I had another go at dyeing reds last Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately all I got was more pink, much to Phil's amusement. I used Procion dye from a different supplier, in Carmine Red and Fire Engine Red. Some the fabrics shown are red dye over pink/orange fabric, but they still turned out pink. I would still like to try Red MXBG from KraftKolour (where I usually get my supplies). Unfortunately they have had to rebuild their business after the Victorian bushfires. I look forward to their business being open again!Something else I may need to try is whether or not it makes a difference using synthrapol to wash the fabrics prior to dying. I'm very curious now whether it is my dyeing technique that is causing the trouble. I suppose the only way to find out is by more experimenting.
2 comments:
reds are definitely a pain to get right; we have gone through stages of having more pink fabric than anything else thanks to the search for a perfect red. My first suggestion would be that it looks like you might need to make your dye solution stronger - I've had most success by mixing near double-strength, and/or by mixing a couple of different reds (eg fuschia and fire-engine) together. I've also had more red successes with platter dyeing than regular LWI - presoak the fabric in soda ash for at least half an hour, lay flat on a perspex/acrylic/whatever board, pour/brush dye solution on and leave to dry. Do it on a nice warm day (in the sun or not doesn't seem to matter, but if it's really dry weather use urea in the presoak). Leaving it 24 hours or so before washing seems to ensure as much dye as possible is taken up. If it's not dark enough when it's dry, mix a little soda ash with dye solution and overdye before drying again & washing. If you want a hint of that "crystallised" LWI look you can scrunch the fabric a little on the platters, or pleat if you want dark/light stripes.
Thanks for all this, Sion. I will certainly try this when I have more red dye to play with! I am determined to solve this, and appreciate your help!
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