Equipment & Supplies Part 1 – Dyes and Auxiliary Chemicals
Some Mini posts regarding Equipment and Supplies that I use for dyeing cotton yarn and thread, today I am breaking down my dyes and auxiliary chemicals.
Dyes
As you have likely read elsewhere the best dyes for dye cotton yarn and thread are fiber reactive dyes sometimes called procionmx dyes. There are a wide variety of suppliers but I will cover the ones that I know of and my previous use of them. There are also some all-purpose dyes that will work on cotton yarn and thread to a certain degree, but for the most vibrancy and wash fast dyes stick with fiber reactive dyes.
All Purpose dyes
Rit all-purpose liquid and powdered dyes, often found in big box stores so easy to source. I have used these dyes on thread before, and although it worked the color vibrancy was rather dull and the cost is actually quite high, believe it or not the procionmx dyes are actually cheaper.
Tintex is another all purpose brand I have used, I believe they are Canadian made, it is dye powder that is usually found in dollar stores or big box stores. Like Rit the color vibrancy presented a problem but they did work on the cotton yarn. Just not a lot of color choices.
Over all these dyes aren’t bad for doing craft work dyeing for something like making a costume but I wouldn’t recommend them for the those looking to dye thread.
Fiber Reactive Dyes
Tulip – although tulip is a brand that you will often find in big box stores like all purpose dyes, these are actually fiber reactive procionmx dyes. They usually are sold as a tie dye kit that contains 5 colors, about 10gms of each color, 5 squeeze bottles, soda ash and gloves, they run for about $20 CDN. Overall this is where I would point people on their first venture into dyeing cotton yarn because this is procionmx dye and the kit comes with a variety of colors and pretty much all the chemicals you need, see my stuff on auxiliaries below.
The dye comes with 5gms in squeeze bottle with the soda mixed into the dye powder and another 5gms extra in a little bag for each color. The bottles hold about 125mls of water so filling up the bottle with the dye in it will bring you to about 5% DOS, so a decent color saturation.
The only downside I have with tulip is that the soda ash is mixed into the dye powder and then the kit sits on a shelf for quite sometime, so I find that sometimes the color vibrancy on yarn is not as great as mixing up your own stuff. But like I said if you want to take a run at dyeing some thread with a bunch of colors this is really your best bit before investing in more dyes etc.
Jacquard – this brand you won’t likely find in big box stores or even a yarn store, yarn stores may carry their acid dye but that is for wool and other protein fibers only. Your best bet is to find a specialty art store that caters to painters. They will likely carry the 2/3 oz jars which comes with approx. 20gms dye powder, I can get each jar for about 6.75 CDN, which is rather expensive, but if you are going to graduate from tulip to mixing up your own stuff buying jacquard products in store is a good stepping stone as the store will likely also carry all the auxiliaries you will need. Good product, high price compared to how much you get, but worth it in a pinch. I should say I love these guys, dyes and have done all my recent dye work with them. Very vibrant and wash fast, doesn’t even take to bleach very well either, once that color is on its not going anywhere.
Dharma & Prochemical and Dye – These guys are the big suppliers in America, there are others in America and Canada but these guys have a large color range and lots of other dyes and dye products. Dharma is on the west coast and prochem. on the east coast, they’re dyes are procionmx dyes just like tulip and jacquard but they sell in large quantities, smallest size is 2oz or 55gms of dye, runs about $3.75 CDN. So there is significant price savings with ordering from them, what I love about these guys aside from their color range is that their prices for dyes are virtually the same, no price gouging. I’ve got a tentative order in with Dharma that should really help me kick up my color mixing game.
Auxiliary Chemicals
There are a few ingredients needed to work with procionmx dyes but they are fortunately not hard to source nor expensive, but can be essential depending on what method you are using.
Soda Ash/Washing Soda/Sodium Carbonate – Soda ash sometimes branded as washing soda in the laundry aisle, or by its real name sodium carbonate, is an essential component of fiber reactive dyeing. It is the fixative agent that will ensure that your dye doesn’t run out in the wash after dyeing. Depending on what method you are using you may end up adding it to your dye bath for full immersion or you may end up soaking your yarn in it before painting with dye.
As mentioned with Tulip dye kits the soda ash comes mixed into the dye in the squeeze bottles so there’s no point that you need to add it during your process, however like I said adding the soda ash to the dye powder does make the color a bit duller.
If you buy Jacquard dye in store they will likely also sell a little 5lb bag of this as well, snap it up when you are there if you want a one stop shopping experience.
Otherwise if you don’t want to buy online from a dye supplier and pay shipping, you can also find this product sold under different names in big box stores. As noted you may find it in the laundry aisle as a product called washing soda, not to be confused with baking soda which is sodium Bicarbonate and is not the same thing. I buy mine in bulk in the pool aisle of the hardware store, in Canada its product called PH+ up, meant to raise the ph. balance in pools, it costs about $10 for a 1kg jug, so it’s very cheap.
Any of the above options will work, so long as you are using true sodium carbonate you will be fine.
Synthrapol – a low foam and neutral ph soap that many dye suppliers offer, it’s supposedly is better than regular soap, I have some but don’t use much during the rinse out, less than a capful. I think the point is that it’s not acidic and since its low foam you don’t have to use excess water to rinse it out. I often just use some regular Dawn dishwashing soap, works just as well.
Salt – Salt is only required if you are doing full immersion dyeing, that is making a big dyebath in a large bucket and immersing your entire item in the dyebath for an hour or so, otherwise it is not needed. The salt creates an electric charge in the dyebath water that drives the dye out of the water molecule and gives it a better chance of interacting with the fiber instead. Often it is recommended to use non-iodized salt in general and Glaubers salt for certain colors like turquoise. I have never been able to get my hands on either so have only used run of the mill table salt, so can’t report on if there is a difference or not, but I can tell you keeping turquoise from washing out is quite hard lol, so maybe there is some stock in that.
Urea – I just started using urea in my dyestock water so I can’t fully comment on how effective it is or not. By and large it is meant to help dissolve dye when mixing up dyestock, say I am mixing up a cup of dyestock I will dissolve a tablespoon of urea in it before adding the water to my dye powder. I bought some in the art store along with my jacquard dyes, it’s definitely something you would have to order online from a dye supplier as it’s not a common chemical used in other crafts, so if you see it out and about, snap it up.
Thickeners – I’ve not yet used any thickening agents in my dye experiments yet, but generally it is used in dyeing fabric such as being able to paint a design on clothes or in tie dye you might want to thicken up one color to ensure it doesn’t run into the others. The most common thickener seems to be sodium alginate, this will be something you will have to buy online if not sold in a specialty art store.
Well that’s all for Equipment & Supplies Part 1 – Dyes and Auxiliary Chemicals, thanks for coming!
