Reds

[steve]

An assortment of reds:



Left to right:

Red MX-8B, Red MX-5B, Red MX-BRA, ProChem Turkey Red, ProChem Rose Bud, ProChem Cherry Blush, ProChem Bubblegum, ProChem Old Rose. RGS Rose Brown

[pburch]

Which dye(s) were used for each swatch?

Thanks.

Paula

[steve]

Which dye(s) were used for each swatch?

Thanks.

Paula

Oops--meant to come back and add that info--check the edit above.

Steve

[HelenaBouquet]

my fuchsia seems to coagulate more than the other colors so that on application it still has globs.  I was thinking of heating it up more (and shaking it) to resolve that...maybe someone has experience on  how to remedy this or the cause of it?

Helena

[pburch]

Oh, the dreaded fuchsia problem. It's caused by buying a bad batch of dye. Not all dye vendors are equally likely to sell bad batches of fuchsia, and some are better than others about taking returns on defective dye. Only fuchsia and mixtures made containing it have had this problem, that I've heard of.

Heating MX dye will cause it to react with the water, so that there is no reactivity left to bind to the fabric. I did that once. My purple LWI mixture came out blue.

Try adding just a tiny drop of Synthrapol or hand dishwashing liquid detergent. Adding urea (up to 9 tablespoons or 100 grams per quart) may increase the solubility a bit. Stir it a lot, leave it for an hour, and come back and stir it some more, or, preferably, use a dye-use-only blender to mix it (impractical if you're not planning to do a lot of dyeing). After all that, strain out the undissolved particles through a coffee filter or the toe of a pair of pantyhose, held in a strainer (which is not to be used for food afterwards).

Also see the entry in my dyeing Q&A weblog for July 13, 2005.

Paula

[steve]

If you do heat it--heat it gently to about 105 and no higher. It does help dissolve difficult to dissolve somewhat more readily, but, as Paula mentioned, too hot and you'll render the dye useless.

For mixing less cooperative dyes, I use a hand blender, give it some time and use the hand blender again.

Some also will strain the dye through panty hose.

I have had more difficulties with red hues than others--MX-8B and sometimes MX-5B. But the worst to mix for me has been ProChem's Boysenberry (A reddish purple--see the purple thread). I will not even consider using it unless I have 24 hours to allow time and repeatedly mix the dye.

Steve

[Marg]

Hi All- I am wondering if anyone has experience with ProChem's Barn Red. I tried the scarlet which was too orangy for my taste. I have never had a lot of success mixing red. I always get yellow halos. Have any of you used the Barn Red? is it a true red? Thanks, Marg

[LiveFreeorDye]

I don't have a swatch to show you, but I really like Pro Strongest Red 312 for what I call "regular red". I bought some Turkey Red based on Steve's photo above, but that turned out to be more orangish that I liked. Actually, I would call it "blood red" but I guess that sounds kinda gory.  

take it easy

Sue

[pburch]

I have never had a lot of success mixing red. I always get yellow halos.

Let me guess - are you trying to mix fuchsia (red MX-8B) with yellow MX-8G? Fuchsia reacts so quickly with the fabric, if you use soda-soaked fabric or activated dye, that it often produces haloes of whatever color you mix with it. Sometimes this is nice, other times it's quite undesirable.

Try mixing red MX-5B with orange MX-2R. To check what your supplier's names and catalog numbers for these dyes are, look at my page about Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?

Paula