Dyepot Weekly #10 - Handpainting Yarn with Rit Liquid Dyes; Comparing Different Fiber Types

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I used a lot of different yarns in today's video. The 100% wool (worsted weight Wool of the Andes) came from KnitPicks shrsl.com/k9c0 (Affiliate Link). Stuido Classic 100% acyrlic by Nicole can be found at AC Moore. Patons Shetland Chunky and Sugar'n'Cream can be found in many big box retail stores.

[@kaytiej8311]

I know that this is an older video but I really appreciate the comparisons and method you share here. Very informative and helpful.😊

[@kaytiej8311]

I actually love the colours on the acrylic. Really pretty.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Thank you!

[@darquequeen2323]

They all look beautiful. I appreciated how while using the same color dyes, each had their own unique look to them. 🙂

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

It is fun, isn't it? It is nice to show sometimes how results can vary with different fiber types.

[@rachelwielgopolski0609]

Rebecca, my yarn came in today. It is so gorgeous! Thank you so so much! I absolutely love your channel and all of your dyeing experiments. When I made my first sweater, I space-dyed yarn with Easter egg pellets while using your videos almost as a tutorial. You've enhanced my interest in not only knitting, but what can be done with yarn in general. Again, I love the yarn that you sent me. Thank you.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Rachel, I'm so glad that you like your yarn! I really appreciate all of your support!

[@tiffanykasadara475]

My favorite episode so far!!! Thank you Rebecca for answering the questions that we had about dying with RIT. I love all of them!!!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Yay! This is a SUPER SUPER long episode, but I thought it would be worth testing this on separate fiber types. There will be more Rit dyes in the next couple of episodes!

[@breakmydreams]

Very pretty colors. Love the differences in all of them as well.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Thank you! I really love to see how different dyes come out on different types of yarn.

[@breakmydreams]

ChemKnits Tutorials your welcome. I love to see the differences as well.

[@lawandajohns9819]

I love it! Now I want to dye my cotton yarn! They are beautiful!!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Thank you so much!

[@kathleenmcquade31]

They did turn out beautifully!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Thank you!

[@jaimegreene5369]

Excellent video!!! Thank you.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

You are welcome!

[@MarieH528]

Thanks Rachael! I think all the Yarn came out just lovely! I certainly didn't like all the rinsing you had to do with the acrylic but it's nice to know that you actually can *let's say* overdyed an ugly or boring bland acrylic if you wanted to! Another grand experiment Rebecca! I Love your videos! Thanks as always for sharing your Craft with us! Happy Dyeing!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

The amount of rinsing... Oh my! I think this video was half washing!! However, I wanted to show the downside. If you tied off the skein really well, you could probably put it in the washing machine to help with the rinsing. There are also soaps (Synthrapol) that will help remove any excess dye.

[@DOSBoxMom]

I bought the acrylic yarn dyed in this episode from your Etsy shop, and it just arrived today; looks like beautiful colors for a baby item!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I am SO GLAD that you like it!!

[@candacewalsh8726]

The 100% cotton seems truest to the color on the bottle Thanks - interesting and useful 😊

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

You’re welcome 😊

[@whatinspiresu]

woohoo i've been waiting for this one! your wool turned out GORGEOUS!!! BEAUTIFUL color combo and amazing variations in each color. Cant wait to see the rit dymore video to see if I can do anything better with all these acrylic and acrylic blends i have here.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

That one is coming soon! I tested that dye on a couple different fiber types, too.

[@amelia13131]

This was a great video! I think I'll try something similar with some cotton yarn I unwound from an old sweater:)

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Good luck! Rit works well on cotton, I've been happy with it.

[@paulasorrentino3266]

Awesome, I have 10 bottles of Rit dye and was curious if it works..thank you for doing this

[@denisehoffmann5006]

Just what I was looking for 🤗

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I'm so glad I could help!

