What went wrong with my dye job?

[kimberlylibby]

Okay, to prove that I *CAN* dye correctly, here are my first two batches:

http://pic7.picturetrail.com/VOL192/...6/51105766.jpg

(MotherEase Onesize and matching silk)

http://pic7.picturetrail.com/VOL192/...6/51096258.jpg

Okay, so these are FINE, right?

Okay, now my 3rd batch (same jug, new water, duh),
http://pic7.picturetrail.com/VOL192/...6/51105758.jpg

Umm, that's supposed to be the SAME color? And why is it all streaky?

This is okay, because I really like the color of both items, but what happened??? Do you see the streakiness? Did something react funny? Did I leave a trace of red dye in the container?

I'm just going
: : : : over this one.

Thoughts?

Kimberly

[kimberlylibby]

Oh oh oh!!

And is there any way I can safely remove the 100% silk tag from my Dharma silks?

I don't want a tag on them, and I want to remove it, but I don't want to undo the stitching.....

[jmreinke]

Probably a dumb question, so sorry if I offend...

Did you stir while you were dyeing? Sometimes the streakyness can happen when you don't stir (such as you would do in low water immersion dyeing)

FWIW, I like the streakyness.

[kimberlylibby]

I shake, not stir, but yeah....

And umm, what about the fact that it is two totally diff colors????? Like the diapers are BLUE and the silk is BURGUNDY!!!

That's not even the same color family... I know a silk can dye up lighter or darker.... but it should still be in the same FAMILY of colors, right?

I just want to know what I did so I don't do that again

[kimberlylibby]

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

So here is a NEW container with warm water, 1/2 gal water, 3/4 c salt, and 1/2 tsp bright yellow and 1/8 tsp blue violet.

http://pic7.picturetrail.com/VOL192/...6/51107614.jpg

I just put a nursing pad in to "test the water" and LOOK AT IT!!!

Why am I getting red spots??

Is it because blue violet is not a pure blue??

BUt still I am dissolving all of the salt, then adding the dissolved dye, then the fabric.... I swear I'm doing it right... so why is this happening??

Kimberly the utterly confused.

[kimberlylibby]

Oh for the love of PETE!

I will never (promising you all here) buy another color with Turquoise in it.... I swear it is the Turquoise's fault!!

I sat and dissolved that dye and watched it and sure enough there are stupid stupid little flecks of red that are in that color!!

BAH!!! Down with that color! BAH!!!

Okay, I feel so much better knowing I am not crazy. That would explain why my lime green was lime PUKE.

Must get a different, NONTURQUOISED blue!

But must SLEEP first!

Kimberly

[ajsgirl]

I'm thinking of dyeing my prefolds. Thanks for being the guinea pig, Kimberly!

Note to self... no turquoise....

So, Kimberly, did you just buy three colors and go from there? I was thinking of buying lemon yellow, red, and a cobalty-blue (since I hear that fuschia and turquoise can bleed and act funny).

[kimberlylibby]

Yep, I got 3 colors, and I like the red and yellow alot!

The quality of this dye over dyes I've used in the past (Ritstyle) is UNBELIEVABLE! This stuff is STRONG and the colors hold amazingly well!

Kimberly

[elfinbaby]

I just got my dye yesterday. Please don't tell me fuschia is going to screw me up I'm new at this!

Tell me, how long did you leave the fabric in and do you really have to stir constantly? I wanted to do more than 1 color at a time.

I love the playsilks btw. I didn't even think about that! I also like the mushroom hat dharma has. It would be so cute on my bald baby girl

[jmreinke]

Sorry this took me so long to respond...

I've heard that certain colors have problems with red spots, but I don't remember which ones they were.

I've used fuschia with no problems so far.

My normal blue is cerulean blue, but any good blue should be fine.

Have fun dyeing! It is addictive!

Oh, and I love using only 3 colors and mixing my own. Most everything I've read says that you need more yellow when you mix yellow with another color to make your final color. I guess yellow is a weak dye. Get some cheapy burp rags or socks, etc and play around with it.

I can usually do 4 small vats at at time, and yes, for even color you need to stir as much as possible. For a more mottled look, stir less often. If you really want to have fun, take a peek at Low Water Immersion Dyeing. Now that is cool, and you don't have to stir it so often and you can dye in smaller amounts.

HTH!

[ma2maya]

Fiber reactive dyes tend to be picked-up(for lack of a better term) differently on silk. Most of the dyes are a mixture of the base colors fuschia, turquiose(sp?), and a yellow that I can' t think of at the moment. There are a few other primary colors that are "pure" but most of the dyes you see at Dharma and Pro-Chem are blends.

So with these blends comes some adventure when using silk. For example, I wanted some brown silks. I ended up with some burgundy silks. For some reason, the silk protein picks up more of the red than it does the turquois, don't know why. Anyhew...just some background.

Also, Kimberly your pics for your "uh-ohs" were not coming up so I can't see exactly what going on. I am thinking you are doing low-immersion dying. Maybe when you are adding the colors, the first pour is permeating to the bottom and the second pour is kinda just hangin out on top. Just a thought. Do you wet the silks/item before you cram(yes, a technical fiber arts term!!) it in the container? I really like the results better this way, the dye seems to permeate the fabric better.

Red spots, not just a problem in Macbeth! You got work just a little extra with this color(some of them not all so I am told). First,a dd the dye to the water. I have read conflicting opinions about this but have found water then dye makes mixing easier for me. With the reds, I usually have a second mixing cup on hand to pour back and forth. After some initial stirring, I will pour off most of the mix into the second cup, trying to keep any sediment in the 1st cup. I add a little water to the sediment and do more stirring. I repeat this a few times until I feel that it is as mixed as it is going to get. I do one or two other pours, syphening off and dumping any dye sediment that has not dissolved. Since I started doing this, spots have not been an issue.

I know this is long, but I hope it will be helpful. And yes it is addictive!!

Anyways...Prochem has some good "how-to" information. Ann Johnston is a great resource. She has a few books that have been extremely helpful to me, Color By Design and Color by Accident
Have fun and good luck!
Kathy

[ajsgirl]

When combining colors, would using a whisk to stir it all up help to make sure that everything is combined thoroughly?