Dyeing Cotton (and Linen) Hints and Tips
Dyeing for a Mottled Look
The best way I have found using Procion MX dyes is to cram the fabric into a bucket or plastic bag (depending on how much yardage you are trying to do), pour the dye mixtures (1-3 tsp. dry dye per cup of warm water and then stirred until it is dissolved), let the fabric sit for a few minutes and then pour soda ash water over it until the fabric is covered. The soda ash water is 1 cup of soda ash per gallon of water. Then I let it sit from 2 hours to overnight depending on whether I remember what I am doing right then. Good luck!
Judy
(4/30/01)
I'd use Procion dyes or other dyes specifically created for cellulose fibers rather than the RIT, but RIT will work OK, too. When I want mottled fabric in quantity, I mix up the dyestock, throw it into a great big drywall bucket with water and anything else necessary to get the dye to set then squish the dry fabric up into a wad and stuff it in the bucket. Make sure the fabric is covered with the liquid, then sorta poke it around some twice at half hour intervals, then don't touch it for 24 hours. The less you move it, the more mottled it will be. After 24 hours, dump out the contents of the bucket. At this point it's going to look much more uniform than you wanted it. Now rinse... and rinse... and rinse... and rinse. You get the idea. Finally, throw it in the washer for a couple cycles. Oh, and unless the fabric is dyers cotton, you will need to wash it well first, preferably with synthropol, to remove the sizing they put on it. The sizing will resist they dye and you won't get the color you expect. If you put the fabric in wet, you will get more uniform results and less mottling.
Theresa
(4/30/01)
How to Tie-Dye Cotton Sliver
The big trick to dyeing cotton is to get it thoroughly free of the waxes that it has on it. I soak in a bucket of water and about a cup of washing soda (soda ash) and a little dish detergent. I usually let it soak for a couple of days.
I take the sliver and put it in loose hanks and wrap the end around the middle loosely to keep it together. It's hard to get it wet enough to stay under the water, but just keep squeezing it until you get most of the air out of the fiber. Cotton hangs together quite nicely when it is wet.
When it has soaked enough (whenever I get back to it) I take it out and squish as much water out of it as I can get out. I lay it on some plastic and then pour or squirt the dyes on. The dyes are mixed 1 tsp of fiber reactive dye powder (acid dyes will not work on cotton very well), 1 tsp urea in a cup of water. You can also add more soda ash to this dye mixture if you want to, but if you have washed it in washing soda, the dyes will connect just fine.
Squish the dyes into the cotton with your gloved fingers and make sure that you check the back of the cotton as the dyes don't always go through.
Let the cotton sit for a few hours. Then rinse in cold water until the dyes rinse clear or mostly clear. Hang the cotton on a wire hanger or similar and let it dry. It will fluff up again!
Judy
(7/9/01)
I dyed my own, using procion MX dyes, mixed according to pkg. instructions. My cotton sliver (roving-type stuff) was the silky, high-luster pima. I soaked the sliver in a soda ash solution as long as was safe to avoid fiber damage, squeezed it *gently*, and laid it out in a single layer on a plastic garbage bag. The roving did come apart in several places, but that was irrelevant. I randomly applied the dye solution with squirt bottles, and tried to saturate the fiber. I laid paper towels on top to absorb puddles, put another layer of plastic, then rolled it up, jelly-roll fashion, and let it sit overnight. I rinsed it as well as possible to get the excess dye out. I had to rinse it a *lot*, but I'll probably have some dye still to come out in the final wash of the yarn. I laid it on an old towel to dry. The roving *did* bleed somewhat on the towel. I didn't get total dye penetration throughout the roving. Some areas have much less concentration of color as I strip the roving out for spinning. But this doesn't bother me, I actually like the variation and stripey-ness of the singles that are produced from the lack of dye saturation in some areas.
I didn't have much "horrid mush", but I did make sure I handled the fiber as little as possible. It did look totally horrible after the soda soak, and after rinsing as I laid it to dry. After it was dry, it looked pretty much like the pre-dyed stuff you'd buy in a shop.
Ann
(7/7/01)
How to Dye Cotton and Linen
Wash the fabric. If she wants it to be streaked or motley, put the fabric in a bucket. Mix the dyes 1 tsp or more for darker colors to 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon urea. Stir until you think you have it mixed well and then stir it some more especially if the dyes are blue or turquoise or black.
Pour the dyes onto the fabric and let it sit until the dyes migrate to the point that you want them to. Then cover with water and one cup of soda ash (mixed well already). The fabric will be "done" in a couple of hours or so or you can leave it as long as you can stand to wait.
It took me a long time to be able to dye fabric like I wanted it to come out. The Complexcloth group helped a lot. Tons of knowledge there!
Judy
(4/8/02)
MX and soda ash; salt helps. Soaking time depends on what colour you are using; anything with turquoise as part of the colour mix needs to soak much longer (up to 24 hours), other colours as short as 3 or 4. The dye chart in Dharma's catelog notes which colours have turquoise in them.
For the first hour or 2, you will need to stir it around regularly, otherwise you could get a LOT of streaking and white spots (depends on how large of a container you use). The less frequent the stirring, the more likely you'll get more noticeable streaks.
Sue in roseville -- who doesn't think streaks "ruin" fabric....
(4/8/02)
