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momijizukamori) wrote2015-01-19 06:30 pm
This is what four days of failure looks like. And why I...
This is what four days of failure looks like. And why I haven’t been posting any cosplay work, I’m still too angry at this to want to do anything else. And I spent the weekend basically being a zombie, which didn’t help.
BASICALLY. Tried to cold-batch dye black stripes on, and then overdye in green. The stripe edges look great. The color? Nooooot so much. With the black, some of it was me working too slowly - that’s why it’s noticably darker at one end than the other. The mix starts reacting as soon as you mix it, so by the time I’d worked my way down a lot of the dye had already reacted and didn’t bind to the cloth. Also my house is freezing, and they recommend temps above 70F at least to get the best color. And black is hard no matter what.
I’m still not 100% sure why the green fucked up so badly - dye bath might have been too hot? Rayon doesn’t like dye? I DON’T KNOW. I wish I did.
Ultimately I bought some 1” black/white stripe cotton knit and I’m going to get Jacquard iDye in green because while it’s not as wash-fast as fiber reactive dyes, it’s less fussy.
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Next time try dying straight with your lighter colour, then masking or waxing your stripes, and hit it with the black right over the lighter colour. Also, if you mask it up again, and use a sponge, it may work better than a brush. Black dye nearly always requires double application anyway. I've yet to find a black that dyes *black* first time.
(and batique waxing is preferable to masking, but yeah, masking is way faster and easier, and you did a really good job! Or, it's not you, the dye was MEAN!)
–N
I am totally okay with unsolicited craft advice :)
I'll try that! Any clue as to why the vat color turned out so light? It was a pretty dark green and the pigment didn't exhaust :(
I was going to give re-masking it another go if I had managed to get the green right, but it needed to match the greens in the last photo and... very much didn't.
Re: I am totally okay with unsolicited craft advice :)
Cold water fibre-reactives are *supposedly* the best for rayon, but my wife and I have had better results from vat dyeing in a big-ass plastic bucket with cheap cold water colour-fast dyes. The weird thing is that weaker is better: repeated dipping in weaker solutions produces better colour than a single dip into a strong one. And bonus: the cheap dyes don't cause crocking (when the dye rubs off over wrinkles).
Smack it with the same* dye again and see if that doesn't give you a richer green?
* Your black is a direct/print dye, so if it's different it won't matter too much, but for full immersion, always try to use the same type of dye. Mixing 'em can produce weird results. Crazy colour changes. EEK!-worthy shrinkage. In extreme cases, the fibres come apart.
Re: I am totally okay with unsolicited craft advice :)
See, wool and silk I usually manage okay - sometimes a little uneven if I don't have enough water, but that's about it. Fiber reactive, though - augh. Everything I've read says they're best for celluose but while I've gotten decent results using them thickened and cold as paint (this is actually the least intense results I've had), but as soon as I try vat? NOPE.
Re: I am totally okay with unsolicited craft advice :)
Fabric:
~ did you prewash the fabric?
~ if you did, did you use *hot* water? (cold won't remove any starches)
Dye:
~ did you paste the dye before mixing it? (mix with a bit of cold water)
~ did you then produce a slurry with warm water?
~ when diluted in your bucket/tub, did you add salt? (*NON* iodized)
~ did you agitate it correctly and for long enough?
...oh man, is fibre-reactive finicky stuff...
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Pre-washed, though I can't remember if I did warm or hot :|a
Like I said in the post, I think one thing I did wrong was dissolve the dye in hot water. I did add salt - not sure if I added enough salt? It was agitated for a good.... three or four hours, though.
(acid-dyes all you have to worry about is color-breaking and I've gotten pretty lucky with that overall)
no subject
Re: the hot water– unless it was hot enough to burn, I don't think it would've been too much of a problem. Pasting fibre-reactives is more important than the temp of the initial mix water.
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150F or so? But I will remember the length for next time (I was sitting there thinking GET DARKER, GET DARKER very hard).
I did remember the soda ash, though :)
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You forgot an essential ingredient: *cough*colourful*cough* language. Next time, don't forget the SWEARING.
:P
Seriously, though, best of luck for next time.
no subject
Ah, yes, the proper incantations are very important :P
Thanks!
Re: I am totally okay with unsolicited craft advice :)