Glossary

 

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

 

A

Acid dye-Powdered dye, colorfast for protein and nylon fibers only. Acid dyes contain anionic functional groups like sulphonic acid.  They are attracted to positively charged amino groups on polyamide fibers like wool, silk and nylon. Only two colors--black and grey--are pre metalized. The only "acid" is the white vinegar or (citric acid) used to fix the dye.

Acrylic-A versatile thermoplastic that emerged in the late 1950's. It is used as a binder in water-based  paints and inks. Acrylic fabric paints usually require heat setting for permanence on textiles. It is also used to make soft and durable fibers used for yarns, velvets and carpeting. Jacquard Basic Dyes work best on this type of material.

Alkalid- An alkali or base is a proton acceptor.   Examples of alkalis used in dyeing include household  ammonia, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), washing soda/soda ash (sodium carbonate).  Lye (or sodium hydroxide, NaOH) is not recommended for the home dyer, as it poses some health risks.  Ammonia should be used with a fume hood.

Alum-Often used as a mordant when marbling to make the paint stick to the fabric or paper. Also used as a mordant for natural dyes. Jacquard Alum is a salt of aluminum known as aluminum sulfate.

Antifusant- A substance used to treat the surface of a fabric to inhibit bleeding or speading of liquid dyes or paints. The traditional antifusant is gutta dissolved in an organic solvent such as naphtha.  Because of the issues associated with working with solvents (toxicity, fumes, etc), water-based antifusants are now common. Jacquard produces a highly effective antifusant called No Flow.

Archivable-An archival material should have a neutral or slightly alkaline pH; it should also have good aging properties. Archival materials are stable. They do not break down over time, at least ostensibly.

B

Back Stain-Backstaining occurs when loose dye particles stain fabrics during rinsing. There are a number of ways around it, including the use of Synthrapol as a detergent and diluteing concentrated dyes before application. Color removers may be used (with caution!) to remove backstaining. 

Basic dye-8 colors for hard-to-dye substrates. The main differences between Basic Dye and PMX : 1-Basic Dyes are stronger, 2-Basic Dye has more affinity for the substrate (this is always the ‘big’ issue when dyeing),  3-Basic Dye is soluble in ‘turps’ and also in water, Procion MX only in water. However, basic dyes are typically less colorfast than PMX dyes.

Batik-The technique of using hot wax as a resist. Typically, hot wax is  applied with a Tjanting tool--a drawing instrument with a cup and spout from which molten wax is poured onto fabric in a design. Dye is then applied in progressive layers over the wax (progressing from light to dark hues). Batik is traditionally done on either cotton or silk, or other natural fibers. A cool water dye such as Jacquard Procion MX is usually used so as not to melt the wax during dyeing. Batiks have characteristic "crackled" look, caused when dye seeps into cracks in the wax. However, there are now a varriety of waxes available, some of which crack more or less than others.

Binder-A material used to bind disparate materials together, such as pigments and fibers.

Bleeding-The effect in which one color of a dye or paint diffuses into another causing, it to discolor. The migration of dyes or paints on a substrate.

Brayer-A hand roller used in printmaking techniques to spread ink in the process of offsetting an image from a plate to paper.

C

Carrageenan-natural thickener used with water for marbling to create a medium on which paints can float.

Catalyst-a substance that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected

Cellulose fiber- Fibers made from plants: cotton, linen (flax) , rayon (re-constituted wood cellulose), bamboo, jute, hemp, sea grass, some papers.

CMYK-The CMYK color model (process color, four color) is a subtractive color model, used in color printing, and to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four colors used in printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). Though it varies by print house, press operator, press manufacturer and press run, ink is typically applied in the order of the abbreviation. The "K" in CMYK stands for key, since in four-color printing cyan, magenta, and yellow printing plates are carefully keyed or aligned with the key of the black key plate. Some sources suggest that the "K" in CMYK comes from the last letter in "black" and was chosen because B already means blue. However, this explanation, though plausible and useful as a nemonic, is incorrect. The CMYK model works by partially or entirely masking colors on a lighter, usually white, background. The ink reduces the light that would otherwise be reflected. Such a model is called subtractive because inks "subtract" brightness from white. In additive color models such as RGB, white is the "additive" combination of all primary colored lights, while black is the absence of light. In the CMYK model, it is the opposite: white is the natural color of the paper or other background, while black results from a full combination of colored inks. To save money on ink, and to produce deeper black tones, unsaturated and dark colors are produced by using black ink instead of the combination of cyan, magenta and yellow. CYM inks are transparent, and thus the three primary colors can be used to creat secondary colors directly on the substrate.

