Mudmee Technique

[2D4]

YES!! Definitely wear a respirator.....

Jo

[ktaltre]

I second the respirator if using inside. Thiox is smelly.
I've been using the thiox outside without the respirator.
Keep the jar of thiox tightly closed; it seems to like taking on moisture and then doesn't work.
It also may have a shelf life but I don't know what that might be; haven't asked prochem yet.
k. taltre

[ezri]

I'm hoping to order the dharma deluxe rubber respirator this week, and perhaps get the piggy back adaptor and gas/vapour cartridges too. I've tried to buy things locally but everything here is ordered in anyway and I'd hate to get something ordered in and not like it but feel pressured to purchase. Fairly safety conscious these days I'd hate to end up with an allergy to procion or acid dyes when I spend so much time with it these days

[pburch]

Thiox, like all the reducing-type dye removers, does produce sulfur fumes. Anyone who has asthma should be very cautious. I don't think it's more dangerous than the fumes from the hypochlorite in chlorine bleach.

Neutralizers for chlorine bleach are also sulfur-based, except for hydrogen peroxide, so they have the same safety issues. (I recommend hydrogen peroxide as a safer neutralizing alternative for asthmatics.)

I've heard of a workshop instructor giving bleach-discharge classes in entirely unventilated rooms, with no windows or proper respirators. That makes me worry.

-Paula

[Jaja]

ktaltre: I like your last shirt very much. I maybe like it more than original mudmee.
Judy: Have you started with colored of white top?

[tiedyejudy]

Hi, Jaja.  The last mudmee experiment I did was the rayon top, which started out white.  I tied, drizzled color over it, let it set for awhile, then added the black with a syringe on the medallions & stripes, then over parts of the scrunched area. I have the color remover now, so I may try that on a black shirt next, but we have wind in the forecast for the next several days, so I probably won't get to it before next week.  I will post pictures when I have completed that test.
Judy

[ezri]

Thank you Paula, that helps considerably. A scary thought having a class using those techniques in an unventilated area!

re: the mudmee... I've been looking at that and thinking about it too. I noticed one site on ebay is selling mudmee tiedye and also selling the odd plain brown dress/bags etc.. I wonder if they are actually starting with a brown base, then discharging and overdyeing that. I guess when you overdye brown it would often appear black, but then of course it wouldn't be uniformly black, so I don't know. Might have a play with that one myself

[Jaja]

Kate, check this out:
I would say this one started from beige, discharged, some colorful spots were added to discharged areas and the last one was black - you can see white lines reserved with cord in the black area - see left sleeve.

[ktaltre]

hi Jaja,
Yes, the more I examine the online mudmee pics, the more I believe that any base color is used to start, usually a pale color.
I can see this by looking at the resist lines in a given piece.
And discharging may not be happening in all cases or not at all.
As I continue fiddling and thinking about mudmee, one could call Carter Smith (high end shibori artist) a type of mudmee tiedyer. He dyes and discharges a piece of cloth (silk) many times, keeping the silk tied through the whole process. http://www.shibori.com/
k. taltre

[Jaja]

I've tried one piece -  not having enough time, so I did it in too much hurry, discharging to much of the base ground, while learning that this beige-khaki is not very good to discharge at all.
I did only discharge and following multicolored dyeing, not any dark color added in the end.

[ktaltre]

I like your little shirt, Jaja; you could certainly tie and dye it again.
Here's another of my efforts.
http://www.photoshop.com/users/ktaltre/assets/ae29af3f52674fa59d3e2940754dd06d
I like how the spokes of the circles lined up - that's cause I'm folding half circles up the folded shirt.
The shirt started brown; again, the thiox discharge probably went to far and then I probably used too much black.
k. taltre

[2D4]

Like it....Cool effect that the circles lined up....

Jo

[Jaja]

I think I'll rather do another trial. Your circle shirt is qute innovative. It's worth experimenting. How I miss that we're too far away for to arrange mudmee experimental party! That would be fun.