ART 142

Introduction to Fiber: Immersion Dyeing

We will be using natural fibers in this class that can be dyed with MX Fiber Reactive Dyes, or Procion MX Dyes. These dyes work best at room temperature. They are fairly forgiving and fairly easy to use (ideal for our set up and material limitations).

Fiber reactive dyes attach permanently to cellulose fibers (plant-based fibers) using a covalent (electron-sharing) bond. These molecules carry a "chromophore" which absorb varying spectrums of the light, allowing only certain spectrums to reflect.

Covalent bonding is the one of the most basic and strongest types of chemical reactions. This reaction happens gradually over time depending on temperature and/or the Ph level of the surrounding environment.

The Soda Ash pre-soak raises the pH level of the garment or fabric to approximately 10.5. Raising the pH level of the solution that the fabric or garment is soaked in raises the level of negative hydrogen ions in the dyeing environment. The chemical bonding process uses these ions in the reaction. Pre-soaking in Soda Ash fixer solution is what allows the fiber reactive dyes to work at room temperature.

The reaction can also be aided with heat. Some tie-dyers have had success with using baking soda and microwaving their dyed articles. Since baking soda is a weaker alkali than Soda Ash, it must be accompanied by heat. Some people who are "chemically sensitive" choose to use this method.

The dye is allowed to react in a desirable host environment for up to 24 hours. After this time, the bonding sites on the cellulose should be saturated with dye molecules. Excess dye molecules that have not bonded permanently are washed away using warm water rinse and a dye-carrying detergent like Synthrapol.

Polyester garments cannot be dyed by mere mortals. Polyester is created in highly controlled factory settings, using toxic chemicals at high temperatures. In addition, the dye is added when the fabric is in a liquid state. Using Rit or reactive dyes would be like trying to dye a plastic bag. The dye just doesn't stick. Similarly, acetate cannot be dyed.
If you have a garment or fabric that is half or less polyester and the other portion a natural fiber (like cotton), you can try using the reactive dyes. Keep in mind that the dye will take at about half strength. In other words, it's very hard to get a dark color saturation. Cotton mixed with a minimal amount of spandex (5-10%) will take the dye pretty well!
It will be easy for us to practice solid color dyeing on materials like cotton, linen, rayon, and silk. The best dye for vivid, color- and light-fast color are the reactive dyes.

Silk

Reactive dyes are easy to use on silk because they are so simple and can be done in the washing machine or in immersion. However, on silk, the reactive dyes do not come out the same colors as on cotton, so it requires experimentation to get what you want. If you want true-to-swatch silk colors and want to experiment with acid dyes, they require very hot water, either in the washer, or on top of the stove. Acid dyes will also dye nylon.

Silk can be tub dyed with cold water using the same method as for cotton. The colors on silk are not as predictable nor the same as on cotton. Mixed colors tend to shift one way or another. But it is so easy compared to hot dyeing that it is well worth trying. Soda ash will take away some of the sheen of silk and can give silk more of a stonewashed appearance unless exposure is limited. To avoid that, try the vinegar method below.

The method below yields beautiful colors on both wool and silk, although silk usually takes the dye better than wool. The dyes exhaust better on silk as well. Fiber reactive dyes give the best results when used on high-quality, white, pure virgin wool or 100% white silk. Reused fabrics or yarns may contain impurities which will interfere with the dye process. Oils or gum on the fabric or yarn will prevent the dye from taking uniformly. Fabric or yarns of an existing color will be blended with the dye color used. The color card is for the dyes on cotton. On silk, the colors shift. Best to do a test first. Fiber Reactive blacks do not yield black on silk. Use a black silk dye.

The following recipe is per 1 pound (450 gm.) of dry weight of wool or silk.

1. Place 1 to 5 teaspoons (3-15 gm.) of dye (depending on the shade desired) into a one-quart Pyrex measuring cup, add a small amount of cold water and work into a smooth paste with a stainless steel or plastic spoon. Add 1 cup of water at 60 degrees C (140 degrees F) to this dye paste. Stir well to dissolve all the dye and pour into the dyebath container (should be stainless steel, glass, or enamel, not aluminum or copper).

2. Dissolve 3 to 9 tablespoons (180-270 gm.) of plain salt (depending on the intensity desired) in 2 cups of warm water and add to the dyebath. Add the fabric. Add enough water to cover the material plus a little extra to allow the yarn or fabric to move freely in the dyebath.

3. Place the dyebath container on the stove and heat gradually to a simmer (just below boiling) and hold there for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 2/3 cup white vinegar and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Remove from heat, rinse in hot tapwater and wash with Synthrapol. Rinse until free of dye, gradually lowering the temperature of the rinse water to that of the room. Remember that sudden changes in temperature can damage the wool and cause it to felt up. Heat and cool slowly!

Wool

Wool cannot be dyed with the cotton method.

