What concentration of dye do you use?

[steve]

Okay folks. How much dye do you all use in a cup of chemical water for direct application dyeing?

I use 1 Tbs per cup for most colors. Turquoise gets between 1.5-2 Tbs/cup, and Black gets about 2.5-3 Tbs/cup. I also generally combine blacks when I mix up a batch.

Steve

[Kathy]

I generally do the same as you Steve.

Sometimes I like to do lighter or "watered down" colors of some of the colors I use. I have found that it takes less than half of the dye powder to the same amount of chemical water to ge a shade about one-step lighter than the "normal" shade. This is especially true, I've found, for turqoiuse.

I am trying to remember what my concentrations were before I started using Michael's concentration, maybe 2 tsp/cup. Come to think of it, I don't think I did much direct application except for basic rainbow stripes.

Kathy

[tiedyejudy]

I have always followed the 2 tsp per 8 oz formula for most colors, unless it was a color that required more (Turquoise, Dark Green, Burgundy, etc).  This past year I have gotten into lighter versions a little, thanks to Tom & Martine's Video.  I usually use lighter versions when I am doing scrunches, but have also employed them if I want a lighter set of colors on one side and a darker version on the other.  This is as close as I can come to 'complementary colors' suggested in Michael Fowler's DVD.  But I really like the results... more "texture" in the design.

Judy

[LiveFreeorDye]

I went through a phase where I was estimating weight of fabric and doing calculations to determine the amount of each color of dye to use, but I found after awhile that my colors seemed to be coming out consistantly light. I've gone back to 2 tsp. per cup, except when more is needed (black, tourquoise, etc.) or when I want lighter colors.

Coincindentally, my calculation phase corresponded with my attempts to use activated dye, which I think, exacerbated the light colors, as the lack of sufficient dye was contributing to faster dye exhaustion.  So I have also gone back to (for the most part) soda soak, only I have been tying my garments damp, soaking them, then putting the tied items through a spin cycle in my washer to remove excess dampness. This seems to work well.

take it easy
Sue

[YarnHollow]

I have been using 1 t of dye per c. of water or urea water per pound of yarn or fabric. For tie dye, I use 1 t. per c. but use more for black and grays.

[fiberartist219]

LiveFreeorDye, I have experienced the same thing! I thought I was using enough dye (per my calculations) and I discovered that it lightened up a lot! Direct application is not the same as High Water Immersion!

[kberii]

So I think the consensus is about 2 tsp per cup. 
Here is my question... from that solution do you then make lighter and lightest versions using some of the first batch and adding softened water?  Or will that be, as a general rule too light and get too diluted.

[ecilA]

tempted to start a new thread but this seemed appropriate enough.  For those of you who have used dyes from different sources (specifically DT and PC) have you adjusted your formula for one vs the other?  I recently purched from PC for the first time and the colors are (seem to be) much more concentrated.  I have scoured their directions in comparison to the directions from DT and don't really see a big difference, approximately 2oz of dye will dye 12 shirts (dt says more than 10, pc says 12 tiedyed). PC does have a chart indicating amounts per cup of urea mix water for varying shades that went something like: 1/2 tsp pale, 2tsp med, 4tsp dark, 8tsp black.

Anyway the reason I'm asking is because I have found the new dyes to be extremely rich and I'm going to have to tone back quite a bit for the same results.  Interestingly enough I was slightly put off by the higher price but it seems it will last much longer!  I purchased some lavender (one example), the color, when mixed at my regular concentrations came out as dark and rich as dt's grape, really the colors were very close (slightly different shade only). 

Any feedback?

[Darlene]

I also mix at a ratio of 2 tsp. per cup for most colours and will make dilutions from this stock. I have no experience with PC products, but I've found that saturation can vary wildly from one brand to the other for supposedly equivalent dyes. In my case, I've used DT and dyes from G&S. I've mixed enough dye at this point with both brands to be able to tell at a glance in my mixing cup if I need more dye or more liquid.

I generally stay away from the desire to add more dye powder to the mix out of fear that there might not be enough. More in not necessarily better as I've found that on silk --my principal medium-- too much dye can make the colours --though dark-- turn out looking flat. Your mileage may vary.

Dar