Equipment & Supplies Part 3 – Tools
Some Mini posts regarding Equipment and Supplies that I use for dyeing cotton yarn and thread, today I am breaking down dyeing tools.
I’m not a professional dyer but just like with all hobbies I find that eventually you will have to invest some money into your hobbies to make them worthwhile. Doesn’t mean you have to break the bank or that you will need everything here based on your methods or preference, this post just illustrates my journey in building up my little collection of supplies.
Basic Dyeing Supplies
Now that we have got the dyes and chemicals out of the way let’s talk basics, for background I am mostly working out of my kitchen and living room in a decent 800sq foot apartment, nothing fancy so no need to have a separate facility for dyeing – but oh do I ever dream about it of course!
A word of caution here, when getting supplies to dye it is advised that you only use these things for dyeing and nothing else, most dyes are nontoxic of course but mixing your dyeing equipment with your eating equipment is a no no, so hit the dollar store for those bargains.
Drop cloth – Grab a cheap plastic drop cloth to throw over your work space, in my case the kitchen island. My drop cloth is long enough to drape over the sides of my kitchen island so catches any run off or spills, but I don’t worry or go to the extent that most dyers advise by covering every surface with newspaper and then a drop cloth. The reason, 1 I am lazy, 2 seems wasteful, 3 I am lazy, 4 I find fiber reactive dye spills are pretty easy to clean up even if they have dried, it’s just a simple wipe up with a damp cloth, oh also I am lazy lol.
Coveralls – You can grab a plastic set of coveralls from your local hardware store or a cloth one from a store that caters to working clothes, which is what I have. I love being able to slip my coveralls over my clothes in the laundry room, get them dirty with dye, then slip them back off in the laundry room before tossing them into the wash.
Plastic gloves – just find a good set that will fit you, I prefer the disposable kind even though I often wash and reuse them, vs the kitchen gloves which tend to stain and are a bit bulky.
Masks – With Covid-19 masks are a pretty standard thing in people’s house now but you will find most dye instructions advise wearing mask, usually an N95, when working with the dye powder or the powdered chemicals. I wear one of my cloth masks when mixing up my dye powders or chemicals.
Containers – LOL, I can’t imagine being married to or living with a dyer when you aren’t one but I’m guessing it’s a lot like living with a hoarder.
The mason jar trap is one to avoid unless you know for sure you are going to be using them often, why do I know this hmm. Well every crafter knows how tempting these little guys are to buy, “I can use them for so many things!” you say until you are left with a cupboard with a dozen of them haha. They are useful in creating gradients if you do immersion via dilution, that’s another post, but if not sure you are going to use them just get a really big one that holds a liter and a few regular sized ones, they are handy after all.
Ziploc bags - I like the actual zip up freezer bags, they are heavy duty and can be washed and dried out for future use so less waste.
Plastic cups – get the cheapest you can that can hold 250ml just to have around for pouring and mixing in a pinch if needed.
Tin roasting pans
- the disposable kind, but in my case can be rinsed out and reused, they are
often sold in dollar stores in packs of 3 or more. Get some big and medium
ones, these are good to work in on top of the drop cloth as they are big, cheap
and can be washed and reused but they will catch most of your spills keeping
your work space cleaner.
Plastic Dishpan – Get a big one, white not black my mistake now I can’t see any leftover dye powder lingering in there doh! This is great if you want to leave items to soak after a rinse but don’t have a separate sink just for dyeing.
Squeeze bottles – great for dye painting and for dye mixing, nothing like giving a dye solution a good shake rather than mixing with a spoon.
Foam brushes – Can buy for cheap at the dollar store, great tool and useful for dye painting.
Special spoons and utensils – As noted multiple times what you use for dyeing is not to be used for eating, for myself I went out and bought a regular metal spoon from the dollar store for stirring various things but the spoon has a handle that is unlike my regular eating spoons. When mixing dye by hand rather than in a squeeze bottle I also like to use a mini metal whisk to get all those dye clumps mixed in.
