The other natural dying videos I have watched do a separate step for iron. After dying while still wet dip the dyed fiber into an iron bath. The amount of time in the iron bath affects how dark it turns. You might even be able to dip dye in iron after natural dying.
I love seeing the comments and learning more about what to do! The instructions for logwood had me add the iron with the dye, and that worked. But I also know that not all pigments are in the same category of molecules and they can all behave differently. I wonder what dip dyeing logwood dyed yarn in an iron bath would do!
my sugestion is post dye iron baths, this preserves the saturation and just saddens the colour. the ammount of iron is very very high btw. cochineal is patial to shifting with actual lime (the stone) btw, something about the full mineral compesition if i remember correctly. also citric acid, quite high volume is better for acidic shift,
Do not pre-mordant with iron or put the iron in the dye bath! 1) it harms the yarn 2) as you noticed, it attaches itself to the pigment in the dye bath, so it's not available for the yarn. You can add the iron to the bath 15 min before finish, or make the iron bath separately if you want to reuse the bath (remember not to mix temps, but you know not to do that already). The amount of iron was plenty enough for the amount of yarn. The max recommended by my teacher is 5 %, but I've never used more than 2 %. The more you use, the greater the wear on the yarn. I've never done 15 minutes either, because it always looks more dramatic than it actually is. Usually I do about 5 minutes total with a dip dyeing method to get a tonal effect. But that's my preference. Rinsing the iron treated yarn separately was a good call, since the iron can stain the other yarns. Though after a rinse or two it's okay to mix in my experience. For the other two makes no difference. The amount of water is quite low compared to what is recommended, and can affect the tonality (I like tonals, though). You can reuse the dye bath when using cochineal (if you don't add iron directly to it for the iron treatment). To reduce the required rinsing a bit, it would help to sieve out the cochineal particles before adding the yarn (using a dense cloth or filter paper). This also helps with reusing the dye stuff, since it's back to powder form. Cream of tartar allows more alum to attach to the yarn -> stronger color. It can affect tones for some dye stuffs as well, but I don't know enough to speak on that. I suppose it also can shift the pH a liiiittle bit. You are supposed to rinse the excess mordant off before dyeing, but no actual harm done there. I suppose the excess alum will attach itself to the pigment, like the iron does, causing a need for more dye stuff.
This is so incredibly helpful! thank you. I think next time I will make sure to rinse the yarn after the mordant. I wondered about the water levels, too, since I wasn't sure if the colors are a bit concentration dependant. I'm not always good about following written protocols (which makes me shudder as I type that as a trained scientist! I promise I was good back in the day, but with art I tend to be a little bit more relaxed.) This time I was trying to follow the instructions to the best of my ability. I really want to do more of these natural dyeing projects.
I really feel like this is the way to go. I thnk the instructions and proportions in the Earthues kit are pretty good, but the timing for the iron wasn't mentioned.
I love the results with the cream of tartar. I don't have any advice about the iron, but I'd love to see you experiment more and see if you can capture the purple!
I wonder if this would work with cochineal food colouring? I sense an experiment coming on - the red/pink food colouring in Australia is based on cochineal.
I didn't even know until another comment that cohineal is in food coloring! I think that it would only work if you were to mordant the fiber first, which isn't a step I do with food coloring.
I had no idea, I looked it up and the stopped using it as a food colorant in 2012. But I really didn't know it was food approved (I know it is in cosmetics.)
@ChemKnitsTutorials they stopped using it because the public became aware and the yuck factor. Also it isn't vegan. I think the original intent was to appeal to the all natural and the backlash against red number 2 which was blamed for ADHD among other things.
How do these skeins feel compared to ones you dye with acid dyes? I once bought a skein of yarn that was naturally dyed with a mordant. I can only say it felt funky when I knit it. Kind of like it was coated with something.
These ones feel fine to me, but I do know what you're talking about. I've done some mordants in the past where I feel like it really altered the texture of the yarn. I didn't notice that feeling here, though.
The other natural dying videos I have watched do a separate step for iron. After dying while still wet dip the dyed fiber into an iron bath. The amount of time in the iron bath affects how dark it turns. You might even be able to dip dye in iron after natural dying.
I usually "dip dye" my yarns when using iron, so I get a tonal or variegated effect.
I love seeing the comments and learning more about what to do! The instructions for logwood had me add the iron with the dye, and that worked. But I also know that not all pigments are in the same category of molecules and they can all behave differently. I wonder what dip dyeing logwood dyed yarn in an iron bath would do!