Acid dyes are also used for dyeing wool - again, they require very hot water, so your fabric must be able to withstand any resulting shrinkage, matting, or felting. For this reason, I do not recommend dyeing already-constructed wool garments, such as coats, sweaters, or dresses, unless they are really large, and/or you are completely willing to experiment with the results.
Procion Dyes

The Procion family of dyes was discovered by ICI in England, in 1956, and has been in continuous development ever since. Fiber-reactive dyes develop color inside the fiber, rather than on the surface, thereby improving light-fastness and wash-fastness. No dyes available to home- or studio-dyer are more permanent than Procion dyes.
Procion dyes are inert until dissolved in an alkaline solution—then they will attempt to make a bond whether or not a suitable fiber is present. After an hour or two the solution begins to lose potency to do new dyeing, even if there is still pigment in the bath. After several hours, the solution will no longer work, fiber put into the pot will stain rather than dye—the color will not be true or fast.

These dyes were designed for use on cellulosic, vegetable-based fibers: cotton, linen, jute, hemp, sisal, ramie, rayon.

The only chemicals required, besides the dyes, are Table Salt (sodium chloride) and Washing Soda (sodium carbonate). Soda is the activator. Salt levels color and improves the solubility and take up of the dye. Grocery store Washing Soda almost invariably is “improved” by the addition of bleaching agents. It’s a good rule to get your Soda where you get your dye to be sure of purity.

It’s possible to use Procion dyes on protein-based fibers: wool, silk, nylon. Two recipe changes are the key. Turn the bath acidic by adding any mild acid—distilled white vinegar (acetic acid), citric acid, oxalic acid—one cup per gallon of dyebath. And raise the temperature of the dyebath gradually to a simmer.

Basic Procion Recipe
This recipe dyes one pound of fiber to a medium shade. Results vary with the fiber used. To dye more than a pound, scale all quantities upwards proportionately. To dye less than a pound, scale down. For lighter or darker shades, use less or more of all the powders, keeping the same proportions among them.

For very dark colors, leave fiber in the dyebath for a longer time, up to twenty-four hours. For still darker shades—over-dye—do the entire process again.
Woven cloth needs less dye to achieve a given depth of shade than knitted cloth, or skeined yarn, or unspun fiber.

The left column below gives measurements in “kitchen” form, the right column in metric units. The kitchen units are volumes, inherently inexact for powders. If you can once master the metric form—calculating (scaling up or down, for instance) is vastly simpler and your results will be far more precise and repeatable. You’ll need an accurate scale.
If you get consistently poor results, check your water, your fiber, and your chemicals. Try a water-softener if the colors are dull. Let your water stand over-night if the colors are thin. Be sure your Soda has not been “improved”. Find out if your dyes are too old, or have been stored improperly. Follow the same recipe with fiber you’re sure is dyeable—an old, many times washed, all cotton T-shirt, for example.
SODA is washing soda, salt soda, sodium carbonate, soda ash. SALT is regular table salt, sodium chloride. A pound of FIBER is 2 to 5 yards of woven cloth, a lesser yardage of knits, the simple dry weight of yarn or unspun fiber.

BASIC PROPORTIONS
1 pound / FIBER / 454 grams
2.5 gallons / WATER / 9 liters
1 tablespoon / DYE / 9 grams
40 tablespoons / SALT / 860 grams (2.5 cups)
4 tablespoons / SODA / 48 grams

Step-By-Step Recipe

  1. Prep Fiber Prepare your fiber by washing and rinsing. Re-wet before dyeing.
  2. Dissolve Dye Make a paste of the dye in a tablespoon of cold water,
    stir the paste into a cup of hot tap water (140°F).
  3. Dissolve Salt In another container, dissolve the salt in two quarts of hot tap water.
  4. Mix Dyebath Mix the two solutions in your dyepot and add the rest of the water: in all, two-and-one-half gallons. This is your dyebath. The ideal temperature is 85°F, up to 100°F is okay (Turquoise MX-G, alone and in mixes, strikes best at 140°F).
  5. Add Fiber Submerge pre-wetted fiber in the dyebath.
    Let soak for six minutes, stir a little, keep submerged.
  6. Add Soda Dissolve the soda in a cup of hot water, boiling if necessary. Add the soda solution to the dyebath. Your dyebath is now activated.
  7. Stir Stir occasionally for fifteen minutes (minimum). The longer the immersion, the deeper the color. But for batik use the minimum time: activated dye solutions degrade wax.
  8. Fix and Finish Rinse in warm water to be rid of excess dye. Wash with mild detergent in hot water to set the dye and remove all dye residues (normal washing-machine “hot” cycle is hot enough, simmer skeins, boiling is okay for cotton). Air dry. (If you are batiking, dry cloth after the rinse in step 8, re-wax cloth, and go back to step 2 for the next color. Finally, after your last color, boil out the wax, wash and dry cloth. Dry clean to remove the last traces of wax.)