Rags and towels – Hardware stores usually have a package of 5lbs worth of rags for like $10 and the dollar store or garage sales are great for picking up cheap towels. Regardless of what you use they will definitely be very colorful at the end of their life.
Measuring Equipment
Digital food scale – some resources recommend weighing your dye powder instead of measuring via tsp, which I’m sure is more accurate but I’m working with very small amounts of dye usually no more than 1 tsp/5gms per color and a scale that accurate is in $60 and above range. If not willing to spring for a scale that measures down to half or gram or less get a simple digital food scale that can weigh at least 1-5gms. You don’t have to use it to measure dye but will need to weigh your yarn or thread to do proper calculations for dyes and estimates. $15 max.
Plastic measuring cups – Get a couple of these as you will be measuring more than one thing at a time, spring for a big 1 liter measuring cup to save yourself some time measuring big amounts of water. Or pick up one of these handy plastic graduated cylinder kits on amazon like me to really geek out. Again all equipment should be used only for dyeing, label it as such or keep separate from similar kitchen items.
Measuring spoons –
I like to use a stainless steel set that sticks together with magnets, keeps
them all together without the fussy ring to bother with like others, got this
set on amazon, love it. However i did just recently read a post on Tien chui's blog about her dye studio and she mentioned that she picks up cheap plastic measuring spoons in multiples of the same size. What an aha moment that was for me after a recent big dye project. Being able to use one measuring spoon per dye color would have made for a lot less time spent washing my measuring spoons between colors, something to consider.
Plastic syringe – I have a 30ml one of these guys, bought at the art supply store for $3, is really great for measuring out small amounts.
Yarn related tools
Reusable zip ties – got a pack of 12 at hardware store for $5, these guys are great for making a little handle around a skein that you can use to dunk in and out of the dyebath, keep skeins organized and hang up to dry. I have even used them for tying the skeins because they are reusable, they are stiff but they work to keep the skein from tangling.
Acrylic white yarn – When tying up a skein to keep it from tangling in storage or rinsing or dyeing its best to use acrylic yarn because it’s cheap, won’t dye along with your cotton and if it is dyed then that dye will not run on your cotton since the dyes for cotton and acrylic are different. Just remember to tie the knots on these tight but give a lot of room for the skein to spread out so it gets fully rinsed or dyed.
PVC Niddy Noddy – This is a tool used mainly by spinners to measure the length of small amounts of yarn they spin, or so I gather. But it is also a useful tool to quickly wind a skein from a ball and since most of my dye work is done in ball form and my thread comes in a ball from the store it is very handy for me. There are many resources out there for a DIY niddy noddy from pvc, my friend Kira who is super handy was kind enough to pick up a length from the hardware store and cut it to size for me. I bought a 5 foot length of 3/4" inch thick pvc, 4 slip off caps and 2 slip off t-joints for a grand total of $15, Kira was able to cut it down to size for me with just a hacksaw and some sand paper, truly a very low budget project. Mine is made of a center piece that is 9 inches long and 4 side pieces that are 6 inches long. In terms of using it I won’t get in depth here but basically it’s the center piece length that determines how big a skein you make, mine is 9 inches x 4 [4 times around the side pieces] = 36 inches or 1 yard, so one wrap around the niddy noddy is one yard of thread.
Yarn swift – This tool is optional especially if you have a niddy noddy for making skeins, the main draw of a yarn swift is that you can use it to turn a skein easily into a ball without having to wrap your skein around chair legs or someone hands while you wind it back into a ball. For me, since I do so much work in the ball and end up unwinding and rewinding the ball and skein a bunch having the yarn swift is a life saver.
Your local yarn store, will likely have the traditional wooden version like this one they run around $70 CDN. Pretty steep but I will say that they are sturdy and the clamp that holds it to the counter will hold up. The downside of this version is that it is all wood and can squeak and be a little slow, no problem just apply some W40 to the joint.
