IMMERSION DYEING INSTRUCTIONS FOR
USING PROCION DYES (POWDERS)
© Kay Koeper Sorensen
2016
You will need:
Fabric: Prewashed PFD cotton fabric
PFD
fabric does not have any finishes (or fabric softeners, etc.) that will prevent
dye from bonding with the fabric – yet it is still advisable to wash it before
dying to open the fibers to more readily bond with the dye
Water – Body temperature
Dye powder – Procion MX
Salt – Salt helps to drive the dye molecules out of the dye
water and into the fabric
Soda Ash – Soda ash is necessary for the chemical reaction
to occur which allows the dye to bond to the fabric
I am going to give you the basic directions for doing a full
immersion dye bath as used by both Carol Soderlund and Jan Myers-Newbury.
I am basing this on using measurements of materials, rather
than weight.
Jan’s method uses measurements, Carol uses weights.
This is not the only way to use Procion dyes, but it is the
most common and generally gives the best results.
It can be used with pole wrapped fabric, clamped fabric,
stitched fabric, tied fabric or loose fabric.
I will be using only one dye color for this example.
I am basing this on using a 5 gallon bucket so you have room
for the fabric to move around).
LET’S DO IT
1.
Put two gallons of warm water in your bucket
2.
Add 2 cups of salt and stir until it is
dissolved
3. Mix
2-3 Tablespoons of dye powder in a small amount of water in a jar with a tight
lid to dissolve the dye. Shake vigorously to dissolve dye. If using black dye double the amount of dye powder you use.
Be sure you wear a mask for this step.
4. Add the dissolved dye to the bucket and stir.
5. Add the fabric to the bucket.
WET vs DRY fabric – if you want some of your
fabric to remain white (when doing shibori dyeing) start with WET fabric…easy
to remember Wet/White WATER is a resist
If you want fabric to
have little or no white start with dry fabric.
6. Stir as soon as you add your fabric to the
bucket making sure all fabric is submerged.
7. After the first 15 minutes add 1/3 cup of
soda ash that has already been dissolved in 2 cup of HOT water. Do not pour the
soda ash solution directly on the fabric or you might have some splotching.
8. Fabric will remain in dye bath for ONE
hour. You will stir vigorously every 15 minutes, more often if desired. This
rearranges the fabric so dye reaches all the fabric.
9. After one hour thoroughly rinse your
fabric in COLD water. I usually rinse in a bucket and change the water about 3
times. This removes the soda ash and prevents back staining.
10. It is now time to wash out your dyed
fabric with hot water and1 teaspoon Blue Dawn. This is best done in your
washing machine with the hottest water available…140 degrees is the normal
recommendation. I can set my washer for 205 degrees so I always use that for
the washout.
11. When done washing either dry in dryer
or hang to dry. Iron to see your beautiful fabric.
This is meant to be a very BASIC instruction file.
Of course you can do smaller batches and adjust amounts
accordingly.
Others may do things differently, or use different amounts
of the ingredients.
I have edited these instructions from the previous file I
sent and suggested you print.