Iron will always sadden the original color - but as we can see, well, for me anyway, it’s always a surprise 🎉
I actually collected and harvested cochineals off of my Crepe Mertle trees this year. I'm excited to ground them and use them.
Have fun!!
my sugestion is post dye iron baths, this preserves the saturation and just saddens the colour. the ammount of iron is very very high btw.
cochineal is patial to shifting with actual lime (the stone) btw, something about the full mineral compesition if i remember correctly. also citric acid, quite high volume is better for acidic shift,
That's super helpful to know! I never thought of using the iron bath after dyeing.
It is iron that makes quartz purple 💜 aka Amethyst, my birthstone.
Oh that's so cool!
Do not pre-mordant with iron or put the iron in the dye bath!
1) it harms the yarn
2) as you noticed, it attaches itself to the pigment in the dye bath, so it's not available for the yarn. You can add the iron to the bath 15 min before finish, or make the iron bath separately if you want to reuse the bath (remember not to mix temps, but you know not to do that already).
The amount of iron was plenty enough for the amount of yarn. The max recommended by my teacher is 5 %, but I've never used more than 2 %. The more you use, the greater the wear on the yarn. I've never done 15 minutes either, because it always looks more dramatic than it actually is. Usually I do about 5 minutes total with a dip dyeing method to get a tonal effect. But that's my preference.
Rinsing the iron treated yarn separately was a good call, since the iron can stain the other yarns. Though after a rinse or two it's okay to mix in my experience. For the other two makes no difference.
The amount of water is quite low compared to what is recommended, and can affect the tonality (I like tonals, though).
You can reuse the dye bath when using cochineal (if you don't add iron directly to it for the iron treatment).
To reduce the required rinsing a bit, it would help to sieve out the cochineal particles before adding the yarn (using a dense cloth or filter paper). This also helps with reusing the dye stuff, since it's back to powder form.
Cream of tartar allows more alum to attach to the yarn -> stronger color. It can affect tones for some dye stuffs as well, but I don't know enough to speak on that. I suppose it also can shift the pH a liiiittle bit.
You are supposed to rinse the excess mordant off before dyeing, but no actual harm done there. I suppose the excess alum will attach itself to the pigment, like the iron does, causing a need for more dye stuff.
This is so incredibly helpful! thank you. I think next time I will make sure to rinse the yarn after the mordant. I wondered about the water levels, too, since I wasn't sure if the colors are a bit concentration dependant. I'm not always good about following written protocols (which makes me shudder as I type that as a trained scientist! I promise I was good back in the day, but with art I tend to be a little bit more relaxed.) This time I was trying to follow the instructions to the best of my ability. I really want to do more of these natural dyeing projects.
Try an iron after bath. Dye in the pot without the iron, then remove the yarn and put it in an iron solution.
I really feel like this is the way to go. I thnk the instructions and proportions in the Earthues kit are pretty good, but the timing for the iron wasn't mentioned.
Loving this return to natural dye experiments! Comment consensus appears to be iron bath after dyeing, so might there be a take 2 in the future? ;)
I hope to try this again. I think iron bath after would help, since the iron seemed to bind the pigment in the bath and that made my color sad.
I love the results with the cream of tartar. I don't have any advice about the iron, but I'd love to see you experiment more and see if you can capture the purple!
Some other commenters have given me great advice!
I wonder if cream of tarter mix and then adding to an iron bath. I feel like the cream of tarter makes the color take better or adhere better.
I wonder if this would work with cochineal food colouring? I sense an experiment coming on - the red/pink food colouring in Australia is based on cochineal.
I didn't even know until another comment that cohineal is in food coloring! I think that it would only work if you were to mordant the fiber first, which isn't a step I do with food coloring.
I think cochneal is what Starbucks uses in a strawberry drink.
I had no idea, I looked it up and the stopped using it as a food colorant in 2012. But I really didn't know it was food approved (I know it is in cosmetics.)
@ChemKnitsTutorials they stopped using it because the public became aware and the yuck factor. Also it isn't vegan. I think the original intent was to appeal to the all natural and the backlash against red number 2 which was blamed for ADHD among other things.
How do these skeins feel compared to ones you dye with acid dyes? I once bought a skein of yarn that was naturally dyed with a mordant. I can only say it felt funky when I knit it. Kind of like it was coated with something.
These ones feel fine to me, but I do know what you're talking about. I've done some mordants in the past where I feel like it really altered the texture of the yarn. I didn't notice that feeling here, though.
The color struck hard but didn't really stay. Maybe another fixative??!!
The consensus seems to be to do the iron after it is already dyed.