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In Sewing
Can you dye silk?
Protein fibres such as silk and wool prefer ACID DYES. Acid dyes produce bright colours which vary in light fastness. Most have poor fastness to washing. They are simple to us…e. These dyes require boiling, which will affect the filament, and alter the final appearance and feel. This change is often acceptable to textile artists and is a matter of personal preference. FIBRE REACTIVE DYES. Brand names include Remazol (Multifilla), Procion, Drimarine K, Levafix (USA) & Dylon. These dyes have excellent light and wash fastness, are easily mixable to form a wide range of colours and can be used in cold water. These dyes depend on a chemical reaction taking place, under alkaline conditions, in an aqueous solution, making a permanent bond with the fibres called co-valent bonding. The alkali is the fixing agent. These alkaline conditions will damage protein fibres, so this should be a consideration when vat dyeing silk. The alkali should be greatly reduced or replaced with acetic acid (sometimes called a painting solution ) Gaubers salt can be substituted for common salt. These problems do not occur when hand painting with fibre reactive dyes, the dye powder is mixed with water to required strength and painted on. Fixing is done by steaming or the application of a cold fix agent (Sodium Silicate ) The Sodium Silicate is painted onto the dried hand painted fabric. The fabric is wrapped completely in plastic to exclude air, left for a min of 2 hrs (overnight is preferable) and washed thoroughly afterwards. With this method there is no loss of colour. Dyes made up without additives will remain usable for many weeks kept in a dark place. (MORE)
