Adding vinegar when dyeing wool locks

[maisie]

I haven't used fibre reactive dyes before or dyeing with steaming. Using squeezy bottles to dye locks. Do I add the vinegar to the water when I wash the locks before dyeing or to the dye in the bottles
as I intend to keep the shampoo in the locks when I dye them?

[MTRuth]

Maisie - are you using fiber reactive dyes? They don't work all that well with wool Acid dyes work better. I usually soak my wool in vinegar water first and then dye. You can add vinegar to the dye and put them in a pot as well to heat. I think the shampoo in the locks will affect the dyeing process.

[maisie]

Unfortuately I bought Fibre reactive by mistake - not concentrating - and am now stuck with them so will have to try and make the best of it. If it doesn't work too well I shall use them on the cotton and silk fabrics
I have so it won't be an entire waste of my hard earned money!!

[Teri Berry]

I'm afraid Ruth is right, the best you can hope for when using fibre reactive dyes on wool is a pale staining effect. If you are going to try it, don't use vinegar, the fibre reactive dyes need a higher pH (vinegar lowers the pH), soda ash or washing soda are good. And there's no need to steam / heat them either.

As you say, it may be better to save these dyes for your silk and cotton ( they're also good for plant based tops like bamboo) and investing in a few pots of acid fast dyes.

As for the soap I would be interested to hear what others do for wool, I add a splash of washing up liquid to my water and acid solution that I soak my wool in as I think it helps to ensure the fibre is thoroughly wetted, I've not noticed it impacting the dyeing - what effect did you see Ruth?

[zed]

I also think it'd be a less of a waste of your money to use the dyes on cellulose fibres, Maisie.
Fabrics, threads and fibres like cotton, linen, bamboo, ramie, kapok, viscose, rose. You can use it on hemp and flax fibres, but I personally think they're nicer natural.

Scroll down my page to have a look at the cellulose fibres I dyed recently: www.ipernity.com/doc/zedster01

I did do some silk too, but it was quite pale.

When dyeing wool locks I usually give them a wash in shampoo, but I have a lot of really greasey Gotland that is quite old too. Then soak in water with a splash of vinegar before dyeing.

[Pandagirl]

I usually give the wool a wash in synthropol, then soak in vinegar water for acid dyes. I think you'll be much happier if you invest in the acid dyes. There is a lot of washout with fiber reactive and Teri is right to soak in soda ash first if you do use them, but you won't get intense colors for wool. Good luck let us know what you do and please show us pics.

[MTRuth]

I do use a small amount of textile detergent before dyeing but I don't think that you should have tons of soap in the wool before dyeing. I just use a couple of drops for an entire pail of wool.

I will have to disagree with use of soda ash with wool. I did several experiments with fiber reactive dyes and wool and the best results were with using vinegar. I dyed the wool several different ways at the same time using vinegar, nothing and soda ash plus fiber reactive dyes. The results with the vinegar weren't bad at all, not as strong as on cotton but not the pale effect that Teri is talking about.

[Shepherdess]

You can use fiber reactive dies as acid dye. Not the other way around though.

A friend did it by accident then phoned the company to ask about it and they said yes it works but your colours won't be exactly the same. For squirting on locks I would soak them in vinegar water to get them wet and use vinegar in the dye solution. then you need to heat it to get the die to take. You can put them in zip lock bags and heat in the microwave or steam them over boiling water.

I add a couple of drops of dish soap to my water s a wetting agent.

[sonia]

My tuppence worth is that you have to soak the wool for longer than you think ! I used to soak for about 20 mins & then realised that was (one of the reasons) why my dyeing was patchy. I imagine it depends on the wool type but I think an hour or more is advisable ! What is everyone else's experience ?

[sonia]

I am talking about the presoak in water/vinegar/ dishwash liquid !

[Pandagirl]

I usually soak the wool in vinegar water for about 20 to 30 minutes. Silk takes longer I usually let that sit overnight. Are you making sure all of the Wool is covered with the water? You can't agitate it, I use a large spoon to push it gently under. I hope that helps.

[Shepherdess]

I find that the wool will trap air bubbles you need to gently move it around and poke it down t get rid of the air pockets.

[MTRuth]

I usually soak for 20-30 minutes. I try to put the wool into the water slowly so it gets wet as it goes in. I don't have it in a big wad and shove it in the water. Then it doesn't trap so much air.

[Shepherdess]

Mine soaks a little longer only because I put the next batch of wool into soak when I put the first batch in the dye pot. so it soaks the hole time the dye bath in, usually about 40 min then me getting it out and prep in dye bath again.