Discharge dyeing

[tiedyejudy]

  I'm in the middle of a major project requiring lots of self-adhesive Foamies, and had been buying it there because it was cheaper than at Michael's.  Alas, happy to not support Wal-Mart, but trying to find another cheap source!

If you are unable to find the sticky-back foam, an alternative is to use double-sided carpet tape, which should be available at your hardware store.  I cut pieces of tape and lined up side-by-side on one side of the foam, then adhered to it.  After cutting out my stamp shapes, I removed the paper from the other side and stuck to the plexiglass.  It's a little more work, but did the trick.  I will be washing my projects today, and will post pix tonite or tomorrow.

Judy

[Jeau]

If you are unable to find the sticky-back foam, an alternative is to use double-sided carpet tape...

Thanks Judy--hadn't thought of that.  I do have some 2-sided carpet tape...it's the best thing for quick Halloween costumes that won't fall apart!  Looking forward to your pictures...

[tiedyejudy]

Here are pictures of some of my efforts in last week's class:
1) Decomposition screen print - Using a blank screen, I painted on a design using thickened dyes, let the dyes dry thoroughly, then squeegeed through other colors of thickened dyes.  The design slowly breaks down and dissolves as you make more prints, giving different images.

2) I used a flour paste to create a screen medium, applied to a blank screen, let dry, then scratched out a design.  I then used thickened black dye to print the design onto undyed fabric.  Once the dye had dried, I used unthickened dyes as a wash to add color.


3) Here, I printed a portion of the flour paste screen onto fabric that I had previously monoprinted on.


4)This is a fabric I dyed using LWI.  Then I used stamps to apply diswasher gel with bleach.   


Sorry... I got a little off topic, since this thread is about discharge dyeing.  I'm just very jazzed to have learned more things I can use in my dyeing!

Judy

[Jeau]

Wow Judy!  What versatility.  Your first design is really catchy...it evokes many different things.  First I thought of prickly pear, then amoebas...whatever they are, they look really happy!   

[tiedyejudy]

When I get stuck for an idea, I revert back to squiggles and such... it worked for me this time, 'cause I was definitely out of ideas!  So you get to call it whatever you like, it's freeform shape and color, just to try the medium.


Judy

[pburch]

I thought the first one was prickly pear, too! Thanks for posting pictures, I was hoping you would. How did the soy wax batik turn out?

Of those techniques, the last one, with the dishwasher gel, looks the most intriguing to me. It sounds so easy, and economical compared to a bleach pen. Do you know which dyes you used? Cerulean blue (blue MX-G) and cobalt blue (blue MX-2G) are supposed to discharge well with bleach, cerulean going to almost white, and cobalt to grey.

Paula

[tiedyejudy]

Hi, Paula.  The soy wax was interesting!  I definitely plan to explore that further.  First off, there are no fumes and I know that is really important.  Second, it can be dissolved with hot water and does not gum up the plumbing.  Technique-wise, it was easy to use.  The only thing I did not get a good result from was overwaxing the whole piece for a crackle-effect.  Someone said if you freeze the piece then crackle it would come out better.  I may try that to see.

As for the gel piece, we were using mixing blue in the class. 
Yesterday, I vat dyed a couple of shirts hoping to get black, but ended up with deep navy because I mixed navy with Dharma's Jet Black (at the suggestion of one of my class mates).  I plan to use the gel to discharge on them and will post pix later.
BTW, the instructor was very safety conscious with us.  She suggested using the gel outside only for adequate ventilation...

Judy
 

[Jeau]

Judy--I posted a note or two in response but started a new Soy Wax thread here: http://itiedye.com/smf/index.php?topic=418.0 so that future members can more easily find it. 

[mishoga]

Hi, I'm new and absolutely love all the designs here. I'm hoping you can help me out.
i am having lots of problems with bleeding of deep colors. What should I be doing? (pic attached)
and also, do you think if I painted a design on front of this shirt with clorox bleach I could strip of color? How long should I leave on? I mean Clorox soft scrub.

[Jeau]

Hello and welcome!  I assume you're using Procion MX type dyes.  First, are you making sure the dye has fully reacted?  If it hasn't fully reacted, it can react with the white areas (and other areas) of fabric upon washout, forming a permanent molecular bond with the fibers.  Also, I always rinse first with cool water, just in case there's some unreacted dye.  I use a bit of Synthrapol in the wash since it's pH-neutral.  Then I wash in very hot water (also with Synthrapol)...the heat will disengage most stray reacted dyes that are independent of the fiber but have lodged themselves into the fiber.  Hope this makes sense, I'm a bit frazzled today!