[@marieking-stevason1775]

I bought Rit Dye for Acrylic yarn and my bottle says about 2 tablespoons should be enough and that it will be pretty much pastel colors. But it didn't say anything about hand painting, it was for kettle dying. I still need to get a pot to try my Rit Dye. Happy Dying from Canada 🇨🇦 ❤️Marie

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

45 mL is about 3 tablespoons of each color and I definitely did NOT get pastels! :)

[@marieking-stevason1775]

ChemKnits Tutorials Yeah I noticed LOL 😂 I can't wait to try it out!!! Still shopping for a pot to use.

[@birdapelton2360]

Marie King-Stevason

[@dorianthegray253]

I'm glad you did this one I've been really curious about Rit lately. I'd love to see a few crimson tones some day if you ever get around to it.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I have a lot of plans to play with Rit more!

[@karinvaleri7130]

thank you so much!!!i will try soon....i would like to know what size the mixing bottles are though since i have these bottles on hand when mixing acid/ procion mx dyes. Are the acrylics and cotton wash and light fast? thx for your response,

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

For acrylic, I really recommend using the Rit Dyemore synthetic - you get a lot better results. My bottles were 4 oz.

[@lw9248]

I just started using Rit Dyemore dye with acrylic yarn. I have used the crock pot and the cake and ball low immersion dye techniques you have demonstrated. When using the Rit dyes, on their website they have specific dyeing formulas for both the Rit dyes for cotton, wool and natural fibers as well as dye formulas for the Dyemore which is for acrylic and other synthetic fibers. These dyes are heavily pigmented and you can get several colors which are made from the basic stock colors sold in the bottles you purchase. There are specific dilution formulas for each color.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

This was the first time that I had ever tried the Rit liquid dyes, and i think I used way too much dye. I can get the dye to clear on wool and cotton yarns if I start with a lot less than I did here. I think the bottle instructions are based on trying to get a solid fabric where you want a lot of excess dye vs doing some uneven hand dyed yarn. :D I plan to play around more with the synthetic dyes in the future. I was honestly surprised that the 100% acrylic took up ANY color. I wanted to test it because food coloring won't dye the acyrlic at all.

[@karinvaleri7130]

did you try for 20 min steaming wool yet? was it long enough? thx so much for video, is there a way to get a graduant using only one color dye? eg: navy...can it be diluted before adding onto skein? I usually dye with acid dye and can make 1, 2, 3 percent stock solution.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Hi Karin, I'm not sure if I've tried setting for shorter periods of time with the rit, I honestly don't remember. You can absolutely dilute the dyes to hand paint a gradient. You can also dip dye directly into these rit dyes (I have some videos with that.)

[@naryaknits]

I love using the powders. They are great both dissolved and sprinkled. Beware that a little goes a long way. It is nice to get colors that you can’t get with food coloring. I usually use black, charcoal, navy and denim.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

The navy excited me soooo much!!

[@catherinemurray9847]

@@ChemKnitsTutorialsin

[@KrissD.]

Hi there.. could I steam these for the cotton in a microwave instead? And if so how would I go about doing that? 😊

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I just saw your other comment - but jsut in case you don't see my reply here are some instructions from the rit website www.ritdye.com/techniques/tie-dye/squirt-bottle-technique

[@caitlinreum100]

Beautiful results! I'm not sure if your Wal-Mart would be the same or not, but at mine I've been finding alot of Rit in the clearance section. I found a small clearance section over by the craft area with some synthetic Rit and then the bigger clearance area that has a mixture of all different things had some regular Rit marked down to $1 each! I snatched them all up!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

What a deal!

[@vanillasockpig1002]

Was the cotton yarn color fast when it was used for a project? Or did it come off on your fingers/hands while doing a project with it?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I didn't work with the cotton yarn myself, but I did have shirts that I've dyed with these same dyes. The dye didn't rub up of the wearer and it seemed to be reasonably color fast with a lot of washing.

[@vanillasockpig1002]

@@ChemKnitsTutorials Thank you so much!

