Soda "Soak"

[zeppenwolf]

When we "soak" a shirt in soda ash, what does "soak" really mean?

IOW, if I take a completely dry shirt, dip it in soda ash solution, and pull it out two seconds later, it will be completely drenched... but is it "soaked"?

Or do I need to leave it in there for awhile (how long?) so that the little soda ash molecule-people have enough time to get together with the cotton molecule-people...?

The shirt is going to be drenched either way, and since it's going to sit for a day curing with dyes anyhow, I'm figuring (or hoping!) that the first sense is adequate.  Thanks.

[ktaltre]

Perhaps with just a dip, the cloth fibers aren't really completely soaked through.
I think that's why it's said to soak the cloth for 15 minutes to a half hour. Then you know that the soda ash solution has saturated the cloth.
However, as you say, after the 24 hour batch, everything should be "melded".
Why don't you do two different shirts with the same tie and dye, but one would be the quicky dip and one would be the traditional soak and see if you could see a difference.
experiment
k. taltre

[pburch]

I think that after five minutes the soda ash has soaked into the insides of the threads, but not after two seconds. It takes a little time to penetrate throughout each fiber. If there's enough liquid in the shirt after your two-second dip, a little time to sit plus a few squeezes will help it to make it the rest of the way through the fibers.

Longer than five minutes is required if you dump a bunch of garments into the soda ash carelessly so that some have air bubbles preventing full access of the soda ash to the fibers.

Paula

[fiberartist219]

When I was first taught dyeing, I was told to soak things overnight for the wetting/washing out process. We didn't use the soda soak method in our class though.

Now, I soak them for at least 20 minutes in a soda ash solution. It is probably better to leave them longer, but I don't have room in my apartment to leave buckets around for long periods of time.

It's hard to explain how long fabric needs to soak. However, when I'm doing my rinse, I really notice how much more dye comes out when I submerge it in water and leave it alone for awhile. The dye takes forever to come out under running water though. This means to me, that for water to really penetrate the fibers, it must be soaked for awhile. Somehow, in my dye obsessed mind... there is a certain level of wetness past what humans can experience by touching and seeing. Completely drenched may not actually be wet enough if you can imagine it. I imagine it to be like letting dirty dishes soak. You can run water over it as much as you want, but nothing gets it soggy quite like leaving it in the water for a few minutes.

Paula is probably right about 5 minutes being enough. The air bubbles explanation makes sense to me. Although, it probably also depends on what fabric you have and where you got it from. If it has any weird chemicals or oils on it, I'm sure it takes significantly longer to soak, but if it is clean and ready to dye, it might not take as long.

[zeppenwolf]

Ok, I am/was on the right page, thanks.

Time for a gratuitous icon...