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firecatI 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?
•"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?
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Date: 16 Oct 2009 04:32 pm (UTC)•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....