Tips
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Safety Considerations
- Always wear rubber gloves.
- Wear a NIOSH/MSHA dust mask or respirator when working with dry powders.
Inhaling the dye powder or soda ash in large quantities may cause serious health problems.
- Use measuring cups, spoons, and utensils for dyeing only. Don’t mix with
kitchen utensils.
Hints & Suggestions
- Dye spilled on surfaces can be cleaned with bleach or household cleansers.
- Use a hand cleaner, such as Reduran to remove dye from skin. Do not use bleach
since it dissolves protein (like your skin!).
- For an even take-up of dye in immersion dyeing, soak the fiber in clear water
for at least 15 minutes to wet completely. If the fiber has been washed, do not dry,
move directly to dyeing.
- Synthrapol is a more effective
washing agent than regular soap, especially when turquoise, fuchsia and any color
mixes containing these dye colors are used. These colors require increased time
and care in washing out the excess dye. Often several hot soap soaks are necessary.
- Mix powdered dye with a small amount of water to form a paste when dissolving.
After all lumps are remove, gradually add more water until the dye is thoroughly
dissolved. For quicker pasting, add 2 drops of Synthrapol before adding the water.
- Dye colors may vary in volume due to the nature that some dyestuffs are dense and
others are fluffy. Therefore, some dye colors will be more concentrated if measureing
by teaspoons.
- Altitude, water quality (mineral or chloring content), humidity, dyebath
temperature, brand and purity of vinegar and/or Soda Ash can all influence the dye
process. Perfume, whiteners and brighteners in household detergents and soaps can
totally change the dye color. Two seemingly identical runs can have quite different
results if any of these variables change.
Rinsing Procion MX Dyes
- Wearing gloves, rinse the dyed fiber first with cool water, then with increasingly
warmer water.
- After 3 or 4 rinses, when the water is nearly clear, prepare a soap soak. Use 2
to 3 gallons of very hot tap water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of
Synthrapol. The fiber
should sit in this soap bath for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Rinse 3 or 4 additional times with warm water.
For wool or other fibers that may felt, keep the temperature of the water nearly
the same in each rinse as well as the soap soak.
