I'm going to need your help with this one | Claude Tries Yarn Dyeing

[@crabbiecrackers290]

I don't think we ever really grow out of our "making potions in the back garden" stage lol

[@cllovatt]

FULL AGREE

[@lisasilver8174]

I am a yarn dyer. I would put it through a 30degree wash in the washing machine for a good rinse, you may loose a little more colour, but its not totally rinsed out which is why its crunchy. I would also add some soap powder and fabric softener - just a small amount to the machine wash. Dylon is much less forgiving than acid dye. Much harder to use, and never really produces good results. I dyed Nike socks for a company, they are cotton and nylon and i put them in the machine with dylon. They came out very well, but did fade over time, each time they were washed. You would have had a much better experience using acid dye and wool. It normal for these dyes to bleed - you did nothing wrong to loose as much colour as you did.

[@katerrinah5442]

I came here to say this! It's so hard to get all the dye out by hand. I've found when I rinse in the machine I don't get bleeding at all later on down the road too 😊

[@catherinejustcatherine1778]

This sounds lovely, but, please specify if it's 30 degrees C or F...?

[@themother_thing]

I can’t imagine washing a skein in a machine without it turning into a tangles knot!

[@Astrid-oq3kk]

What would you suggest using on other fiber types? (I live in a country where animal fibers are extremely rare and expensive, so most of my stash is cotton, sometimes mixed with either acrylic, "milk cotton", or other unknown synthetic fibers)

[@draughtoflethe]

@@catherinejustcatherine1778 That would have to be 30 degrees C. It's an understandable question if you're not familiar with the Fahrenheit scale, but 30 degrees F is ice. The freezing point is 32.

[@melimsah]

Okay, the ASMR of "being outdoors" (including power tools, wind, breathing, phone vibrations, etc) with minimal cuts, it's doing magical things to my brain, being cooped up inside working while Arizona weather is hitting record highs for late September.

[@RetroClaude]

I was going to say it was an artistic choice but really I couldn't find music to match the mood 😅

[@cllovatt]

@@RetroClaude Isn't that called "making a virtue of necessity"? VERY make-do-and-mend!

[@marabanara]

“BAAAAAABE! Take the kids! Claude has new video out! I’m shutting my door!”

[@SamIAm2000]

Definitely only ever heard it called Dye-lon so I think you're good.

[@fikanera838]

Came here to say the same.

[@feltaria9177]

Yep. The same.

[@IAmCraftingAgain]

Definitely dye-lon in the uk. For decades

[@fikanera838]

@@IAmCraftingAgain Same in Australia.

[@lyndaholloway5469]

@@fikanera838 I will put my penny in and agree with you all. In USA it is Dye-lon.

[@feltaria9177]

Ignore everyone who says to use vinegar. That’s for acid dyes. Dylan is a fibre reactive dye and behaves differently. And hair conditioner works on wool because it’s designed for our hair which has similar properties. My experience with Dylan on cotton is that it just doesn’t set very well and you get loads of dye run off when rinsing. My suggestion at this point would be to re wash everything with some soap as that may well shift some more dye molecules which are sitting on the surface but held within the plies and then pop everything in lingerie bags and do a rinse and spin in your washing machine as I suspect some of the crunchiness would go at that point. When you do acid dyeing, you rinse with cold water and then at the end, you use soap. I think your drying rack is doomed though because Dylan dyes polyester and other plastics so I think you’ve inadvertently dyed it. I think the wool is so pale because it was an exhaust bath so although the water looked dark, there weren’t that many dye molecules left to be taken up. Good luck with future dyeing adventures. Having tried all sorts, I can definitely say that the one that needs least rinsing is acid dyes on wool as the wool pulls all the dye out of the water and holds it so you only need 1 rinse.

[@RetroClaude]

Thank you for all this amazing information!

[@amyharris8801]

The way the Paintbox cotton turned out reminds me of a spring onion! The color you achieved is far and away an improvement and I’m certainly staying tuned for an update to see if it bleeds any more.

[@lyndaholloway5469]

Oh yes it will bleed all over the place if that dye is not washed out.

[@corriemcclain7960]

I've found from many dying experiments, you can not have the water too hot. Also the final color will be dramatically paler than the color you see when it's wet. I leave things to soak for hours

[@elisestewart5416]

I have also found that a couple of quick rinses and then leaving the yarn in a big container of clean water to soak overnight works well without all the effort

[@lindsaythegreat]

I can't speak to the dyeing process, but when my regular clothes dry "crunchy" I toss them in the tumble dryer on the no-heat setting for a few minutes. If you have lingerie bags, that should keep tangles at bay. I don't know how prevalent salad spinners are in the UK, but if you come across one in a charity shop it might help with the rinsing and wringing out process.

[@kjtherrick4031]

I've never dyed anything, so kudos to you for doing this! I look forward to seeing what you make with these yarns.

