Koolaide dye

Gem

Sounds like something that a maker of Dye would say .... The fact is ... it DOES work, there is more than one person on this list that does it. The fact is ... people have been setting stain w/ vinegar for

1000's of years. Henna was set in cotton/linen many many many years ago. I'm not sure why you insist that it doesn't work ... because you took a class? I don't give a flip weather someone does or does not use Kool Aid as a dye, however the spewing bad information IS bothersome.

no, it doesn't wash out If you do it correctly ... it would be rather stupid to use it then huh? The color w/ or w/ out is the same, it's the finish on the color that is different. I'm wondering why you have so much in investing that this is wrong.

When you did cotton did you boil it? Or did you do the same as the wool?

Same as wool. So, are you saying that boiling is the key? Interesting! I'm always looking for good ways to dye cotton. Is there a step-by-step recipe on the web anywhere?

Helen "Halla" Fleischer, Fantasy & Fiber Artist

Balticon Art Program Coordinator

Now henna does set better with acid on hair. That I KNOW. When you add lemon juice to it when dyeing hair, it does not wash out, so you DO get a line when the hair grows--as I have cause to know, this being why I'm doing a henna pack tonight. I also add a few drops of tea tree oil and use flax seed gum as an extender when I make a batch of the goop. I put it in a squeeze bottle, then freeze it between uses until I use it all up.

The curious thing is how many highly respected dye books I have that say acid dyes do not work on cotton, whether they are Koolaid, food color or commercial acid dyes, and that the color strike of acid dyes happens within a certain pH range, so adding more acid can even be detrimental. Go figure. And blue jeans are dyed with indigo, or used to be, which uses a really different method. That vinegar would affect that as a after-bath is really fascinating.

Still, I wouldn't really blame anyone for quoting these books or what they were taught in workshops. I mean, you paid good money for that information, you want to trust it!

Helen "Halla" Fleischer, Fantasy & Fiber Artist

Balticon Art Program Coordinator

Thanks, Gem

I really do need to update the site, though and I never did get round to putting any of my knitting on there. Trouble is, I've left it so long that I need to re-learn the page editor!

Helen "Halla" Fleischer, Fantasy & Fiber Artist

Balticon Art Program Coordinator

I have boiled and it works great .. the other thing I have done is after I have painted cotton w/ many clolors (before project) I nuke while wet for 6 or so min. let it cool and then nuke it again.

The woman who was giving the course, works for Maiwa, an independant very nice little store in Vancouver. They carry all kinds of dyes from all over the world, including Procion MX dyes. last year they gave a fantastic symposium all on dyeing, textiles, weaving etc. They have absolutly no interest in deceiving anyone. Their aim is to inform, teach and share their knowledge as well as aid a coop in India where very poor women work to make a living.

Coming back to the Procion MX dyes. These dyes are made by a multinational chemical corporation ICI in England. Karen is just a teacher who has little or absolutly nothing to gain by telling us that the rinsing with vinigar does little to set the dyes. By the way Procion MX dyes were made first for the world textile industry and for crafters secondary) To the Chemists it is most important that their dyes do what they have created them for. If they are going to tell me that Vinigar is not usefull in the setting of these dyes, I am going to believe them. You seriously think that they will shoot themselves in the foot, and state that vinigar will not work......to prove what precisly....that you should not buy vinigar. Sorry the point of saying ....."Sounds like something that a maker of Dye would say" does not make any sense. Do you have some chemical information that will make sense, I am listening.

And now ending with what I said before....Koolaid is made to be drunk and not made to dye with.

Els

Just read the second part of your thread.

I have never stated that it does not work. However I reacted to someone asking help with dyeing on cotton. I shared what I have learned and what I know about dyeing and about cotton. Cotton takes dyes, any kind of dye very different than wool. There is a difference between cotton and wool. a cellulose fiber and a protein fiber. Their make up is different and they react differently. Having just dyed with cotton, I know that you allways pretreat cotton with caustic soda, thus makeing the fibers more receptive to take on the dye. I suggested that that may be a good way to go, and stated that you could use washing soda as well. Not at any time did I say that vinigar did not work. Only what I had learned about it. There is a suttle difference, but a difference all the same.

So far I have never found that anyone in this group is "spewing information" always sharing in good humor, and also I have never read any bad information either, all of it is giving in good spirits and with good intentions. I am sorry of you read it any other way

I sure hope that you have a very nice weekend

Els

Why are you so angry about a perfectly normal conversation on dyeing...

Els

Then you don't understand marketing. Have fun .. what a stupid thing to be a PITA about.

Do you have some

So .. what I am telling you is not true? I have never done it? I don't get good die ... god .. what a pain in the ass.

I'm not angry ... your reading something in my post that isn't there.

I most likely get an earful again, but I am still wondering if we are all saying the same thing but in different ways. Natural Indigo, being used all over the world, for eons, does not need a mordant. A mordant being an agent that will adhere the dye to the fiber. Indigo does not adhere to the fiber at all, it's molecule does not join with the molecules of the fibers you want to dye. It is a so called Vat dye. There fore each and every time you wash your dyed in Indigo materials will wash out a bit and fade. Vinigar will maybe change the colour but will not set the colour of a natural dyed indigo at all.

So when you have dyed a piece of cotton in a Indigo bath, and you will give it an after bath in vinigar, you may very well change the colour. That is not setting the colour though, is it.

Many old ancient natural dyes do not need mordants. (always taking in account the fibers we are using). Indigo is one of them. Now comes another clincher. The blue indigo you see on the blue jeans you buy today, is most likely (and I am pretty certain of this), not natural indigo at all but a chemical man made indigo. Different beast all together Now before someone jumps up and down, to tell me that I am spouting nonsence off. For ten year I was working for an advertisnign agengy in Toronto, and we did all the Levi's adds. We had a great book on the Levi Straus history and also how the jeans were dyed then and how they are dyed today. I would say it is from the horses mouth.

Els