More LWI experiments

[tiedyejudy]

Well, I have done several LWI batches in the past week or so.  I tried a new color combination yesterday, but it did not come out the way I expected!  I put 1/2 cup of Jungle Red on the bottom, then the dampened, scrunched shirt, then 1/2 cup of charcoal and 1/2 cup of new black.  What I got was burgundy, with peachy/tan spots!  What I wanted was for the 3 colors to be distinct.  Guess I will need to do 2 steps to get that, huh?  Jungle Red, rinse, then charcoal on one side, black on the other?  Here's the 'before' picture so you can see what I mean:

I am currently applying navy to the shirts to see if I can dye over the creamy/tan/peach that the jungle red turned into in some spots... will see how that works.
Here are the results of the second LWI application:

I'm much happier with the results now, and have learned a lot from this experiment!

Judy

[steve]

Well, I have done several LWI batches in the past week or so.  I tried a new color combination yesterday, but it did not come out the way I expected! Judy

Well, Judy, there's a reason the best book on LWI dyeing is called Color by Accident! (If you don't have it--I heartily recommend it. She explores several variants on the process systematically and has plent of illustrations showing the different effects.)

We'd love to see your results. Feel free to put them in the gallery. I couldn't get the gallery to properly deal with already existing images without screwing up the strucutre--but all is set now!

Steve

[pburch]

It's hard to get a black that will stay black in LWI. All Procion MX blacks are mixtures and will spread out into their component colors in LWI.

A Remazol black, reactive black #5, might solve the problem. It's a pure black, not a mixture of other colors. It's also a lot better for discharging than most reactive blacks. Like all vinyl sulfone dyes, it likes more heat than is required for Procion MX dyes, so zapping it in the microwave would be a good idea. This is the black in the Jacquard Red Label dyes and ProChemical's Liquid Fiber Reactive dyes.

Otherwise, I think you should use tie-dye techniques, pre-soaking in soda ash, to apply your black and grey mixtures to a crumpled garment, if you don't want them to separate out into colors. Warmer temperatures will help to encourage the reaction to occur before too much spreading takes place.

Paula

[tiedyejudy]

Thanks for the info, Paula.  I will have to read up on them.  I was really hoping to find a dye that will 'crawl' the way some of the others do in LWI, rather than the static way it acts with regular tie-dye processes.  I guess it't time to branch out....

Judy