[@MsHedgehog]

I have used Dylon to dye fabric in the washing machine, just to deepen colours or change the tone nothing fancy. But I have needed to finish with a detergent wash every time or the fabric comes out stiff and kind of chalky. I used one full program to dye, a second full program to rinse without detergent and then a full program with detergent. The colours does ligthen but it does not feel bad or bleed dye on me. The first time I used Dylon the water never ran clear without detergent, I had the washing machine running the entire day that day. I do not recall how many times I tried washing without the detergent before I gave up.

[@cllovatt]

oooh you're brave to venture into something as complex as dye-ing! It reminds me of high-school chemistry and I just start getting stressed out all over again!

[@ArwynArising]

I'm also just venturing into dyeing (so listen to the professionals first!), but I find it really helpful to keep in mind that the natural fibers we work with come in two types: cellulose (the plants: cotton, flax/linen, hemp, ramie, etc), and protein (the animals: wool, silk, alpaca, mohair, and so on). The two types of fibers need two different types of dye treatment, because their make up is so different. That's why the wool didn't take hardly any color, it's just not the right dye for it. (Don't ask me to speak on the manufactured or semi manufactured type materials, I have no idea what works with those, lol, I just look it up each time.) I'm really glad you found ways for it to work for you! I do wonder if you could let batches soak between rinses, to give yourself more rest breaks? Or even just do a rinse, dump it out, set it aside, and come back to rinse more later. Pacing is definitely my challenge too when it comes to longer projects like this.

[@Rebelmusedesign]

I so love all of your videos that I look forward to them. I was hoping to visit the UK next month, but with a three-year ankle and foot injury is quite depressing thinking how I would even manage it by myself. So your videos give me a glimpse of all of it. And I love everything British. Honestly, I only watch British movies for the most part.❤

[@Hide_and_silk]

A bit of googling and it seems that Dylon uses soda ash (alkaline) as a mordant (fixative) so using vinegar (acid) with Dylon might not be such a good idea... Definitely try acid dyeing - it's works exceptionally well with protein fibres and will give you very satisfying results...the technique even works with food colouring and is colour fast through multiple washes (see my other comment).

[@lyndaholloway5469]

Soda Ash is easy to find. Go to hardware or pool supply and get hot tub cleaner (so much cheaper) If I remember right it is about 1 T. spoon to a gallon of water to set the dye. That is for the cotton. It is Vinagar for the wool. It is not too late to put the cotton in a soda ash bath to set that dye. Just relax and have fun. It is only a little yarn and your life dose not depend on the out come.

[@matthodek]

Claude:"I'm doing all of this by eye..", my honest thought: "It's ok, you have your tea." 😀 I drink tea all year now. I think better when I have a warm cup of it in my hand. Sadly, I can be of no assistance with the dye. Chemistry has always been my least favorite of the sciences. I do agree that they turned out well, and hopefully you can get some good advice so that it is at least worth making them up into something. Thinking about how a dye pattern will look once knitted up tickles a part of my brain... 🤓 I am glad you enjoyed it. Take care till next time. 🦆

[@BookCat18]

Air drying can sometimes cause that crunchy effect and the amount of the salt might have also caused a slight drying texture. I agree with the recommendations of vinegar or some other dye binder, even a Rit dye catcher sheet or two might help. And some wool wash might add some softness back

[@IAmCraftingAgain]

I'd written an essay before I noticed. Sorry! Hopefully helpful to other readers too! I dye wool and alpaca yarn with acid dyes. I started with food colouring, I've learnt just from Chemknits on youtube and been doing it 4 or 5 years. Acid dye or food colouring are much better for dying protein fibre (animal protein, wool, alpaca, silk, angora) than dylon or rit. It doesn't work for cellulose plant fibre though (cotton, linen, bamboo). It doesn't damage your fibre (done with chemknits instructions). I'd highly recommend either instead of dylon for that fibre type. Food colouring and acid dye on protein fibre both use much less water than dylon/rit as your dye should entirely bond to the yarn so there should be none or very minimal bleeding. I'd usually use 3-4 washing up bowls worth of water worth for 400g yarn, and that yarn wouldn't ever bleed after. That includes the prewash and the dyepot water. It's still quite a bit, I know but less that what it sounds like you needed.They both need acidic conditions (vinegar) and heat (hob or microwave in UK climate). *Acid dye vs food colouring* I'd recommend food colouring to start out. Food colouring negative It will fade if wet in uv light. Though my 4 year old food couring dyed yarn (now socks) are still nearly as original colour, having been dried out of direct sun. Food colouring positives 1. Cheap. If you want to really get into it i recommend color right or other liquid drops. The liquid drops are great for colour mixing, as it's measurable amounts unlike pastes. 2. Accesible - supermarket and many other sources 3. Can use your kitchen equipment as you dint have to keep away from food equipment. Considerations chosing which food colouring to buy in Uk Check the black isn't made of carbon (doesn't dye) or the yellow curcumin (it's fugative ie. it fades quickly). We don't have red 40 (worth knowing if following chemknits tutorials). Acid Dye positive Doesn't fade in uv light. Acid dye negatives 1. Much more expensive than food colouring (google dharma trading company acid dyes to see). 2. Equipment used for acid dye shouldn't then be used for food. In the uk (our temperatures) that needs to be saucepan or flat catering tray, or steaming saucepan (microwave if you can have a dye-only microwave) in addition to tongs, mixing equipment (old jars are good), minimum. 3. Safety with powder is important, acid dyes come as powder. You need 3 cheap items - latex/nitrile gloves, goggles and respiratory mask (Ffp2 is ok). *Dylon yarn texture* 1. To improve the yarn texture, my first thought is to wash the yarn with washing up liquid. If it doesn't work, maybe try some washing machine fabric softener. Worth a try? Washing up liquid isn't going to harm it - chemknits and I always use it. 2. I've dyed linen fabric and cotton fabric in the washing machine with dylon pods, and rit dye too, maybe 15 times. I've not had texture change (though mine has been washed with washing powder before I dry it). It seems like a lot of colour goes down the drain in the machine too and the clothing I make with the fabric bleeds in the washing machine for some time (say a year, I wash these items only with each other and colour catchers). So a similar experience to yours. 3. Rit have a colour fixative bottle. I've tried it, with rit dye, but didn't test if it helped. Worth a try? *Dylon colour bleeding* Try putting it in an vinegar solution, may reduce bleeding. Good luck!

