely sad face...

[Pandagirl]

Zed, the samples look great. Certainly varying results. It's good know the different reactions when you are trying to achieve something specific.

Teri, that's a good idea about the knots. My problem is once I'm ready to go I just want to get on with it. I'm not sure I'd have the patience. :-)

Judy, we had snow in Chicago, too, and bitter cold yesterday. However, now I'm in Florida, but the cold followed me here. Not as bad, but not typical Florida weather.

[MTRuth]

Great idea Zed for seeing how the dye works on different fiber.

[Shepherdess]

Great idea, was it all the same colour. I am very surprised at the silk. I dye it with mx dye all the time. I usually use the low water method and you don't add the soda ash right away. Will you try the ones that didn't take any dye in some acid dye?

[lyn]

wonderful experiment!

[zed]

I thought my labelling was fool proof, the string was long and the label stapled to the end, way out of the water. I forgot how messy I am though

I think they would have dyed better if I'd separated/agitated them, but I didn't want wads of cotton floating about getting onto my scrim

If I can think of a better way to label 12 or more samples (I like the knot idea, but I'd still get them muddled up!) I will definitely dye them next time I use acid dyes too. I know nylon dyes well, I've done that before, and bamboo took colour well, but was paler:

Bamboo top dyed and carded by zedster01, on Flickr

[Deleted]

Wow, Zed. Those colors are lovely.. I love soft pastel colors.. I would love to have a "Dying Expermenting" day with you.. Can you dye Scrim with "Rit dye"?

The weather is most dreadful here like most of the US.. We have about 6 inches of snow on the ground and it is still snowing. It seems like it has been snowing everyday for a week now most disgusting.

Marilyn in 2015 we will be heading south for a month or so But if this keeps up we might escape sooner... LOL I reckon their are few places missing out on this Artic cold..

[luvswool and dyestuff]

Very enjoyable to see your fiber dyeing experiments…lovely pastel colors! Yes, keeping the fibers identified is a challenge. With all the trouble I have untangling embroidery threads, I’d never survive the knotting experience.

[Shepherdess]

Judy just be happy you are not in Boston. they really got walloped. 2 meters of snow in some places.

[Pandagirl]

Zed, as Ann pointed out the low immersion for mx works nicely and you can do it separate baggies.

Judy it's only in the 50s here in Flordia and while that may seem warm they're having Chicago like winds and it feels cold. :-(

[zed]

I might have to try that next time, Marilyn. It never occurred to me to just use many tubs/bags individually labelled, but that takes common sense

Judy, yes, you can use RIT on scrim. RIT is brilliant. Dylon is the most common 'at-home' cotton dye brand here, it used to be good, but when I tried it recently, it was rubbish, especially compared to some RIT my girlfriend gave me, which was years old.
I did a comparison post a while ago. The red and blue fabrics were dyed in RIT, the beige ones were dyed in Dylon 'dark' brown. I'd have got darker colours using tea.

feltingandfiberstudio.com/2012/07/15/dyeing-cotton-fabrics/

and because I am a cheapskate and hate waste, I worked out how to use fractions of the dye packets for smaller amounts of fabric

[Deleted]

Hello Zed, thanks so much for all the I formation on dying.. I think I may tried to dye some scrim this weekend.. You are tops in my book... Thanks Ann for the Baggie idea...

Has anyone ever dyed raw silk in the "Shibori" method with the silk being pleats???

Marilyn. I reckon 50F would be grand in my book but you are right that is cold for Florida.. What part of Florida do you stay??? Is there any felting groups down there?

[Pandagirl]

Judy, we are Punta Gorda and will head for Palm City today, then on to Winter Garden for Thanksivng. It's supposed to warm up here this weekend.

Yes,there are Felters here. I don't know about groups, but I know several people here that felt.