Discharge dyeing

[koffipot]

I've just ordered some discharge paste to try discharge dyeing. I've watched a couple of videos and it looks interesting. Does anyone have any useful tips?

[MTRuth]

Follow the directions that are on your product. All products are different and react in different ways. Most of the ones I have used say to let it dry completely before ironing. I am usually too anxious to do that but it does work better to let it sit overnight.

You can use the discharge paste through a stencil, silk screen, on a stamp or with a paintbrush. It is also fun to put it in a syringe and write with it.

Are you going to be using it on cotton fabric? I have used it on felt before and it does work but it is sometimes hard to get the paste out of the wool. I tried to find a photo but couldn't find one.

Have fun and do show us the results

[koffipot]

Thanks Ruth. Ultimately I'd like to use it on silk which I plan to nuno felt, but firstly I plan to try it on silk, cotton and felt and nuno felt to see how it performs.

Will post results - good or bad!

[Teri Berry]

I haven't tried it on felt but have had some good results on commercially dyed habouti silk, I just painted it on with a brush. My one tip would be to test the effect on a small piece of fabric first, the colour after discharge isn't always white....

[MTRuth]

Yes, the color change is very strange actually sometimes. It definitely is different with commercial fabric than with hand dyed fabric. It works best with darker colors too.

[Shepherdess]

I was going to say test for the colour you will get. I did a deep purple piece and it ended up orange. It also continued to change for several days despite being thoroughly rinsed and washed.

[koffipot]

I'll certainly be doing samples. I don't like to waste supplies.

[MTRuth]

Oh and sometimes some fabric won't discharge at all or very little. Samples are the best way to go.