[@anonymousperson4214]

Rit Color Stay Dye Fixative! My mum uses it when she's ice dying, and I've had good luck using it on garments that bleed. If you want to check if it's still bleeding, what my mum does is wash it with something white she doesn't care about (tea towels and bits from mockups are her go-to). If the white thing is still white after a wash, your skin and other garments should be totally safe :)

[@ellakae7]

Yarn dyeing feels so intimidating to me so this was a fun video to live vicariously through 😄

[@RetroClaude]

It does feel intimidating! There's a lot to learn and I wasn't sure where to start so I dived right in. So many of the comments here have been very helpful if you do ever wish to give it a go ☺️

[@rosysutton6935]

Food colouring and acetic acid for the wool. All food safe so you can do it in the kitchen, so much fun and you can get really vivid results

[@madebylora]

I’ve never dyed yarn but I did use dylon to dye removable sofa covers. I also had lots of rinsing (I did it in the bath!). After it was dry, no more colour rubbed off, but if I remember correctly, more colour came out the next time I washed it in the washing machine. Might be worth making up some swatches and washing them to see if the colour and the texture change after being washed.

[@irritatedtatertot]

Oooogh, I love the end result of the yarn!!! Such good greens! A bit wild this video came out just as I was winding up the last of my own yarn dyeing experiments. It's so fun to mix together liquids to see what happens. Making potions is good for the soul.

[@noes.5098]

the yarn looks beautiful! Definitely came out better than when I accidentally used acid wash dye on polyester fabric and wept when absolutely none of the color stayed. Maybe the green tinge to the lamb's wool shows up better on camera. I agree it's definitely not sage and... is more like a hint of green but I think it is still a very interesting color even though it is probably a lot more subtle than you wanted it to be.

[@audrey_eee]

My guess is that the crunchiness and the bleeding will be helped with a soak in vinegar water. Animal fibers (including silk) lean slightly acidic, and I have definitely had it turn crunchy from some types of dye. After that you could try a mild detergent.

[@MichiaMakes]

I’ve been a follower and love your channel because I feel like I want to try all the things lol. I’m so impressed with your willingness to experiment and play with things. I’m equally impressed with the knowledge of your followers! Wow what an amazing group of knowledgeable and informative folks you’ve attracted and curated ❤ I think it has much to do with your character overall. You have gathered an amazing tribe!

[@indiana1604]

I'm so excited to see what you make with this!!

[@Eastybeastyy]

So excited for this one! I also wanted to ask a question, but I didn't know where to reach out. I'm a voulenteer at a scrapstore, and we have a load of vintage patterns. I know you sell digital downloads of some vintage patterns. I was wondering if you could tell me or direct me to a resource for knowing which patterns can be sold in this way. I want to make sure that many people can enjoy these patterns and also raise money to keep our community scrap store open, but I have no idea on vintage copyright etc. Help me Claude, you're my only hope! 🤣

[@jennaforesti]

Tie dye dyes will work well for cotton and all other cellulose fibers. The cold water dyes will generally work for silk without destroying the silk. Follow the directions for how long to leave the dye. Rinse way more than you think you need. Run it through the washing machine on a cold setting. Recycled glass jars (washed well) work well for mixing up dye.

[@deniseyoung3738]

I've dyed things in the US with Koolaid (a kid's drink that you add a ton of sugar too, bad for ingesting) The colors are limited, but it did a great job on my white wool yarn.

[@catpawrosales4265]

hmmm, I might try that. at least I can get my hands on that.

[@IAmCraftingAgain]

If you are in the uk, just straight food colouring may be easier to get. I'd suggest liquid drops for easy measuring. Color right if you can find it.

[@petapendlebury9024]

​@@IAmCraftingAgainI wonder if Irn Bru might have similar dye ingredients?

