How to Hand Dye Cotton Yarn
Supply List:
I followed the directions that came with the dye, using the low
water immersion dyeing method. Use rubber gloves throughout
the process.
1. In each of two pots on the stove, I heated water to 140 F.,
then turned the stove off, and added 1 tsp. soda ash and 1 tsp.
Synthrapol to each pot. I put 3 skeins in one, and 2 in the other
and made sure water covered the skeins. I let it sit for 15
minutes, then rinsed and wrung out thoroughly.
2. I made Urea Water by mixing 100 gm. (9 level T.) of Urea
with 1 liter of warm 110 F. water.
3. To dye five skeins of 100 gm yarn, I needed about 1 1/2 cups
each of colors blue and light blue, and about 1/2 cup of yellow.
The directions give you the quantities of dye powder and urea
water to get pale, medium, dark, or black colors. I put the dyes
in squirt bottles.
4. I tied four yarn ties around my skeins to hold them together.
I laid my skeins on plastic on the garage floor. (See pictures) I
squirted the prepared dye colors over the skeins in random
patterns. Turn the skeins over and do the back sides. I put the
yellow on last. I tried to gently move my ties and put color there
so that I wouldn't have bands of white. I scrunched the light and
dark blues and rubbed to get color on white patches. Let sit for
15 minutes.
5. Make warm Dye Activator solution. Mix together the
following ingredients, and put in squirt bottles.
each skein while they are on the plastic. Gently pick up and coil
each skein into a large plastic wash basin and let sit for a
minimum of 1 hour, up to 24 hours. Mine sat for 18 hours. The
longer you let the skeins sit, the deeper the colors will be. If you
are dyeing Turquoise or Black, let the fabric sit for the full 24
hours. Make sure the temperature of the room is at least 70 F.
7. Rinse and wash. Remove the skeins from the container and
pour the exhausted dye down the drain. Rinse the skeins
thoroughly in a bucket of room temperature 75 to 95F water.
Change the rinse water 3-4 times. Wash in HOT 140F water,
adding 1/2 tsp. Synthrapol to the basin. Rinse well. I again filled
the basin with HOT water and added 1 tsp. Retayne and let it sit
for 20 minutes. The rinse water should be clear. If not, keep
rinsing. Wring the skeins out.
8. I hung up the skeins to dry in my garage on a clothes line. I
removed all but one of the yarn ties to let the yarn spread out for
better drying. Alternatively, if your dryer has a drying tray, put
it inside the dryer and put 3 skeins at a time on it. The tray
prevents the things on it from tumbling. I used gentle heat. (see
photos.)
9. When dry, use a yarn swift to wind your yarn into balls.
10. My colors turned out lighter than I expected them to. I was
hoping for medium blue, light blue and yellow. I ended up with
light and lighter blue and yellow. Could it be because of the 20%
wool? Could it be that the diluted blue merged too much with
the medium blue, causing me to lose the medium blue? I still
ended up with a variegated yarn that will be beautiful--although
pastel instead of the bolder look I hoped for!
Enter your comments/suggestions at: http:/thespyincrinoline.
com/blog
Supply List:
- Skeins of white cotton yarn. I used Cascade Yarns Sierra
(80% cotton, 20% wool) - Procion MX Reactive Dyes ( I ordered from Dharma
Trading Co. (http://www.dharmatrading.com/) - Urea (from Dharma)
- Rubber gloves
- Measuring cups, measuring spoons, large cooking pots
- Synthrapol
- Soda ash or baking soda (I used swimming pool soda ash)
- Retayne
I followed the directions that came with the dye, using the low
water immersion dyeing method. Use rubber gloves throughout
the process.
1. In each of two pots on the stove, I heated water to 140 F.,
then turned the stove off, and added 1 tsp. soda ash and 1 tsp.
Synthrapol to each pot. I put 3 skeins in one, and 2 in the other
and made sure water covered the skeins. I let it sit for 15
minutes, then rinsed and wrung out thoroughly.
2. I made Urea Water by mixing 100 gm. (9 level T.) of Urea
with 1 liter of warm 110 F. water.
3. To dye five skeins of 100 gm yarn, I needed about 1 1/2 cups
each of colors blue and light blue, and about 1/2 cup of yellow.
The directions give you the quantities of dye powder and urea
water to get pale, medium, dark, or black colors. I put the dyes
in squirt bottles.
4. I tied four yarn ties around my skeins to hold them together.
I laid my skeins on plastic on the garage floor. (See pictures) I
squirted the prepared dye colors over the skeins in random
patterns. Turn the skeins over and do the back sides. I put the
yellow on last. I tried to gently move my ties and put color there
so that I wouldn't have bands of white. I scrunched the light and
dark blues and rubbed to get color on white patches. Let sit for
15 minutes.
5. Make warm Dye Activator solution. Mix together the
following ingredients, and put in squirt bottles.
- 6 tsp (20 gms) Soda Ash
- 4 cups warm to hot (110 F) water.
each skein while they are on the plastic. Gently pick up and coil
each skein into a large plastic wash basin and let sit for a
minimum of 1 hour, up to 24 hours. Mine sat for 18 hours. The
longer you let the skeins sit, the deeper the colors will be. If you
are dyeing Turquoise or Black, let the fabric sit for the full 24
hours. Make sure the temperature of the room is at least 70 F.
7. Rinse and wash. Remove the skeins from the container and
pour the exhausted dye down the drain. Rinse the skeins
thoroughly in a bucket of room temperature 75 to 95F water.
Change the rinse water 3-4 times. Wash in HOT 140F water,
adding 1/2 tsp. Synthrapol to the basin. Rinse well. I again filled
the basin with HOT water and added 1 tsp. Retayne and let it sit
for 20 minutes. The rinse water should be clear. If not, keep
rinsing. Wring the skeins out.
8. I hung up the skeins to dry in my garage on a clothes line. I
removed all but one of the yarn ties to let the yarn spread out for
better drying. Alternatively, if your dryer has a drying tray, put
it inside the dryer and put 3 skeins at a time on it. The tray
prevents the things on it from tumbling. I used gentle heat. (see
photos.)
9. When dry, use a yarn swift to wind your yarn into balls.
10. My colors turned out lighter than I expected them to. I was
hoping for medium blue, light blue and yellow. I ended up with
light and lighter blue and yellow. Could it be because of the 20%
wool? Could it be that the diluted blue merged too much with
the medium blue, causing me to lose the medium blue? I still
ended up with a variegated yarn that will be beautiful--although
pastel instead of the bolder look I hoped for!
Enter your comments/suggestions at: http:/thespyincrinoline.
com/blog
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