Monday, July 05, 2010

Dyeing and Undyeing

I dyed this piece of cotton-linen blend fabric over the weekend.  I did it tray style, with lines of color across the scrumpled fabric.  I did not jump for joy when I was ironing it.


I wanted paler blues, and more limey greens.  The colors look dull, which I decided is mainly due to the fabric, not the dyes.

So, after looking at it on my table over the weekend, I decided to discharge it in a thiox bath.  I got everything out on the grill, and plunged the fabric into the bath.  Success! I thought.  The blue and green disappeared, the only color left was a bit of yellow- no problem!!


But wait- what's happening!!?  The fabric sticking up above the bath is turning --


BLUE????

The longer the fabric is exposed to the air, the more blue it turns!

I added thiox every fifteen minutes, stirred, but it didn't matter.  When I took it out of the bath, the blue returned.  Lighter than it was before, and now it looks like it's just blue and yellow.  No, it wasn't turquoise, it was Dharma's Cerulean.  So we'll see what it looks like after a hot wash in Synthrapol.

I've never had this happen with Thiox before- although my experience with it isn't extensive.  I don't remember reading anything about this phenomenon in any of my surface design books.  So if you have any idea what is going on, or if I should just forget about discharging Cerulean blue, please comment and let me know.

4 comments:

sophie said...

I've discharged different black fabrics with surprising, different colored results, but never had an experience like yours. I'll be interested to see your new fabric.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting. Hmmm. I'd like to see the whole piece.

Rian said...

Well then. What a cool surprise. Can't wait to see it when it's dry, bet it's awesome.

Kay said...

Look very pretty, I'd say. You obviously got some sort of interesting chemical reaction.. was it hot that day? Wouldn't that matter? Just a thought; I know nothing of course, but I have chemists in the family and hear LOTS of shop talk.