[@IAmCraftingAgain]

@deniseyoung3738 yes it might work. iron bru has E110 Sunset yellow FCF which dyes yellow. Not sure if E124 Ponceau 4R dyes and if so, whether it is fugative (fades quickly), none of my food colourings contain it, and it's banned in and canadan.The citric acid in it is handy (acidic environment is needed to dye with food colouring). But who knows what the other ingredients might be like to wash out. Easter egg dye tablets work too (I think we don't get those in the uk though)

[@missmeakat]

I used Dylon sachets to dye silk organza - had no problem with it setting but it was a LOT darker than I wanted despite doing a test swatch. I followed the packet instructions and stirred mine in the pot for about 30 mins, so maybe that helped it stick? Or my other thought was 2 packets of dye too much for the quantity of yarn - I think its 1 packet for 500g? If you like experimenting, solar dyeing in jars is great fun - its really low energy because you stick the yarn, plants, water and a mordant in a jar and leave it in a sunny spot to 'cook'. It also looks like a witch's potion which is great fun. If you want to try dyeing with plants, Jenny Dean's book Wild Colour is really trustworthy, there is so much conflicting information online about natural dyeing

[@mrsmscuriositycabinet6925]

Claude, I agree that Jenny Dean’s Wild Colour is an excellent, probably the best, resource if you want to dry natural dyeing. But unless your working with a tannin based dye matter (cutch, walnut…) the mordanting process can be laborious, which is not ideal if you have fatigue issues. You can pre-mordant (as long as you are not using the soya approach that is quite popular these days) to pace the process. I would also add, given your location, that hard water really impacts on the resulting colours, not just at the time of dyeing but also with future washes. Not to put you off trying natural dye if you fancy it, it produces glorious results but just to flag up some of the issues.

[@missmeakat]

@@mrsmscuriositycabinet6925 yes I premordant with alum and cold water overnight, which I find nice and low energy 😀

[@RetroClaude]

Thank you for this!

[@emilycummings3125]

I haven't dyed yarn but I've dyed fabric quite a bit. The dye I like to use called idye says use a cup of vinegar for wool as a fixer with the dye and a cup of salt with the dye for plan fibres. So I don't think you can put wool in the same salty bucket as the cotton, although you can use the same dye. I just dyed a cotton linen king size duvet. I used two packets of dye and two cups of salt and use the hottest water my tap has, stirring often because I was going for an even tone. Then I rinse with cool running water which I think actually uses less water because it is much faster. Then wash in the washing machine on a cool quick setting with a little mild detergent.

[@RetroClaude]

Oh this makes sense why it didn't work so well on the wool! Thank you!

[@c0ldlight1]

Claude! These came out beautifully. I think you may have just needed to rinse them more? I have recently begun dying fabric with my sister, and I have done some yarn. You should go to the thrift shop and see if you can get a salad spinner for crafting. It really helps with the rinsing. (And also in general for handwashing knits) I’ve never used that dye, I am in the states and we have RIT dye, which is very similar. Also, you should look up “solar dye jar” it takes a while (weeks) but it’s a hands off way to dye in smaller batches, and get different colors by layering. So far I love it, because it’s not very time precise. If I’m having a migraine days I can just push off the rinsing until I’m feeling better.

[@RetroClaude]

I love the sound of this! Thank you!

[@hollibarnett3899]

If the drying rack is nylon the dye may rise off if you hose it down.

[@Hide_and_silk]

I use the dharma and jacquard acid dyes very successfully but they need to be done on a stove top with vinegar and gentle heat. I've also used food colours and vinegar very successfully to dye wool with my young 11 year old niece (I used to make wedding cakes etc so had lots of food colouring that was well past its dates!). I always rinse with vinegar to stop bleeding and wash with a lanolin based wool wash to keep the softness...but this is assuming that the mordant (fixative) is vinegar...not sure what the mordant is in the Dylon dyes but a vinegar rinse can't harm and it may also help soften the wool.

[@nixhixx]

If they don't pronounce it 'Dye-Lawn' they're missing a beat. Like the people who pronounce Frixion pens as FriX-eon instead of Friction

[@bettygraham818]

I have only used washing machine dyes ( Dye-lon definitely) and you always do a detergent wash afterwards. Maybe the skeins needed a mild wash with Stergene and a couple of rinses afterwards.

[@petapendlebury9024]

I have successfully used Dylon a couple of times and yes, lots of rinsing. And like jeans it fades over time. I used one packet to dye a bit more than you did so maybe too much dye meant you got less variation? Don't know cos for sure as I'm not a professional! One white cardigan required 2 goes to deepen the hot pink colourway to a slightly more intense cerise which I love but pretty sure it'll need redying at some point. Thankfully cardigans don't get washed that often! I did mine in a stainless steel sink and it was unblemished at the end.

[@kaytiej8311]

I'm new to yarn dyeing too, thanks to Rebecca. I appreciate your experiments. My minimal understanding would suggest you have to heat set the dye. And it seems like there is still dye left in the yarn, if it's continuing to bleed and is so 'crunchy'.

