Mixing Procion dyes

[pookel]

I've been tie-dyeing stuff for a little while now and had some success, but I'm having a lot of issues getting a good shade of red. I bought Procion dyes in lemon yellow, fuchsia red, turquoise, and "better black," and all my other colors mix OK, but the reds are totally unpredictable. They look fine when I test a drop on my shirt, but after they're washed, they're anything from pale orange to brilliant fuchsia.

Does anyone have advice on mixing, or should I just buy one of their red dyes? I don't want to spend too much on dye since this is a hobby, not a business. (My SIL is going to try to sell some of it at festivals, but I'm not planning on doing more than selling a few things to pay off the cost of supplies for my own stuff.)

[pookel]

P.S. Duh, pictures ... http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...e/100_3620.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...e/100_3623.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...e/100_3627.jpg

That deep fuchsia was supposed to be dark red, and the reddish, washed-out-looking orange was supposed to be bright orange. See what I mean?

[frog]

pookel, I've got a few kinds of their red dyes (I think I have fire engine and Chinese red. Possibly. Maybe). If you want to buy or trade for a few samples, let me know and I'll give you a list of what I actually have (as opposed to that little list up there, which I'm pretty well making up).

[anneandoreo]

my fuschia red from them is like a raspberry color usually. do you also use urea pellets and soda ash? And retayne when you wash it?
Anne

[ma2maya]

For my red red(as opposed to the fuschia type) I use Prochem's Strongest Red. When I used to get my dyes from Dharma the red I would get was Rose Red.

Anneandoreo...just curious as to why you use retayne? With the right amount of soda ash, time to cure, and a high enough temp. during curing there really isn't a need for it. What you see "washing away" is excess exhausted dye. The best ways to maximize the the amount of dye fixing to the fiber as opposed to the elements around it (i.e. the water it is in) are soda ash, time, and temp. No need to spend money on a product that you don't need to have an awesome dye.

Same goes for urea. I only ever use it when I am doing tub dyeing where the ratio of water to dye is very high.

Kathy

[frog]

That's my experience, too. I use the soda ash, a good plastic wrap, and the procion dyes and I haven't had any complaints, nor have I had any problems with the pieces I've dyed that have stayed in our home. (I had entirely too much fun dyeing bulls' eyes on turtle's underpants, at her request. Those seem to be holding just fine! )

[art4babies]

I got the same fuchsia from "rose red" from Dharma -