Sodium Alginate Recipe (for use with Procion Dyes)

  1. Make Gel Base
    Work a tablespoon of Sodium Alginate into a quart of warm water, stirring until lumpless. A blender makes this very easy. Add five tablespoons of Urea, stir in thoroughly. The Gel Base can be kept for months, especially if refrigerated.
  2. Make Ink/Paint Scoop out as much Gel Base as needed. Adjust the consistency: add Sodium Alginate to thicken, water to thin. For printing: thicker than an egg-white. For painting: thinner, as you like it.
    Mush in Dye, stirring for three or four minutes. A teaspoon of Dye per half-cup of Gel is a medium shade. Experience will teach how much Dye yields a given depth of shade on a given fabric (note: the Pigmented Gel keeps 2-3 weeks if refrigerated).
  3. Activate and Apply Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda) turns on the dye. Add to the Pigmented Gel, stirring in thoroughly, one teaspoon of Baking Soda per cup of Gel. An hour after the Bicarbonate goes in, the Dye begins to die. So, activate in small batches, never more than an hour’s worth at a time. Brush or press or otherwise apply the paint to your fabric. Use several colors at a time, if you like.
  4. Fix and Finish Air dry cloth. Then heat set: bake five minutes at 285°F, or press with an iron set at 285°F or at “steam”. If you bake, put a pan of water under the cloth. If you iron, cover the board and the fabric with clean paper (not newspaper) or scrap cloth. And press both sides to insure sufficient heat. Rinse your fabric in hot soapy water, then in warm running water until the water runs clear. Wash in mild detergent. Air dry.

MX Fiber Reactive Dyes

The purpose of the soda ash solution is to raise the ph level of the fabric, which makes the fabric more receptive to the dyes. Without using PH UP, your colors will be very dull and you'll be wasting dye powder. Make sure the product you buy is sodium carbonate (check the ingredient label) and not some other ingredients.

Process

Step 1: Fabric preparation
If you have not dyed the fabric you're using before and don't want to risk getting disappointing results, you may wish to prewash (i.e. scour) the fabric first. Some fabrics are treated with finishes that make it difficult for the dye to penetrate the fibers.

Scouring fabric in washing machine

Time: One washer & dryer cycle.
Use one tablespoon of New Dawn liquid dishwashing detergent (or similar product) OR one teaspoon of Synthropol and (optional) ½ teaspoon of soda ash per 1-2 yards of fabric. Open up the fabric fully to make sure the soap can completely penetrate it. This soap removes any sizing or finishes in the fabric that will inhibit the dyes. Hot water (140 degrees F) apparently works best, though cold water is fine too (that's all I use).

Look at the wash water and notice the color of the water. This how you want the water to look when you’re at the end of the dyeing process using the washer to rinse the excess dye out of the fabric.

Dryer (to preshrink & dry the fabric--optional)

You could just hang the fabric to dry. It doesn't get ironed until all the dyeing is done (unless you have an ironing fetish).

Cutting or Tearing
Some fabric tears very nicely on the grain. Other fabric will require rotary cutting to get nice even sized pieces. It’s important that your fabric pieces are equal in size with each dye session if you wish to achieve consistent results.
The amount of dye powder needed is proportionate to the size of fabric you are dyeing. The recipes provided here show you the amounts required for 1/8, ¼, and ½ yard pieces.

Coding the fabric
While you are learning to dye and becoming familiar with how the dye colors look when combined, I recommend coding each piece of fabric with its dye recipe number. This way, when you are sorting all the fabrics you’ve dyed, you’ll know which piece is from which recipe. I use a permanent black marking pen and write the number on one corner of the fabric.
Example: A 12-piece rainbow that you've named Rainbow #2 could be coded on the fabric as: R2-1, R2-2, R2-3...and so on, with the end numbers corresponding with each of the colors in the recipe.

Step 2: Soda Ash Pre-Soak

CAUTION: wear mask, gloves, goggles, and a protective apron. Soak fabric for a minimum of 30 minutes. There is no maximum time you can soak the material; you can leave it soaking for days or weeks without a problem if you keep a lid on the bucket to prevent evaporation.

Recipe:

One cup of soda ash per one-gallon (4L) of warm water. Dissolve thoroughly before adding fabric. This solution can stay at room temperature indefinitely. Put a lid on the container or the liquid will evaporate.

Always wear gloves and goggles when mixing this solution: it will sting your skin if you get splashed, and the fumes can be hazardous if inhaled.
After soaking the pre-scoured fabric for at least 30 minutes, the fabric is ready for dyeing. Squeeze the excess liquid out of the fabric (and back into your soda ash solution bucket for re-use) and set the fabric pieces in a clean container. The fabric pieces should be slightly damp.

Things to remember:

  1. Always soak a few extra pieces of fabric so you’ll have extras ready to experiment with using any leftover dyes.
  2. Make sure you don’t try to cram too much fabric into the soda ash solution bucket, otherwise the solution won’t evenly penetrate the fabric.
  3. The soda ash solution can be used again and again, simply adding more soda ash and warm water as needed. Make sure you label this bucket so it doesn’t accidentally get poured out. Fabric can presoak in this solution indefinitely for weeks or months at room temperature.
  4. (In regular immersion dyeing the soda ash solution is added to the dye solution and therefore has to be discarded with each dye session. That method works great as well but you do have to keep replacing the soda ash so it's not as frugal.)
  5. If you’re going to be dyeing the fabric right away, you can get your work area ready during the 30 minute wait for the fabric soaking in the soda solution.

Step 3: Prepare the Dye concentrates