[@suem6004]

Do a glug of 5percent vinegar into a rinse bath. The vinegar binds up excess dye which may have helped your drying rack. I even do a vinegar rinse with my hair dye rinsed out of course. Dharma Trading Company is THE dyeing company in the US. They have great tutorials on dyeing all sorts of fibers. They sell all the blank or undyed fabrics and skeins plus all the chemicals for dyeing those. Dharma is MY go to people with questions about dyeing. I had to dye milk protein fiber and needed their advice. They have written and a few video tutorials. I had to dye every year of my master handspinner course. Not that good at it but luckily we were not graded on dyeing. I think you did very well considering. Maybe give the skeins a vinegar rinse followed by a clear rinse to halt more bleeding of dye.

[@Ella-iv1fk]

I looked into getting Dharma dyes because I keep seeing amazing ice dyed projects with it online but it seemed like it would be really expensive to ship to the UK. I did find a UK based company that does procion dyes so I may well get around to that at some point. It does seem like a much better bet for protein fibres like wool and silk, although much more faff than dylon which only needs salt. I've never dyed yarn but for fabric I always found hand dyes weren't very colour fast and washed out in subsequent washes much more than machine dyes (only tried dylon so far)

[@IAmCraftingAgain]

Dina's Home of Crafts sell dharma acid dyes in the uk, but only tubs of it. I get mine from there.

[@Hide_and_silk]

@@suem6004 Doing some digging, it would seem the mordant in Dylon in alkaline so vinegar might actually stop the dye binding.

[@suem6004]

@@Hide_and_silkWhich is what you want in the rinse. You want excess dye to be used up. Otherwise you get unstable bleeding of the yarns. I have never had an issue doing one rinse in vinegar. It did not bleach anything. It dealt with excessive dye.

[@lyndaholloway5469]

No, that is for animal fiber.

[@emmaRBC]

I like the final colour! Very forest-y

[@elskersten-vandijk7227]

I'd be really curious about a follow-up with some acid dye! I have all the same issues with the Dylon - I have neither the hand strength nor the energy for the amount of rinsing required and then in the end it's still a bit bleedy..? I've always been curious whether acid dye would be different but have never gathered up the courage and energy to invest in that adventure 😊 Love your channel, thanks for sharing! ❤

[@mrsmscuriositycabinet6925]

I've used those Dylan sachets on fabric (cotton/linen/silk) rather than yarn. The dye set in those cases and but I kept my water heated throughout the process i.e. in a steel pan on a low heat at about 40C. As low heat seemed to be part of the process, I would try heat setting your yarn, maybe with a steam iron. I didn't have any issues with a crunch/salty feel but I used a lot more water in the process. I initially mixed the dye in a small amount of water (about 1/2 litre) but then used about 5L of warm water in my pan. That meant the salt solution was way more dilute. I'm not sure if that accounts for the dry feel of your yarn but it may be something to consider. I liked the effect with these sachets but over the years Dylon has discontinued pretty much all my favourite colours so I'm going to have to try my hand at Procion dying.

[@historical.isolde7918]

If the yarn is feeling a little dried out, first put it through the wash on a wool/delicates cycle to rid it of any remaining dye. Then when dry, spray it with a light mist that is 1 part almond oil to three parts water. This will help to replace the lanolin that has been stripped out. While this works best with wool, it usually works well with non-wool yarns like cotton and silk which didn't have any lanolin to begin with. It really only needs a light-spritz, and most of the liquid will evaporate.

[@EmilyBoBemily]

It’s giving Medusa vibes!

[@KatyB-GryffindorChaser]

Arcane Fiber Works (Canadian dyer) has a fabulous youtube channel where he shows you his dyeing for his colorways. Its more informational than dyeing education, but the videos are lots of fun and really easy to watch, he just really enjoys it!

[@TheEmeraldElf]

Wash with Eucalan wool wash, will remove the residue and soft the fibers.

[@LeeAnnahsCreations]

I think you did fantastic!

[@cadileigh9948]

Not enough rinsing I suspect. If you put your dryer rack out on the lawn in some of the heavy rain we've had recently I bet it would clean it up. I've only dyed yarn with onion skins for yellow and orange and with chestnut shells for brown both of which don't need mordant or salt. I rinse outdoors in big feed buckets using river water and pour the natural dye on the garden then hang or lay the items dyed out in the rain for a couple of days. The advantage of living in a rain forest is my river is very pure and I am the first house next to it from the spring 3 miles upstream. Have used modern Dylon recently to change the colour of second hand cotton garments.but I allways follow the old instructions as on the tiny tins and use a pot of water on a stove cos I don't trust cool dying.