[@stephaniejoyce3035]

What would you recommend for dying a cotton acrylic blend yarn?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Great question, depending on the ratio of fibers, I would use the standard rit. I don't think I've tried to rit dyemore on a cotton/acrylic blend before. (although honestly, for even better color coverage I would use fiber reactive dyes + soda ash on a cotton/acrylic yarn)

[@stephaniejoyce3035]

@@ChemKnitsTutorials Thanks. It’s 52/48 cotton/acrylic. I bought the regular Rit and color fixative. I’m dip dying a finished crochet piece. Wish me luck! 🤞🏼

[@CyndiBall]

Can you add the yarn directly into the water?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Yes. I haven't done immersion dyeing as much with Rit dyes, though. I tend to do more handpainting with it.

[@noneyadambidness_1]

Oh you have to try the powder. My daughters and I used a few different colors an we came up with some pretty awesome looking yarn. The tan is the color to really try we got pink blue purple orange an tan colors

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I plan to at some point! I wanted to start off with the most "user friendly" version. :)

[@paulasorrentino3266]

I was just going through my bag of Rit dye and I found 3 Boxes of Color Remover. I wonder if it would work if I don't like how the yarn looks after Dyeing it.. like after Dyeing my hair, they sell color remover and you are back to normal

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I'm very curious about the color remover!

[@concettorametta9005]

I’m curious if any color remains after washings - I’ve read that it will “stain “ the yarns , but won’t be permanently dyed The same Dyer source said similar happens with using vinegar instead of citric acid .Have you found the yarns to remain colorfast with using vinegar ? Thanks !

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

This was the first time I dyed using Rit Dyes, and I haven't knit with them or washed them beyond what I did in the video. I plan to dye some shirts with Rit and wash them a bunch of times to look more at the colorfastness.

[@dianafelice4339]

You can use food coloring to dye the yarn?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

You can use food coloring to dye the wool yarn, but it won't work on acrylic or cotton. (You might see some stains on cotton yarn, but the majority of the color will rinse out.)

[@DOSBoxMom]

A teacher supply store might have the kind of black rubberized apron I wore in my high school chemistry class years ago -- resistant to lots of chemicals, and so sturdy that they could easily survive as hand-me-downs among several successive HS chem students. A dollar store might have cheap disposable plastic aprons, which would also protect clothes well, but would melt if exposed to heat (so not the best thing next to a kitchen stove). Or possibly something especially sturdy in a work-clothes apron (in a hardware store with the stuff for painters and carpenters, or possibly among restaurant/foodservice supplies online), if it could be laundered or cleaned off easily.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I purchased a canvas apron that I plan to use eventually. First I want to dye it. ;)

[@DOSBoxMom]

Maybe you can Scotchgard it or something after you've dyed it, to provide better protection from any gunk that might get on it?

[@howlingwind1937]

Have you dyed with dylon dyes which come in small containers and is a powder pigment. If you haven't, would you do a video on using these dyes it could be fun and interesting. Cheers from Australia!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I don't think that the videos are in a playlist, but I used Dylon hand dyes in a few videos. Dyepot Weekly #62 was around then. Here are some others: kzbin.infosearch?query=dylon :D

[@ThePhantazmya]

Very interesting. I was wondering about using the Dylon dyes you can buy here in the EU. I think they are basically the same as Rit. Acid dyes are really hard to get. The ones I bought from World of Wool only have a few colors which include a black and a gray and the difference wasn't really the concentration but that one was a brown based black and the other was a blue black so I wonder if the black Rit dye would be bluer or browner than the gray. I'd really like to get the dharma trading company dyes but the shipping to the EU is SUPER expensive.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Oh that's too bad! I wonder why they're hard to find. Many premium art supply stores here carry acid dyes. (I used to live down the street from one and would stare at hte bottles back when I started dyeing yarn.)

