Dyeing Process - 'Hand' painting, aka Squirt bottle painting

I was told to go forth and write more, so... here I am.  :)

I have a new follower who (I think) is teaching herself how to dye, so I took some pictures of my process the last time through.  All the usual disclaimers - I am NOT a pro and most of what I do, I figured out from trial and error.  So... if someone has anything to suggest, PLEASE speak up.  I don't take constructive advice as a criticism.

Ok... from the beginning.  Well... really the beginning - here is a shot of my dye collection.  Just a few thoughts going in:

 A) Most of what I dye is wool, so my collection is are all acid dyes.  These are good for protein-based fibers such as sheep wool, alpaca/llama wool, angora, dog and silks.  Other fibers can hold some acid dyes to some degree, but you really need to test it.  For example, during this dye session, I dyed some 'store bought' yarn as a favor for a friend.  It was a wool/acrylic sock yarn blend.  The wool took up the dye just fine while the acrylic took it up at a slower rate.  It gave the yarn a really pretty heathered look.  We did it intentionally, so it was all good, but if you are not expecting it, it might pose a problem.

B) Scrubbing Bubbles is your friend.  It is the best thing I have found to clean up the inevitable spills, rings, drains, fleck, etc.

C) Mason jars are also your friend. I also have found that coffee creamer containers have a nice wide opening to pour dyes into and a nice spout to pour out of.  Condiment squirt bottles are nice and cheap and are great for controlled painting. Juice containers are also great for larger amounts.

D) I love Cosco.  I bought this industrial sized plastic wrap years ago and it is wonderful. It gives a larger width to work from, which allows me to dye larger batches. Dyeing is a messy, wet business (at least the way I do it).  If you have a seam, the fluids will run out and make a bigger mess than you need.  I am pretty sure this is an unending roll of plastic.  I bought it about 10 years ago and have been dyeing for 3.  I think it regenerates at night.

MOST IMPORTANT:  These dyes may look pretty but they are highly toxic.  The particles will float through the air no matter what you do, so act accordingly.  For me, that means the following:

1) Use a dust mask when dealing with the powders.
2) Use ONLY dedicated spoons, dishes, jars, etc.  Don't use normal eating utensils and mark your dye tools so they don't accidentally get mixed back into the household items.  I am lucky enough to have a dedicated area, so it all stays there as much as possible.  Long handled tea spoons are great for this and are relatively cheap at restaurant supply stores.
3) Try to limit the amount that goes down the drain, whether you are on sewer or septic.  I treat my waste similar to old paint... I dump it into a disposable roaster pan and let it dry out.  Water evaporates, solid wastes stay behind.  I am not even close to it being full, but when it is, I will take it to a hazardous waste collection event.  MAKE SURE TO SECURE THE TOP TO MAKE SURE NO ANIMALS (OR CHILDREN) CAN GET INTO IT.  I use a metal screen on mine.

Ok... moving on.

I was lucky enough to find a 'no shipping' deal on some fiber when I was about to buy, so I bought more than usual.  The roving came all rolled up, so the first thing I did was measure out bundles.  I usually separate into 4 or 6 ounce bundles, depending on what I need.  6 ounces is the biggest bundle I can fit into my steamer, so that is as big as I go.

Once the bundles are weighed out, they go into a cold waterbath to soak.  Always add the wool to the water, not the other way around.  Supposedly, fiber takes up dye better in an acidic environment.  I am not that fond of the smell of vinegar, so I bought a bag of citric acid powder.  I typically throw a tablespoon into each gallon of water used to make my dyes and I throw 1/4-1/3 of a cup into a 'bin' of cold soak water.  To be perfectly honest, I have forgotten the acid more than once in both of those items and have never really seen a huge difference... but since I have it, I use it.  Who knows... maybe that accounts for some of the variability.  I need to pay more attention to know.

I don't know what the minimum soak time needs to be, but I usually put them into soak in the late afternoon on one day and take them out late morning/early afternoon the next.  I drain the water and then squeeze the excess out of each bundle.  Keep in mind that wool felts easier when wet, so keep the friction as minimal as possible (squeeeeeeeze, don't wring).  If I am not going to dye immediately, I put a towel over the bundles to keep them moist.  If the wool is still drippy wet when you are ready to dye, I put into a towel and step on it to get the excess water out.  The wool should still have moisture, but not be 'wet'.  I am sorry I can not be more specific, but I think this is one of those things you just have to get a feeling for as you go.

When I am ready to get dyeing, I make up my dyes.  The container depends on how much I am going to use.  I typically use quart jars... most of my dyes take about 1/2 of the scoop of an ice tea spoon.  I know... not very scientific or precise... you just have to get the 'feel'.  Different dye brands - even different colors within the same brand - take different amounts.  For this session, I made up a half-gallon jar of the violet.  Since I was mixing color poweders, I did not want to have to make more, risking too much variation between batches.  The others I just mix more as I need it.