[@madebylora]

I definitely think you are right about the pronunciation of Dylon, I mean it’s dye, so “dye-lon” makes perfect sense! It’s like when I hear people pronouncing Nutella as “noo-tella”, it’s clearly supposed to be “nut-ella” because of the hazelnuts! I’m not generally one to get on my soap box about pronunciation but there are a few that get me going! Hahahaha

[@RamonaGazzoni]

Nutella is an Italian product and is pronounced as noo-tella

[@JustSaralius]

Well, in the case of Nutella - "Nootella" is how it is pronounced in Italian (were the product is from), so even though the "nut" part is actually from English, it is an Italian brand-name. So I think both pronunciations are valid. ;)

[@madebylora]

@@RamonaGazzoni oh, I didn’t know that! Thank you!

[@madebylora]

@@JustSaralius I just saw a similar comment from someone else too. Oops! I didn’t know about the Italian pronunciation. Thank you

[@crystald3655]

Try contacyting taylor earl over at wool needles hands. She is the owner and dyer for fiber for the people. She might have some tips and info that might be helpful for seting the dye and sorting the wool yarn.

[@emmaRBC]

I like wild experimenting! I've definitely been known to watch a video or read something then give it a go without much further thought. I'm a learn by doing kind of person. Would love to try dyeing some yarn! ☺️

[@greyhaircrafter]

Love your videos!

[@ChelseaSteeb]

Hi 👋 a great dying video is out with Rajiv Surendra about how to dye like in the 1800s. Maybe it can help! ❤ Seems like you've found something new to inspire you!

[@alam8540]

The cotton yarn turned out so pretty??? It reminds me of bok choy lmao As I knit more with hand dyed, variegated type yarns I find I tend to like them more as yarn than the finished product unfortunately, I feel like the effect is very… specific? Like, you wouldn’t want all of your garments to have that effect, maybe a few who’d suit that niche. It’s such a shame because it is so gorgeous would up in skeins or rolled into balls😩

[@kaitk3802]

soaking the wool probably made it harder to absorb any dye. When dyeing, I always used a wool wash to get any bleed out.

[@kattrablake7008]

More dye is not always better. The yarn reaches a saturation point where it can absorb more. After that it is just dye that will bleed out and makes it harder to knit with and wash after.

[@teressebirkett3387]

To stop it bleeding you put some vinegar in the last rinse and soak for about 20 mins. Hope this helps

[@smolsews3760]

I definitely think you should try drop spindle spinning as well!

[@almasalsa6]

You can soak your skeins in a vinegar, add it to the water. It should set the colour

[@blktauna]

It's just an experiment, no need to be concerned over too much. It's a trial to see possibilities and fiddle with the technique. I'm sure all the dyers in the house will help you out on how to proceed.

[@marynour]

Try letting it soak in a vinegar mix to set the dye for about 30 min, then mix hair conditioner and water and let it sit in that for 30 to soften.

[@maddhappy2286]

Soaking it in vinager or a dye fixative should help with bleading. Once you knit it of you can wash it with detergent and that should soften it up, especially with a cool tumble dry

[@maddhappy2286]

Wash in cold water and it probably won't bleed on itself

[@0ceanOfStorms]

Vinegar only helps if its an acid dye, which dylon is not

[@SusieQ3]

Ok, so first, Dye and Nylon. Dylon the way you said it sounds right, but I'm American, so what do I know? 😂 Next, I love Chemknits! She makes it all seem so easy. Last, I live in South East Texas. I drink hot coffee every morning, and hot tea all day long. Is that crazy? No. It's acclimation ☕❤

[@SusieQ3]

I would definitely try to heat set it, then give it a rinse with some detergent. That final color is very pretty! Agreed on the disappointment of the wool. The cotton may have an interesting pooling effect, but again, I'd try a wash with some detergent.

[@PolishandPurls]

For the wool, you could over dye it with acid dyes…but, for a more budget friendly, more accessible and less dangerous alternative try food colouring. It’s the same process. Fairly sure chemknits has a couple of videos on it

[@Milena-ss6jh]

This was fun. I have no experience with the dye you used, so no tips for that. But when using natural dyes it is recommended to wash your (animal-based) yarn really well to get out excess fat/lanolin that can cause the fabric to not take the dye well. Maybe something similar was happening with your lambswool?

[@Lolino]

No idea if this applies to yarn, but i've always used vinegar in my rinse cycle to set new clothes that tend to bleed dye a bit...

[@artistinahammock3885]

I find that you have to rinse a lot more than you think when I've dyed cellulose fibres. As for the crunchiness it may benefit from a wash with some mild detergent or just like more rinsing, I know it's a pain. Also could just be how cotton gets a little crispy when air-dried

[@RetroClaude]

I did wonder about that. Lots of people have recommended putting it in the dryer but that's so alien to me as a British person I'm honestly a bit scared to try it 😅

[@megananderson1431]

I keep wanting to try acid dyes. For wool I have used food coloring and vinegar. It worked pretty well but I several cases is seemed to lose color over a few years.