Colorfast-having color that retains its original hue and intensity without fading or running.

Color Wheel- or color circle is an abstract illustrative organization of color hues around a circle that shows relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, complementary colors, etc.

Concentrated Vinyl Sulphon-Liquid, highly concentrated, professional grade, high energy reactive dyes. Even more concentrated than the red label dyes. Used on natural/cellulose fibers. Rarely used for immersion dyeing. Consistent dye colors for accurate reproduction of mixed colors. Replaces discontinued Procion H.

Crocking- Occurs when excess dye rubs off of one dry fabric onto another dry fabric. Crocking is usually more of a problem with dark and vivid colors.

Curing- A term in polymer chemistry and process engineering that refers to the toughening or hardening of a polymer material by cross-linking of polymer chains, brought about by chemical additives, ultraviolet radiation, electron beam or heat. 

D

Diluents-A diluent (also referred to as a filler, dilutant or thinner) is a diluting agent. Certain fluids are too viscous to be pumped easily or too dense to flow from one particular point to the other. This can be problematic, because it might not be economically feasible to transport such fluids in this state. To ease this restricted movement, diluents are added. This decreases the viscosity of the fluids, thereby also decreasing the pumping/transportation costs.

Direct dye-Direct dyes, such as iDye for Natural Fibers, are used on natural fibers such as cotton, rayon, linen, silk and wool. They are applied in hot water typically between 175°F and 200°F.

Disperse dye-Disperse dyes, such as iDye Poly, are the only dyes used for dyeing polyester and acetate fibers. They are the smallest dye molecules among all dyes. Disperse dyes are insoluble in water and have the unique characteristic of sublimating. 

E

Emulsion- mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (un-blendable).

Encaustics-A painting medium made of hot wax, resins (usually damar resin) and often, pigments (powders or oils).

Extender-A colorless medium typically used to increase the transparency of a paint without changing its viscosity. Extenders can be thought of as colorless paints which you can add pigments to or that can be mixed into colored paints. 

F

Fabric Blend-A fabric that is made up of two or more different types of fibers twisted or spun together.

Felting-A non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woolen fibers. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any color, and made into any shape or size.

Fiber reactive dye- This synthetic dye is used with natural fibers. Sometimes salt is used as well as an alkali to assist in the dyeing process. The name "fiber reactive" refers to the type of chemical bonding that occurs. In this process the dye becomes part of the fiber. It works best on cellulose fibers, but will also work on protein fibers (like silk) in an acidic, rather than alkaline environment. Procion MX dye, a colder water fiber reactive dye, is the only dye that works at room temperatures or in luke warm dye baths, making it ideal for tie dye and batik on cellulose fibers such as cotton.

Fixing - the process whereby dyes or paints become attached to the fibers of the a substrate. Paints are generally fixed ("set") with a hot iron (or Airfix), while dyes are generally fixed with steam or chemmistry.  Each dye and paint has its own method for fixing.

G

Gutta Resist- Made from natural Gutta Percha. Gutta is usually removed from fabric by dry-cleaning. Colored guttas are intended to remain on the fabric and should not be dry-cleaned, as it will remove some of the color. Gutta is the traditional resist used for Serti style silk painting. No setting required for washability.

H

Halftone- refers to the reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size, in shape or in spacing. The halftone process relies on a basic optical illusion—that these tiny halftone dots are blended into smooth, continuous tones by the human eye. Halftones are used frequently in screen printing to simulate gradients, shadows and shading. Photographic imagery can be reproduced for screen printing by creating halftone screens for each subtractive color (CMYK process colors). The semi-opaque property of process inks allow halftone dots of different colors to create another optical effect—full-color imagery.

Hand-What a material feels like to the touch; the quality of a fabric or yarn based on roughness, smoothness, thickness, pliability or stretch-ability. Also a term that describes the way a paint or ink feels on a fabric when it is dry. Thick, opaque paints can have a "heavy hand," while thinner paints can have a "light hand". Paints with less "hand" are generally more desirable.

Hue- Is one of the three measurable properties of a color, hue being the name of a color. The other two properties are value and intensity.

I

Immersion dyeing- Process of dyeing a fabric in which the fabric is fully submerged in a dye bath.

