Smooth Colors - Basics

Key for success

• Prepare the fabric for dying through 'scouring'. (Scouring can be complicated (better) or simple -- simple is using a washing machine with the hottest water & 1/4 cup of soda ash and about 1 T of Synthrapol (Dawn dish soap in a pinch) for each pound (dry) of fabric. 
• Must keep the fabric moving (FOR smooth colors), especially the first 10 minutes. So, figure out a way to be comfortable while this goes on. Music? Podcast? Meditative swirling? 
• Use long heavy duty protective gloves. (Soda ash is harsh on skin --- it does work well to remove waxes and other unwanted chemicals from fabric.) 
• Squeezing and swooshing remain important during the remaining 20 minutes (for a total of 30 minutes works best - longer doesn't add anything - some say 20 minutes total is sufficient - my testing so far says 30 minutes gets me better color)
• Soda ash (pre-dissolved in water) is added after 30 minutes. BUT I now take the fabric out of the bath. Never pour it in over fabric as that usually means some fabric gets a big 'hit' of soda ash and will keep the color different from other parts of the fabric. Read the post on soda ash for more info. 

The steps

1. Fill bucket with sufficient very warm water for the amount of fabric - for 1 pound of fabric (a lot of fabric) use 3 gallons water. 
2. Add 1 cup non-iodized salt for each gallon of water, stir to dissolve. (Salt is essential for smooth colors - it pushes the dye from the water into the fabric). 
3. Add in the needed amount of dye (see details in my relevant section) and stir.
4. Add the fabric, get comfortable, start swirling and timing. 
5. At the end of time, move fabric (into an empty, clean bucket?), add soda ash water, swirl, re-add fabric, and continue swirling for about 15 minutes. Keep the fabric in bath for at least 5 more minutes; I usually wait at least an hour unless I want a light color. The fabric should still be moved every several minutes ---- but the first 20 minutes of the fabric's time in the dye bath is the most important time for actively moving the fabric and dye. 

Rinsing and washing:

• I also usually use time to help with rinsing. I do a quick cool rinse out then let the fabric soak in plain water for hours as this apparently works as well as many quick rinses. 
• Now using Dawn Pure dish detergent for washing out the dye instead of "professional textile detergents" or Synthropol. This has been tested and proven by experts. 
• Found a collapsible bucket works great for transferring my wet fabric to my front loading washer - as it fits right inside and minimizes any drips outside the machine.
• Do NOT spin the fabric fiercely while washing the first time (my machine can get real fierce). I've had creases get set from this --- when I mistakenly had thought all the excess dye was rinsed out. 

• Some use Retayne to set the dye. 

Soda Ash - The Basics

• Pool supply shops are a great place to buy. They call it 'pH Up'. 
• It irritates my skin - taken care of by using protective gloves 
• When dissolving, if you get it wet too slowly, it will form a brick that takes a l-oo-ng (long) time to dissolve. Just be sure to be swishing it a bit while adding water. 
• While I've figured much of what works for me in this messy business of fabric dyeing, how much soda ash to add is still a mystery. Some say you have to get the bath up to a pH over 10. BUT since I'm certain of this, take this with a grain of salt. (Not literally)
• Some techniques rely on pre-soaking in soda ash water. 
• Others do better adding the soda ash as a final process step. 
• How to know? IF swishing all the fabric together in the dye bath would ruin the outcome, then you do a pre-soak. IF you want the smoothest color possible - then do NOT pre-soak. 
• IF you want mottled BUT with kinda smooth transitions, then do soda ash after. 
• For a pre-soak, probably 30 minutes is good (if it's thick fabric, then longer is maybe safer). 

For AFTER, it's much more complicated.

• First, don't add the soda ash water directly over the fabric in your dye vat. AND, add it gradually. 
• One way: push the fabric to the side and add 1/4 of the soda ash water, swish into the dye bath, then swoosh the fabric through the dye bath thoroughly. Repeat 2 or 3 times. Swish really well for at least 20 minutes. 
• Then, it soaks for a while. I found 2 hours is better than 1 hour and maybe long enough. BUT, it's OK to go much longer if your life requests this -- overnight is OK. 

Preparing the soda ash water OR how much to use

• I don't have notes on how much soda ash to use. Sorry. 
• Some say to use 1 teaspoon of soda ash for every cup of water in the dye bath. SO, if you'll have 1 gallon water in the FINAL dye bath (including what is used to add the soda ash), this is 16 cups. You'd dissolve the 16 teaspoons in a cup or two of very warm water ahead of time. 
• 16 teaspoons is bit more than 5 Tablespoons. Or 1/3 cup. 
• Some recommendations end up with double or quadruple this amount. 
• Vicki Walsh did an experiment and her numbers are similar to mine. She went with about double in my example. But then she did round down a bit. 
• See, this is real messy chemistry here --- seems no one is certain. I think the reason is it depends on the water coming out of your tap. Not all tap water has the exact same characteristics. It seems that most are good with a 'rule of thumb'. 
• Go with 1/2 cup of soda ash per final gallon of dye bath. Dissolve it in 2 cups of very warm water. 
• Some day I'll test this more thoroughly myself. I read somewhere that one expert who travels a lot to teach, finds that things come out noticeably different in some places and she concluded after some experience it was due to differences in local water chemistry. But it seems most important to not have too little; using too much is wasteful of supplies and your time. 

Cocktail Hats

This is the kind of hat I can deal with (I generally hate hats -- for many reasons that don't all make sense when I write them out). I stick with hoods in the winter. All day long (including sleep wear with a hood).

BUT if I ever get to the Kentucky Derby, I want to participate. Discovered the name for the crazy small hats. They stay on with combs, pins, or elastic band.

Check out these google results for [british cocktail hat]

There are so many styles of hats -- explained here. Do visit.

Preparing Fiber Reactive Dye Solutions

• Mix dyes ahead of time to use time to assist with fully dissolving the dye
• 16 ounces bottle work well - right size, tight caps, fit in 6-pack, easy to shake 
• First, determine how much dry dye you need - Dharma Trading has a of amounts. They've created a calculator. Very Nice. 
• I use mass amounts to decide the amount of dye powder. 
• First, add the dry dye (using the small 'weighing boats'); 
• No urea (urea is a help to dissolving). I may not need it because of the characteristics of my local water supply or because of my willingness to prepare my dye several hours ahead of time (check with experts such as Paula Burch). 
• Add 12 ounces plain warm water. 
• Cap and shake. 
• Add salt, usually 1 tablespoon; shake again, and wait. 

Note on Measuring Dye: I use information provided by Dharma Trading to determine the amount of dye and go by weight -  measuring in grams using digital scales and weighing boat. (Term to use for googling: dye yield).

Detailed information on how much dye to use from Paula Burch. Includes information on "%owg" (percentage 'on weight of goods')