Help with dye (wool and prefolds)

[daisyem]

I have never dyed so I have a few questions. I want to dye some prefolds and an old stained wool cover. I have Dharma fiber reactive dye (I've heard that is one of the best to use). Now, the questions.

-- Can I use the same Dharma dye on the prefolds and the wool? Or would it be better to use KoolAid on the wool?

--I got the ash to go with the dye, but now that everything is here, I read somewhere, that I need urea (spelling??) too. I don't have that. Will it work without it, or is there something I can use in place of it?

-- My wool cover is light yellow (it is a Stacinator, if that matters). I wanted to dye it avacado green, would that work over the yellow? or would I be better off dying it a deeper shade of yellow?

-- And the prefolds (the wool too) is there a way to "set" the dye so it does not bleed? Hot wash until the water stays clear?

Any more tips I need?

Ok, I think that is all! Thanks!

[ma2maya]

You can use the MX dye on both prefolds and wool, but wool can also be done with Kool-aid.
Urea helps but is not a do or dye(sorry about the pun) in the process. When mixing the dye it helps it dissolve more easily in the water.

For the wool you will want to use an acid i.e. vinegar as the activator as opposed to the soda ash you would use on the cotton PF's.

Go ahead and use the avocado to dye the PF's. It will be avocado but maybe slightly more on the yellow end of the spectrum but I doubt it would be real obvious.

As far as dyeing the wool cover, the process is similar to that of using kool-aid. Soak the cover in vin. for about 30 minutes, squeeze out the excess and then apply the dye, wrap in plastic(saran wrap or a baggie) and place in the microwave, nuke for about 2 minutes at about 15-20 second intervals stopping to let steam settle to avoid an explosion of color in the micro.

Check out tie-dyed.com for some good instructions and info on MX dyes. Also the forum is a good place to poke around as well as ask questions.


Kathy


Forgot to add that the dye activators whether an acid or soda ash in the correct amount, proper time to cure, and high enough temp. are all factors important to the dye setting. You will get run-off in your initial rinses but other than that the dye is permanent, actually it is "zen" so to speak as it becomes "one" with the fiber(sorry, just popped into my head and had to write it) :LOL