Vote in my Primaries… and my Secondaries… and…

[zeppenwolf]

Hi everyone.

I got a starter kit from Dharma, which included the three "primary" colors: what they call "PR1 Lemon Yellow", "PR25 Turquoise", and "PR13 Fuschia".

Well now I've burned through a dozen shirts, and it's time to buy some more schtuff.  I know I need more squirty-bottles, and more dyes, and more colors, but...

I don't know much of the language here, but I'll refer to "active mixing" as putting two different colors in a bottle and swishing them around before squirting them on a shirt, and by "passive mixing" I mean squirting some Yellow onto a shirt, then squirting some Red onto a shirt, and hoping that they bleed together a little bit to make a wee bit o' Orange.

Well, as far as the passive side goes, I've done OK with the Turquoise and the Yellow bleeding together to make Green.  Actually, the Yellow seems to ooze all over the place so much that sometimes I wish I could rein it in.  But that problem is much preferable to the problem I have with the Red.

The Red seems like a noble gas-- it just wont mix with anybody, (passively).  If I lay down a huge squirt of Red right next to a big pool of Yellow or Blue on a T-shirt, I get almost no mixing in the final outcome at all.  If I look really close, there might be a sixty-fourth of an inch of Orange or Purple respectively.

Also, in the active mixing arena, I've been disappointed in trying to make Orange from pre-mixing the Yellow and Red-- the Orange comes out rather shaded (as in "tints and shades").  It's almost like there's an inverse square law in effect-- the Orange has not half, but one quarter the purity of the two ingredients.

If you've stayed with me this far, the questions are:

Q1: Is there a Red from Dharma which is a) more or less primary-ish and b) bleeds together with other colors much better than "PR13 Fuschia" ?

Q2:  What colors from Dharma are the most vivid Secondary colors, (preferably ones that bleed well)?

Q3: Oh, yeah: Which of those three or four Blacks is best for tie-dye?

Q4: Under what circumstances does one need an afro-icon? 

[pburch]

Q1: Is there a Red from Dharma which is a) more or less primary-ish and b) bleeds together with other colors much better than "PR13 Fuschia" ?

Yes. Get some Red MX-5B, also known as reactive red 2, also known as Dharma's #12 Light Red. Very similar in color to red MX-8B (your fuchsia), but much better behaved.

Q2:  What colors from Dharma are the most vivid Secondary colors, (preferably ones that bleed well)?

I don't think you should live much longer without acquiring a golden yellow (either yellow MX-GR or yellow MX-3R), a bright orange (orange MX-2R), red MX-5B as discussed already, some violet MX-2R (which Dharma calls violet MX-G or grape), some blue MX-R (Dharma calls it "sky blue" but it's a royal blue if you use more of it), some blue MX-G (cerulean blue), and a navy such as blue MX-2G (cobalt). These are all unmixed single-hue dyes which are great in themselves and for mixing. See my page of Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures? to get the Dharma names that I left out of the above list. Make sure you have plenty of the same yellow and turquoise as you had before, while you're at it.

Q3: Oh, yeah: Which of those three or four Blacks is best for tie-dye?

I like Black MX-CWNA, but any of them are good if you use enough of them, which is four times as much as you use of other colors.

Q4: Under what circumstances does one need an afro-icon? 

Can't help you there!

Paula

[2D4]

Hi Zeppenwolf,

You made me smile this morning...

I use Fire Red from Dharma for my red. For the most part I buy an assortment of
colors so I have consistent colors for my special orders.(Not good at note taking!)
Secondaries for the most part are: Deep Orange, Bright Green, and Deep Purple.
A couple mixes I do use are Robins Egg and Lemon Yellow for a really cool lime green
and Deep Orange and a bit of Fire Red for a red orange.

For the blacks, I use 3 tbs. each of New Black & Jet Black or 2 tbs. each of new black,
Jet Black and Better Black for 16ozs. I also add thickener. ( Might be overkill but I like a strong black.)
I have not had positive results with #39 Black.

Hope that helps,

Jo

[2D4]

Also, Sapphire Blue works great for a deeper blue.

Jo

[pburch]

The trouble with Fire Red as a mixing primary is that it is a mixture of two or more other dye colors. I think it's a mixture of red MX-5B and orange MX-2R. Premixed colors of dye can be very handy to use, but when you use them as mixing primaries, you sometimes get duller colors than if you stick to unmixed single-color dyeing primaries.

You will get better purples if you use a red that is free of orange or yellow for your mixing. Fire Red should make good shades of orange, though, besides being nice to use straight.

Paula

[zeppenwolf]

    A big shout out to all the First Responders!!

    I can see this is going to take more time than I have before jetting off to work this morning, so this is just a quick Stop By to Say Hi and Thanks for the counseling.

   I actually had plenty of time t'other day, but wouldn't you know it, my internet browser picked that exact moment to have a nervous breakdown, so I had to download a newer version, (in an older browser), installed it, and... well, it was a real bear, but now I'm up and running again.

    And I'm psyched!  Quite the hefty pic-a-nic basket of dyes I'll be ordering, but I'm already waiting for it to arrive... and I haven't even ordered it yet!

    Thanks!

    "I'll be bock!"

[zeppenwolf]

Bang, Bang, I pulled the trigger!!

$73.91 !!!!!

Yowza!!    I got just about everything recommended, and two different blacks... how could I resist? But...

If people on the boulevard don't stop me and beg to purchase my t-shirt then I think I'll put this tie dye thing down and start smoking crack instead.

At least I would have a few bucks left over!!   

[fiberartist219]

Lol... don't be so sure. I hear that the price of cocaine is going up because the drug traffickers keep getting busted.

I know dyeing is expensive sometimes, but the dyes last for awhile. I bought 8 oz of everything that I wanted to start with, and three years later, I still have lots left.

For me, the dyes aren't the most expensive part... it's the fabric (I have fallen in love with silk and velvet). Well, that and the shipping! There isn't a good source in the midwest, so everything is shipped from Dharma in California, or Pro Chemical which is in Massachusetts. I guess it is better than paying retail for the Jaquard jars in craft stores that are $6 for less than an ounce.

Like you said though, if you sell your shirts, it will help offset some of the costs. You've got to have something to pay for your habit!