Impasto- The thick application of paint (usually oil) that makes no attempt to look smooth or uniform.

Indelible-cannot easily be removed

Inert- having little or no ability to react.

J

Jersey –  a single knit fabric with plain stitches on the right side and purl stitches on the back.

Jute- a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is one of the most affordable natural fibers and is second only to cotton in amount produced and variety of uses of vegetable fibers. Jute fibers are composed primarily of the plant materials cellulose (major component of plant fiber) and lignin (major components of wood fiber).

K

Keratin – The protein substance that wool fibers and natural hair are composed of.

L

M

Momme- Rhymes with “tummy” and is a Japanese measure of fabric weight. 1mm = 3.62 grams per square yard, so a 8mm fabric weighs 29 grams (1 oz) per square yard. The smaller the “mm” the lighter the fabric. The abbreviation “mm” stands for momme.

Mordant- A substance used in dyeing to fix the coloring matter, especially a metallic compound, as an oxide or hydroxide, that combines with the organic dye and forms an insoluble colored compound or lake in the fiber.

N

Natural fiber- A class of hair-like materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to pieces of thread. They can be spun into filaments, thread, or rope. They can be used as a component of composite materials. They can also be matted into sheets to make products such as paper or felt. Any fiber that is not synthetic. 

O

Ombre-the term for gradient dyeing. There are different ways to do it, but basically the dilution and/or color of the dye is changed as the garment/fabric is moved through it. Use whatever dye is appropriate for the fabric.

Opaque-Not transparent or translucent; impenetrable to light; not allowing light to pass through.

Open time-The interval during which liquid paint can be blended with additional painted regions. In screen printing, the length of time an ink can remain wet in or on a screen before drying.

P

pH- A logarithmic measure of the acidity of a solution. Water, which has equal amounts of OH- and H+ ions, is pH 7 or neutral pH.  An acid, which is pH 1, is 10 times more acidic than pH 2 and 100 times more acidic than pH 3.  Each unit on the pH scales differs by a factor of 10.  The scale ranges from 0 to 14.  Above 7 is basic/alkaline and below 7 is acidic.

Phthalate-any of various salts or esters of phthalic acid used especially as plasticizers and in solvent.

Pigment- A powder-form of color that can be combined with a vehicle or binder to create a paint or "pigment dye." Pigments are solid and insoluble.

Process colors- Process color is a system of using four standard, semi-transparent inks to create a wide spectrum of different colors by mixing them on the press or substrate. The colors typically considered the "process colors" are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK.)

Procion H-A steam set fiber reactive dye

Procion MX-A cold water fiber reactive dye that chemically bonds to fiber. Fixed with soda ash.

Protein fiber- fibers from animals/insects: silk, wool, alpaca, feathers, hair, etc.

Q

R

Resist - anything that prevents dye from reaching the fabric; it resists the dye. See Gutta Resist or Water Based Resist.

S

Sand washed- Sand washing is a process that buffs the fibers on a silk or other fabric, causing them to have a soft or worn texture.

Saturation- the point at which a solution of a substance can dissolve no more of that substance.

Slub-a lump in yarn or fabric, often made intentionally to give a knobbly effect

Simmer- kept at or just below the boiling point of water.

Sizing- A finish that adds body to fabric. Starch is an example of a sizing.

Substraight-The material on which a product such as paint, dye or ink is applied.

Sun printing-A printing technique that uses sunlight as a developing or fixative agent.

Suspension-the state in which the particles of a substance are mixed with a fluid but are undissolved.

Synthetic fiber- Fibers ade from synthesized polymers or small molecules. The compounds that are used to make these fibers come from raw materials such as petroleu-based chemicals or petrochemicals. These materials are polymerized into a long, linear chemical that bond two adjacent carbon atoms. Differing chemical compounds will be used to produce different types of fibers. Emaples of common synthetic fibers are polyester, nylon and spandex.

T

Tack-a sticky or adhesive quality or condition

Transparent- So sheer as to permit light to pass through. 

U

V

Viscous-of a glutinous nature or consistency; sticky; thickness

W

Wetfast-see "washfast."

Washfast-resistant to fading or discoloration when washed or wetted.

Water-based Resist-Jacquard's clear Water-based Resist is meant to wash out in warm water. Permanent Water-based Resist is heat set with a hot iron for permanence of fabric.

X, Y, Z