Homemade playsilks - colourfastness??

[twylacat]

Hello!

I was super excited to come across the idea of dying playsilks with kool-aid and made a couple last week for a friend's daughter's first birthday. The tie dye came out beautifully and I just assumed that the colour would stick because so many people seem to be using kool-aid to dye playsilks.

When I tested the colourfastness, however, much of the colour came out of the silks :(

Am I doing something wrong? I used vinegar, which I assumed acted as a mordant since I saw it in various posts and I used boiling water (do not have a microwave).

Anyone have experience with this and any advice? I was looking forward to making more for more gifts but don't want the colour to run out of them all!

Thanks!

Twyla

[Kamiro]

I am far from an expert on this, but I have heard that food dye based (including kool aid) dyes fade rather quickly even if you set them. I've kool aid dyed wool and not had a problem, but I guess for long term and washability it is a problem.

I have the impression that you need an acid dye for dying the animal fibers (wool, silk) and expecting it to stay bright and colorfast. Then you would use the mordent (vinegar). You may want to search that one out.

Hope I helped somehow :)