[@MaryanneNZ]

Wool and silk need an acid to fix, and also the acid gives it a much sheenier finish. So maybe rinse it with a tablesoon of vinegar in the water xo

[@Treegona]

I think you might have depleated most of the dye from the bath when you put the lambswool in? Not an expert on this by any means, my only experience is doing henna on my own hair, but the fact that the bath still looks dark doesn't have to mean that there's still enough dye in there to penetrate into a fiber type that the dye wasn't optimal for to begin with. See also: you got a much paler effect on the paintbox cotton compared to your silk-mix, despite the paintbox yarn being 100% cotton. So less dye*less suitable combination=barely any effect. If what the others here have said re: tossing the yarn in the wash to bleed out anything that's left/salad spinning it for easier rinsing doesn't do it for removing the Crunch, maybe the yarn's been stripped of some of the oils it needs? Might benefit from a wash with shampoo and conditioner? One of my Knitting Elders basically substitutes shampoo for wool-wash to her own satisfaction. No idea what that'd do to cotton, try a smaller length of yarn first?

[@RetroClaude]

Thank you for all of this! It does make sense that the second round of cotton was lighter as a result!

[@sleepydrJ]

I suspect that the dyelon reacts with water similar to how fiber reactive dyes do. This means your “extra dye” left in the water may have been inactivated, and perhaps unable to react with your wool. Depending on the % of silk in your yarn, it may have been better to go with acid dye. I overdye silk/linen yarn with acid dyes, and it dyes the silk (but mine us 50/50 blend)

[@olliejones3302]

I just had a thought about why the lambswool really didn't take the dye. Uppingham yarns' cones are oiled for machine knitting and unless you gave it a good clean before hand that may have caused the dye not to take

[@lorrainebailey4267]

One thing that helps is adding vinegar to the water to help with dye running. I really like over dying. Using gray yarn you can dye purple or teal with wonderful results. But! Dying is not an exact science

[@jirup]

Definitely get yourself some acid dyes for dyeing wool and silk. You'll at least not have all that washing out to do as acids will exhaust.

[@showandtellmeg]

Does Dylon already have a mordant mixed in? When ive done plant fibers i had to add soda ash as a mordant to help it set on the fibers, but I used Procion MX. It dies take a ton of water either way, I find. I did yardage of linen and I was shocked at how much I had to rinse it to come clean. You definitely do want to do something else to set the color or it will rub off on you as you wear it and on anything else if you wash them together, which is always a shame. Maybe vinegar? Ive added vinegar before on clothes that bled.

[@Shetooktothewoods]

That’s what I was thinking, too. Rit dye (more common in the US than Dylon) has separate mordant for cottons and other plant fibers. Wool definitely needs acid dyeing to take up and retain color. Koolade or other flavored drink mixes (the kind that you add the sugar) have lots of citric acid in them so they’re great for dyeing wool. I know there’s also a formula for how much dye any given fiber will take up, by weight, so dyers often have virtually clear water when they begin the rinse process.

[@catherinejustcatherine1778]

In my region, at least in the old days, we said dye-lon (rhymes with nylon, or "pie gone") Anyway, here's hoping the Algorithm shares this lovely video

[@yasmingeorge5173]

I have only used dylon for fabric and thought that was what it was for, I wasn't impressed with the results I got with it. I have used acid dye for yarn, it took up all the colour in the pan and only needed to be rinsed once or maybe twice. I would try a weak fabricator wool wash and then soaking your yarn in fabric conditioner and see if it helps.

[@Kei-jx7hf]

Crunchy yarn sounds like maybe, somehow, despite all the rinse cycles you had to do, there is still some salt left in the yarn? Not sure why it would hold onto it despite the endless rinsing. Or.... hm. The only other thing I know that has that effect is iron. I've put old rusty nails and whatnot in water, and used the resulting rusty water to darken ("sadden") some dyes, but I overdid it and it made the yarn pretty rough and fragile (doing it in drops and not splashes is the better way to go - oops). So, asking as someone living in a house with some rather rusty pipes - any chance of iron (rust) in your rinsing water? (I recall watching you use that same faucet when blocking knitting projects, but like, pipes can start to rust pretty suddenly) In that case another go at dying but with rainwater for rinsing sounds like a good idea - unless the drains collecting it are made of iron. Maybe just put some yarn in your collected rainwater for a bit, let it dry, and check softness before using it for more laborious processes? Other than that, I agree with (white) vinegar to try to set dyes. Doesn't always work, but as long as it's properly diluted, can't really do any harm either.

[@story.stitcher]

I have only ever dyed wool with egg-colors. I defineatly want to try Fabric dye on cotton and experiment with onion skins.

[@Westibule]

I did tumeric & onion skin dye on cotton fabric 12 years ago and it was a lot of fun and turned out great!! Highly recommend 😊

[@JustIsold]

Claude a safety thing you need to know about, when you work with dye powders of any kind you need to wear a mask! You can take it off once you have dissolved things, but until then protect your lungs!

