AKICODW/LJ/FB: dying fabric in the washing machine

[firecat]

I have four organic cotton king-sized sheets in "ivory" and I want to dye them a solid color using the washing machine. I don't feel strongly that the dye job should be perfect but I'd rather avoid the sheets bleeding out over other stuff in the wash later on. I've done a bunch of research on this on DharmaTraders.com and I gather I have two options:

•"iDye" prepackaged dye + fixative
•Procion dye + salt + soda ash

DharmaTraders says "iDye" is not very color-fast. We wash all our linens together on hot, so I figured it might not be a good option.

-->Have you used "iDye" and would you concur with this opinion?

DharmaTraders also recommends adding a number of extra ingredients to the Procion recipe in order to get a more uniform, more intense, and/or more lasting color. The ingredients are:
•urea for brightening and fixing the color
•special detergent for pre- and post-washing
•calsolene oil for more uniform color

They also recommend that you premix the dye and then pour it through a cloth filter.

The urea, detergent, and oil come in large packages compared to the amount I would use for this one project, and I'm not planning to make this a regular hobby, and I don't want to have extra chemicals lying around forever. So I'm wondering how important they are. Do you use them? Why or why not?

Comments

[serene]

*giggle* I think you mean "dyeing". :-)

[piranha]

i haven't done anything with "idye", but it turns out i have a site bookmarked for a completely different reason, where somebody talks about her experience dyeing diapers: http://totallysmittenmama.blogspot.com/2009/06/idye-trials.html -- those would seem like good people to ask how the idye has stood up to continued washing; can't get more demanding than diapers.

i always use urea with procion dyes; it is cheap, and makes a difference. i don't buy it from dharma though, but locally, where i have more choices about the quantity.

i do premix and pour through a cloth filter.

i've never used special detergent or calsolene oil -- why not? i'm not usualy intent on uniform colour (but i've gotten it without these ingredients). but i've also never dyed mass quantities in the washing machine, so maybe they help there.

also, i am not the most experienced dyer; i play around with small quantities of experimental stuff more than anything else, and have more experience with natural dyes than with commercial ones.

[laughingrat]

Hi, here through Network page. When I dyed quilt fabric using Procion MX dyes and soda ash, I did not use Calsolene Oil or urea. I did, however, use Synthrapol, because it has properties that keep any excess dye in suspension rather than allowing it to stain the fabric, your washer, etc.

It may be possible to find a very small bottle of Synthrapol at a craft store, rather than having to buy the larger ones Dharma undoubtedly carries. Blick Art Supplies used to carry smallish ones.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I've never even heard of this iDye business before, but I have a reasonable amount of experience with Procion dyes. They have been known to bleed in cases where I leave them in the machine wet too long, but not after the first wash or two otherwise. Rit Color Remover generally gets rid of the bled color, though it has sometimes had a strange effect on the original color too.

I don't use calsolene oil, never have, don't think my dyeing buddies have.

We have tried the carcinogenic detergent and found a recent wash and a soak in the hot soda ash solution seems just as good. Actually, the hot soda ash (aka washing soda) solution is great for removing stains, especially the yellowish discoloration that can come to t-shirts and linens after much use.

I do use urea, and have never tried Procion dyeing without it. It's cheap, especially if you buy locally at an art supply store instead of paying to ship it, and extra seems like it should be Freecyclable. (I guess a person could theoretically use it as a nitrogen-only plant fertilizer if growing N-lovers like tomatoes or corn, but I haven't tried that.)

Oh, and I've never filtered the dye and never had trouble with spotting. That kind of thing might depend on the color; I've used a good variety but not all of them.

[submarine-bells.livejournal.com]

I've used procion dye for dying small batches of silk. I've never used urea, calsolene oil, filtering or special detergent, and the colours I've gotten have looked really great - vivid as a punch in the eye, no need for extra brightening! Of course, I've not run them through the washing machine since then either, so make of that what you will.

working with procion

[redbird]

I have used the urea, but I've been doing smaller batches, not in the washing machine (it's a public laundry room, and it seemed antisocial to use dyes in shared machines, given that I wasn't sure it wouldn't leave the next n loads a random shade of blue or purple).

I did buy their special silk detergent, but that was because I was starting with their undyed fabrics, which they warn may have bits of stuff still stuck to them and are best washed before dyeing. That's probably not an issue in your case, and with cotton.

For intensity, they also recommend ordinary (non-iodized) salt for hand-dyeing. I'm not sure how much difference it makes (the purple still came out more lavender than amethyst), but it's cheap and readily available.

[edited to add explanatory subject line]

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I've used the kind of packets of dye you buy in the drugstore, and it gets a good even blue, which fades a little on the first wash and not afterwards. I do this all the time. You're supposed to run the machine empty after to clean it, but I just run it with a normal load of blue things. I've found I can get pale green things and white things a very nice blue. I'd be interested in reports on how making it brighter goes, brighter would be good.

[ona-tangent.livejournal.com]

The synthrapol detergent is handy, but not necessary. Just make sure you run sheets through a wash before and after. Don't use any fabric softener during the pre-wash.

Urea is a humectent to keep the fabric from drying out. I didn't think it actually help set the dye? At any rate, I don't use urea for yarn.

I haven't used calsolene oil so can't speak to that.

I sometimes will use a salt when dyeing with turquoise or colors that contain turquoise. I'm not sure it makes any difference, though.

[elainegrey.livejournal.com]

I skipped all
•urea for brightening and fixing the color
•special detergent for pre- and post-washing
•calsolene oil for more uniform color

I'm experimenting and didn't want to have lots of chemicals, too.

I was not going for the solid color but for the wrinkle-pattern of "low water immersion dyeing" or "tray dyeing." I got Color by Accident: Low-Water Immersion Dyeing (Spiral-bound) by Ann Johnston out from San Francisco's public library via Inter Library loan -- i'll send you the links to my blog notes via FB. Oh, GRR, this blog http://fabricdyeing101.blogspot.com/ has been retired. It was great!

I also have the breathing mask and goggle for mixing up the dye. The powder is reputedly a lung irritant and with my occasional asthma i didn't want to risk anything.

I really ought to mix up some procion dyes and do some dyeing. (When!) I haven't tried my red or brown yet, a friend has given me a huge hank of yarn to dye purple....

[auntysocial.livejournal.com]

I have always used the Synthrapol and the urea. I tried the calsolene oil and didn't see that it made any difference.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

This was long ago, and not organic fabric, just cotton, but I dyed some clothes with Rit in the washer and they came out great. If you're really uncomfortable with this, maybe you'll find someone who will do it for you.

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

I think I just followed their recipes and used all the ingredients. The colors didn't fade much and did not bleed at all. Maybe it would've worked fine without the urea etc.