Fibermania

Dyeing Experiment:

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The Washout
My utmost concern was the hardness of water from the dye workshop sinks, which I am happy to say passed with flying colors. Then I had concerns about what fabrics we would be using in the workshop (in May), so I ran four tests on each of the four fabrics. I've recorded the results below. Warning, this is really dull reading.

Group #1

Fabrics: Roc-Lon's Nature's Way, James Thompson Bleached Muslin, James Thompson Unbleached Muslin, and Kona PFD. None of these were prewashed.

Using 1/4 cup soda ash and one gallon of water as a presoak, and two teaspoons of Deep Orange #6 in 8 oz. of water, I dyed these four fat quarters, using the massage and squeeze technique. This means I poured the dye into a dishpan, and placed the presoaked, wrung out fabric into the dye, squeezing the dye into the fabric, wringing it out, squeezing it again, until all the dye is manipulated into the fabrics. Then the dye is completely squeezed out, each fabric is balled up and placed side by side with each other in a plastic container, covered and allowed to sit all night. This prevents any extra dye liquid from creating a darker spot.

All washed out nicely, with the Kona taking the dye the lightest and the JT Muslin taking it deepest. The Nature's Way shrank the least, but the JT Muslins had the nicest hand and ironed nicely too. Kona seemed to be almost Perma-Press for ironing.

Group #2

Fabrics: Roc-Lon's Nature's Way, James Thompson Bleached Muslin, James Thompson Unbleached Muslin, and Kona PFD. None of these were prewashed.

Using 1/4 cup soda ash and one gallon of water as a presoak, and two teaspoons of Deep Orange #6 in 8 oz. of water, I dyed these four fat quarters,, I dyed these four fat quarters, using the crackle or scrunchy technique. This means each piece of fabric is crumpled into its own container, and the dye is poured over the surface and allowed to sink down through the wrinkles, in an effort to create textures. Cover the fabrics with dye solution. Do not manipulate the fabric for best results.

None of these fabrics showed much texture as you can see in the photo above. Mercerized cottons will show much more texture using the crackle technique. This method created a near solid, making it much more efficient with these particular fabrics, than the massage and squeeze technique.

Group #3

The same fabrics were prewashed and dyed using the Massage and Squeeze technique. No discernable difference was noted in the results.

Group #4

Fabrics: Roc-Lon's Nature's Way, James Thompson Bleached Muslin, James Thompson Unbleached Muslin, and Kona PFD. None of these were prewashed.
Using 1/4 cup soda ash and one gallon of water as a presoak, and one teaspoon of Deep Yellow #4 in 8 oz. of water, one teaspoon of Deep Orange #6 in 8 oz. of water, and one teaspoon of Fire Red #10 in 8 oz. of water, I dyed these four fat quarters, using the Direct Application Technique. Fabrics are presoaked, wrung out and pleated lengthwise. Then dyes are poured onto the fabric and allowed to flow together to mix colors where they meet. The fabric is left uncovered overnight. Nature's Way muslin showed the most texture and a good deep color but is very stiff and wrinkly, difficult to press, but the most width. JT Bleached Muslin and Unbleached Muslin showed good deep color, good texture and the finest hand. Kona was washed out looking.

Since none of these fabrics are mercerized I expected to find just OK results.

I like the James Thompson muslins the best because of their fine tightly woven hand, and their ability to absorb the dyes well and press out easily. However, they are not easy to find and if the the workshop site didn't have them on hand, I wouldn't know where to advise purchasing them.

I have used Nature's Way in the past and find it acceptable if it is dried after washing to just damp and pressed out from that point.

The Kona, while a favorite of many is such a loose weave that it doesn't take the dyes in the same way as a more densely woven cotton. And being a fuser, I prefer a more dense, less fraying fabric.

For further information on dyes and dyeing, see my new site, The Lazy Dyer, where this post will be included.