Another downside are the ties that holds the collapsible arms together, it’s a twine that won’t hold up well to heavy use, wonder how I know that haha? If you do buy one, my first recommendation is to immediately take some sturdy crochet thread and reinforce the ties BEFORE you start using them. Not only does it suck when one breaks when you are using it, but your ties may end up being a different length than the old ones and result in some uneven opening and closing.
Or you can buy a cheaper plastic version like this one which I bought off amazon as it was plastic and had a turn handle on top and the supposed ability to be vertical or horizontal. I had high hopes for it and I’m sure a more expensive swift would do those things but overall this is cheaply built, the clamp doesn’t always stay put on the counter, the ability to go vertical or horizontal is a joke to me since its not very sturdy at its clamp you would have to be extremely gentle with it, and the handle doesn’t make much difference, otherwise not that special.
Why I do like it is that its plastic so it doesn’t stain with left over dye, and it does roll faster which is good for my method as I am rolling the thread into a ball off the skein and swift while dyeing so not having a jerky or slow swift works great for me. Got it on amazon for $40.
There’s plenty of high quality swifts out there that are very expensive, but unless you are going professional or are a heavy spinner I think these should do just fine.
Nostepinne – A nostepinne is basically a stick that you use to wind a center pull ball, I have a hand whittled stick my dad made me that iI use to wind my final dyed thread into a center pull ball off the swift. It’s pretty quick and I really love watching the color change as I wind it. I have an actual ball winder but it has a finicky clamp that won’t fit on my counter and it’s not that great with thread anyway. My friend Kira, again, taught me how to wind a center pull ball with my finger originally and I have been in love with the balls that method and a nostepinne make ever since.
Other bits and bobs
Calculator – for doing dye recipes etc.
iFormula – This is an iPhone formula app that is about as close to using an excel spreadsheet as I have found for running simple calculations, I will get into how I use it in another post. But I have set it up to save all my dye recipe standard calculations, dyestock strength and dye mixing calculations. It’s a real time saver rather than having a bunch of notes or a dye worksheet, although I have used them in the past. This is just so convenient, and as I always say when it comes to math let the computer do the work for you.
Measurement conversion app – standard app found on my iIPhone really useful but someday I hope I will just remember how much a yard is vs inches.
Rubber bands – good for tie dyeing etc.
Permanent black marker – good for labeling things
Masking tape, painters tape and flagging tape – more labeling.
Small notebook – use it to keep your recipes and notes straight and for future use, if you are really good you can also keep your dye samples in here.
Soft pastels – This is probably just a me thing, but soft pastels – that would be the more chalky kind rather than oil or the crayon waxy type - are a cheap and easy tool for brainstorming colors as they have a lot of pigment and they mix really easily on the paper with just your fingers or a cloth. This helps me figure out gradient pallets and even color mixes sometimes. Bought a set of 12 at the dollar store for 3$.
Pastel sketch paper – Just a note about pastels oil or soft need a rougher paper surface for the pigment to stick to it. For someone who isn’t actually drawing pictures I go for the usual dollar store cheap sketch pad that has a texture like that of construction paper, or actual construction paper will work. But I have also found good luck with Canson Xl Media Sketch pad paper, it has a fine/medium tooth that holds the pastel and has 50+ sheets for $10. Otherwise pastel specific paper is really expensive.
Drying Rack – I usually hang up my yarn on the shower curtain pole over the bathtub, but having somewhere to hang or lay out your rinsed yarn to dry will be useful.
Metal Rack/baking sheet – I use this over the tin roasting pans sometimes if I don’t want my yarn sitting in a pool of dye when I’m working on it.
Plastic salad spinner – totally optional but I use it to get the very last bits of water out of my rinsed skeins before hanging them up to dry overnight.
I think that’s it, seems like a lot, buy as needed and at your discretion, and if you can go cheap on as much as you can, leaves more money for thread and dye lol!
