DYEING YOUR COTTON .......Now that you have your beautiful white cotton and have spun up lots and lots of plain white yarn, you are ready to do some dyeing and creative work. I have been using PROCION DYES which is a reactive dye. Fiber reactive dyes develop color inside the fiber of the materials being dyed. It is the most permanent dye on the market. They are designed for use on cellulose fibers including rayon. The salt in the recipe enhances the solubility and availability of the dye and the soda ash is the activator. Be careful to use pure sodium carbonate. The grocery store variety of washing soda has bleach in it.
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR DYEING COTTON LINT RECIPE: 8 OZ. COTTON LINT 8 TO 10 GRAMS OF PROCION DYE 243 GRAMS OF SALT (sodium chloride) 22 GRAMS OF SODIUM CARBONATE (sal soda,washing soda, soda ash) DETERGENT..DAWN OR SYNTHROPOL STEPS FOR DYEING: 1... Fill a large enamel or stainless steel pot 3/4 full of water and add a tablespoon of detergent and begin heating. As the water warms, tease the cotton lint and immerse it into the warm water. Bring pot to a simmer, and simmer 15 minutes. Rinse in tap water and squeeze out excess water. 2...In a large plastic container or enamel pot, put 8,920 ml. (9 qt's.) of luke warm water (85 F, up to 100 F..turquoise MX-G 140F). and add the salt (243 gr or approx. 1 1/4 cup) Dissolve the salt by stirring and then add the wet scoured lint. Let it stand 10 minutes. 3...Dissolve the dye in 250 ml. (approx. 1 1/4 cups) of hot tap water (104F). Stir carefully until completely dissolved. Remove or push aside the cotton, stir in dissolved dye and replace the cotton. Stir to make sure the dye is evenly dispersed in the cotton. Let the cotton sit in the dye mixture for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use rubber gloves and use caution with the dye especially in the dry form. 4...Mix sodium carbonate (soda ash) with 1/2 cup of very hot water, stir until dissolved. Remove dyed cotton, stir in the soda and replace the cotton. Stir frequently, and leave for 45 minutes. Soda sets the dye so the lint will be color fast. 5...Remove dyed cotton, rinse thoroughly in tap water and then repeat scouring procedure (step #1). Spread the dyed cotton lint on a screen to dry outdoors or in a well ventilated area. In humid areas, you can finish off the drying process by putting the dyed lint in a pillow case or mesh bag, and drying it in the dryer on medium heat. Be careful not to over dry and make it brittle. Your colored cotton lint is now ready to tease, card and spin. Blending a little colored lint with natural white cotton makes a lovely heathered yarn. |
PAINTING ON CELLULOSE SLIVER By Joan Ruane
1...SCOURING Begin heating water in an enamel or stainless steel pot, put in a tablespoon of Synthropol or Dawn liquid detergent. Put the sliver (about 4 oz) in a mesh bag and submerge it in the water. Simmer for 15 to 30 minutes. 2...MIX DYES while the sliver is simmering. Wear a mask while handling the dye powder. Gloves are also advisable. For basic colors mix 1/4 tsp. of dye powder to 3 1/2 oz. water. *For green mix 1/4 tsp. of yellow and 1/16 tsp. of blue or turquoise. *For orange mix 1/4 tsp. of yellow and 1/16 tsp. of red or fuchsia. *For purple mix 1/8 tsp. of blue or turquoise and 1/8 tsp. of red or fuchsia. *Mix all of the above with 3 1/2 oz. of water for a strong color. Dilute with more water for lighter colors. 3...RINSE sliver in clear tap water and press out most of the water. 4... SOAK IN SALT WATER. For strong colors, mix one half cup of salt to 1 gallon of warm water and let the wet sliver set in the salt water for 10 to 15 minutes. Squeeze out as much of the salt water solution as possible, lay the sliver out on a table covered with thick plastic and a couple layers of newspaper. 5.. SODA ASH (sodium carbonate) mix 1/4 cup soda ash to 3/4 cup of very hot water. Shake and stir until it is dissolved. 6...MIX SODA ASH SOLUTION WITH LIQUID DYE MIXTURE.. Add 1 oz. of the soda ash solution to 3 1/2 oz. of dye solution. Do this when you are ready to apply the dye to the sliver. Fiber reactive dyes remain fairly much inert until they have been dissolved in an alkaline solution. Within an hour the activated solution begins to lose potency . 7...APPLY COLOR Using a squirt bottle, syringe or sponge brush, apply the dye to the areas of the sliver you want colored. Wear gloves and old clothes. Note; the wetter the sliver, the more the colors will dilute and run together. You can even pat the sliver with a towel before starting to apply the dye. 8... LEAVE ON THE DYE for 45 minutes or longer. Cover yarn with plastic if the dyes begin drying out too soon, especially in the hot, dry desert air. 9...RINSE & SIMMER..rinse the dyed sliver in tap water, simmer as in step #1 with Synthropol or Dawn for 15 minutes. This sets the dye. 10...RINSE in tap water and DRY on a screen or toweling outside in the “sunshine”! |
NATURAL DYEING WITH CELLULOSE FIBERS Cellulose fibers do not absorb the metallic mordants so readily as wool and thus to get good color when using natural dyes, it is necessary to use tannic acid which does combine well with cellulose fibers. In 1935 the UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE put out a publication titled “Home Dyeing with Natural Dyes” by Margaret S. Furry, assistant textile chemist and Bess M. Viemont, Assistant textile specialist. I wrote about it in my Cotton Newsletter issue #7. Basically they used the alum- tannin - alum method that both Rita Buchanan writes about in her book “The Dyer’s Garden” and that Michelle Wipplinger uses in her workshops. Combining a little of all , the following method is what I have come up with. Day 1 Weigh 8 oz. of cotton lint or/and sliver. Simmer in a large pot of water, with a tablespoon of Dawn..30 minutes* Rinse out suds, rinse until water is clear. Put 2 gallons of water in a large enamel pot and begin heating Add 1/4 cup of alum when the water is luke warm..stir. Add the scoured cotton to the alum solution and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5 minutes and turn off the stove and let it cool over night. Day 2 Rinse the cotton and set it aside Fill the pot again with 2 gallons of water and begin heating. Add one tablespoon of tannin ( tannic acid) and stir Heat the water until it is hot (150 degrees) and turn it off Leave it is the pot 12-24 hours. Day 3 Rinse the cotton and repeat Day 1 Day 4 Rinse the cotton and begin dyeing or let it dry for future use. * I find that when working with cotton lint, it is necessary to pre-scour the lint but sliver seems to be a different story and you can skip this first step and usually have success.I need to do a lot more testing and comparing different kinds of cotton and preparations. 1/2006 Workshop handouts A/Joan/classflyers/natdye.pub Joan Ruane 8204 N. Frontier Rd., McNeal, AZ 85617 www.cottonspinning.com
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