Basic Immersion Dye Instructions For Procion Dye Powders

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.