When I am ready, I pull out the plastic I need (typically most of the length of my dyeing table.  I forget to take that picture, but you will get the idea from upcoming pictures.  I then lay out the wool in an up and back manner.  This picture is of one long piece of roving.

This is where you look at it and decide how long you want your color repeats to be.  Keep in mind that your ends (where the curves are) will be twice as long... the 'up' and the 'back'.




 For this session, I wanted white, light blue, dark blue, violet, mauve and grey.  For the white, I just left the ends alone.  For the light blue, I diluted some of the dark blue.  Here you see me applying the dark blue with the squirt bottle.  In real life, I tend to just pour directly onto the wool from the mix jar and use the squirt bottle to apply it (where needed) to the bottom.  It saves the hassle of re-filling the squirt bottle, but you loose some accuracy.  Once you have what you think you need, you start 'squishing'.

And here I will share a personal foible... while I have not really noticed any difference when using fresh made dyes over one that have been sitting for a couple of days, I really do prefer using fresh made, only because I use warm water to make it.  There is something much more pleasant for me to 'squish' a nice warm mass (mess?) than a cold (icky) one.  Again on the health and safety - use gloves... this stuff can't be good for your skin and your skin and nails are made up of proteins, so this (protein) dye will LOVE it.  More than once I have gone to work looking like I put my hand in a chemical toilet.


Squish... squish... squish... add more dye as needed.... squish...squish... squish... Once  you THINK you have enough, look underneath... you will find that the wool on top will have bogarted most of the dye particles.   This is where the squirt bottle really comes in handy.  You can squirt directly where you need to add dye.  You can also squirt the dye liquid onto the plastic which allows it to travel to other areas.  Basically, do what you have to do to make sure that the underside gets an allotment of the color too.  Unless you are looking for that white space... it too can be a neat effect when spinning it up.

Just keep going until you have all the colors you want.  When deciding your color repeats, keep in mind you can control your yarn repeats when spinning as well... by splitting the roving into halves vs quarters you can make longer repeats, so your repeats are not necessarily limited by your dye repeats.

Also keep in mind that things will typically look darker at this point that they will come out.  Again... no hard and fast rule... in this care, the blue stays about that blue, but the dark black at the end comes out a lighter grey and the mauve (next to the black) comes out very light.

The next series is a little picture heavy with not much to say, so I am going to put in smaller pictures... if anyone needs a larger version or clarification, just let me know.

Once all the dyes have been applied, I pull another sheet of plastic over the top and sort of press the edges to start a seal.  I then pull the sides up, run my hands down the length to push out some air and then fold the ends up.


 Fold the whole thing in half lenthwise.  It is a little awkward, but it can be done.  This is a good time to check to see if you have missed any big chunks on the bottom.
 Once that is done, fold into thirds.

 Pull another sheet of plastic and do another wrap.  Since I wrapped the sides first on the first wrap, I wrap the ends first on the second.





Keep in mind that no matter how good you wrap it, these are bound to leak.  I ended up making a nice mess this session... all it took was one.

 Once wrapped to contain all the mess (good luck with that), it goes into the steamer.  Again... please don't use for food... no matter how tempting it is when your wool steamer gives out on you unexpectedly.    There are a lot of options... every thrift store around here has used steamers relatively cheap, but I found this new one on Amazon for about $5 more than the thrift store ones.  I ended up going for it because none of the thrift store ones had the two baskets and I think it really helps to have your bundle elevated at least into the second level.  This session I actually made the bundles a little too big and I was concerned about the steam not being able to circulate to the top wool enough, so I added some extra minutes.   I usually steam for 45 minutes... this might be overkill, but it has worked for me.  This was an all day processes since I had 8 bundles.  I like the electric steamer because I can steam outdoors if it is hot.

I leave these bundles to cool overnight.  It is hard not to be impatient, but it is not worth felting your roving by rinsing when the wool is still warm.  Once cooled, unwrap and rinse.  Keep in mind that while the dye should have been taken up by the wool, leaving only clear water, the fluid that has leaked into the other layers of plastic will still have dye in it, so I strongly suggest protecting your hands and clothing.  I use a big white t-shirt for all dye-related activities so it can be bleached as needed.  Once I dump the wool into the sink and get rid of the plastic, I submerge the wool into bins of cool water until it rinses clear.

It then gets hung on the railing (out of the sun) to dry and then braided up... and.... voila:

 You can see how much the mauve and black have lightened.  The violet, since it is two powders mixed tends to split.  For some reason, this picture did not really show the colors that great.  The darkest blue is actually shades of the violet.

And that is... all she wrote  :)