[@LeeLee86]

😂 “I think I did something wrong” but I’m also not going to look into how to go about doing it correctly to make sure I get what I’m looking for out of this yarn that I am unwilling to find out more how to do it first!! I don’t think this was the fault of the yarn or the dye at all!! You can’t put it all out that it was a fail when you didn’t give it the correct way it needs to be done. Also you need to rinse out the yarn a lot more!! Keep rinsing it, and use a mild detergent. It’s crunchy because there’s still loads of dye in it! Rinse! Rinse! Rinse! It should not bleed on anything or stain your basket. And after you rinse it, wash it in the washer and set it in the dryer. One more thing, if you’re wanting more variations between the 2 colors then maybe a darker green and a darker blue are too dark to go together. Maybe a lighter green or lighter blue with the opposite darker color would have been better. But also maybe watch a few more videos to see exactly how you need to dye your specific type of yarns for the best results.

[@RetroClaude]

Oh don't get me wrong this project was very much 'mess about and find out'. I just didn't want to sink loads of energy and money into researching something I might not physically be able to do, nevermind enjoy!

[@Westibule]

Loved it! Are you planning to try it again? I've had mixed results with dying 😅 I bought a Dylon sachet for a grey dye and machine dyed some cotton... it came out a muted bluey-green. It was a nice colour but it definitely wasn't grey 🤣

[@RetroClaude]

I think I will try it again. It was fun and was certainly a way to get a really unique result. If I did it I think I'd have to dye with a project in mind so I don't end up with loads of random yarn!

[@Westibule]

@@RetroClaude A good plan! Would you overdye again for stashbusting purposes or would you treat yourself to something undyed?

[@nataliet4293]

Have you ever washed the yarn? I wonder if the old dye might have reacted with the new.

[@RetroClaude]

I gave it a rinse but no I didn't wash it. This could be part of the picture! Thank you!

[@pauladavitt7554]

I’ve also called it Dye-lon.

[@MissRingsparr]

Did you wash and treat the yarn before you dye the yarn?

[@MayaSimone-zy7jp]

Vinegar should be good for the color blegning i think

[@kjtherrick4031]

AAAHH!! I forgot. Will distilled vinegar help set the dye?

[@MichiaMakes]

Not this due. It is useful for acid dyes.

[@rosannalane8540]

You are definitely pronouncing it right. I'm older than you and I remember the ads and it was pronounced dye-lon.

[@MyFocusVaries]

I pronounce it Dye lon too. It's a dye, so that makes sense to me.

[@yelilow]

Is there a reason you rinsed them in the bin and not directly in the sink? It would be easier on your arms to just fill and drain the sink. When I dye things I rinse it out in my shower. I couldn't speak for Dylon, but Rit comes off the pan with my usual cleaner (just baking soda and peroxide). I'll put my laptop on the sink, sit, and go at it with the shower head while I put a show on, so it's relatively low effort. Ngl if I need a shower I'll just hop in when most of the dye is out and let it rinse while I'm in there lmao. I dry my hanks by just looping them over the shower head.

[@RetroClaude]

I used the washing up bowl in an attempt to stop thinks tangling and to save water. Also so that if someone else needed to use the sink while I was working I could just easily lift everything out. I think I was also worried about staining my Mum's kitchen sink 😬

[@Kera.S.]

Maybe rinse with vinegar and thwack it before drying? Not even sure, just a thought.

[@dees3179]

I suppose it could be used to make something like a weaving for a wall hanging, that won’t be washed. How very frustrating though when you don’t know what went wrong. Hopefully the comments section will send you in the direction of the answers.

[@meganberk6072]

Saltwater. Add a lot of salt to water and let it sit for half an hour or more. Then rinse it some more

[@albertnulsen1855]

It’s my understanding that you’re supposed to set the dye by an acid solution (like vinegar and water)

[@kelsea8767]

I am thinking that your dye might have misbehaved, leaving you with scrunchy yarn. I think a quick run through the wash should help. There are some really nice recommendations in the comments for you.

[@cassmacdonald-perfectlyimp2486]

There’s a place in Edinburgh where the owner dyes her own yarn. Jess at Ginger Twist Studio could be a good person to hit up for advice? Jackie from Fantastical Follies Costuming on YT does a lot of dyeing too, so could be good to hit up as well for questions?

[@petramanos]

I think using cotton and salt setting dye as first attempt was the problem. You'll have waaaay more success with wool and acid dye.

[@RetroClaude]

I thought this might be the case. I think I fell victim to the, well I've already got these so I SHOULD use them. I would have been better to start with a project that was gauran to work so I didn't get so disheartened 😂

[@petramanos]

@@RetroClaude yes, I'm a somewhat beginner to dye also but I've used acid dye on wool about 10 times now and always had delightful results, then tried cotton and swore never to dye cotton again! It just didn't set well and bled everywhere like yours even after rinsing so many times. Also a beginner tip - be very careful to secure your skeins well so that the knots don't slip much. Untangling a yarn barf mess is very disheartening. If you want to reduce cost or environmental impact there are eco friendly and/or "collected yourself from plants" dyes available that work great on wool.

[@vivianebernhard6728]

As you noticed Dylon is horrible stuff, you need acid dyes or food colorants which are what Chemknits uses (see World of Wool or Wingham woolworks for UK suppliers) or procyon dyes (see Debbie Tomkies) which work on both cellulose and animal fibres but with a different mordant. You will need a dedicated dye pot.