[@kathleenmcquade31]

Ok Rebecca, I love your new pots!! Now, i wonder if you will notice any difference between this new one and the older, non-stick pot? I did wonder about it when the time you ended up with all that red foam against the pot, if the teflon affected it by taking the colour away from the yarn or if there was something

[@kathleenmcquade31]

Sorry, got cut off. Could something have been released from the teflon to affect the dye. The reason I wonder is that I am a Celiac and housing teflon pans are ok as long as nothing containing gluten was cooked in them. But if there was, the teflon absorbs the gluten and will release it into gf foods then cooked in them. Cross-contamination, you see, which would make a Celiac very sick. So, could the pots involved change the results in that way at all?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I'm honestly not sure if it makes a difference. I often (with food coloring) use a stainless steel, non stick, and even aluminum pot side by side and don't really see differences between them.

[@prettyhandson1572]

I was wondering in general is the ratio 6 cups to 1/4th cup vinegar for most dyes? I'm going to make my own dye

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

The ratios that I use vary a LOT. For commercial acid dyes and food coloring, I like to use something around 8 cups of water + 1-3 tablespoons of white vinegar. Some yarns and colors need a bit more acid than others. It ultimately also depends a lot on the technique you're going for. 6 cups of water + 1/4 cup vinegar is a lot more than I usually use. (1/4 cup is about 4 tablespoons.)

[@amberlund4119]

What pot are you using to steam the yarn?

[@TheBinchoutan]

I'm new to yarn dyeing, so I'm sorry if this is a stupid question. If you mentioned it in your video, I missed it, but could you microwave the jelly rolls instead of steaming them?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

The answer is... yes but it's complicated. I rutinely use my microwave for dyeing yarn with food coloring. It is a great way to set the heat. Rit Dye is non toxic, so safe to use and heat indoors. www.ritdye.com/safety However, I used dedicated dyeing pots, plates, and utensils when I am using non-food coloring dyes like Rit. I would be hesistant to use the same microwave I use for food with non-food safe dyes. I might try to pick up a second microwave from the second hand store so that I can use it to set the colors.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

And I really don't think that 40 min of steaming is necessary. I had some yarn I just dip dyed in rit on a recent livestream kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKaWda2Dj7qbo8k and the yarn wasn't in the dyebath for anywhere close to 40 min and it sucked up a TON of color.

[@TheBinchoutan]

ChemKnits Tutorials thank you so much! That helps a lot. I love your videos. They’re so helpful!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

YAY! I'm glad to help.

[@evazacharias3966]

So I don’t need to heat cotton to cure the colours.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I've always heated Rit dyes with cotton thus far. I don't think I've tried it with no heat.

[@ilonatatarko]

Hello, tell me please, what color are you using? and can I take food coloring?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

The four colors of Rit Dye in this video (see 6:07) are Charcoal Grey, Purple, Navy Blue, and Fuchsia. You can use food coloring to dye wool yarn (see many of the other videos on the channel) but it won't dye acrylic at all.

[@ilonatatarko]

tell me, please, and the floor wool food dyes will be dyed? I'm from Ukraine and we Merino are very expensive, not everyone can afford, but you can buy half the wool, and how will the product behave after the washing after washing? Do not shed all the colors? and if the floor coat is painted on a pair? will be normal? we have in Ukraine dyed yarn is very expensive, I can not afford to buy

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I am in the United States, so the ingredients in your food coloring might vary from what we have here. The colors that I get are perminant and wash fast (washing on cold). Here is a video where I washed a swatch dyed with food coloring and then compared it to an unwashed scarf: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZfXpICOo9-lq8k

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

The yarn I used there was 75% superwash merino / 25% nylon sock yarn. I have found superwash merino to dye BEAUTIFULLY. (non superwash wools dye great, too, but those I wouldn't put in a washing machine!)

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I do know that some of the food coloring colors that I use a lot (combinations of Red #3, Red #40, Blue #1, yellow #5 and Yellow #6), some of the colors are banned in some European countries (the reds) and that some of the compounds used in Europe and Canada aren't available here. "natural" food colorings won't work as well as the synthetic colors. I hope this all helps some!

[@christines1924]

It's possible if you set up an equation to get comparable dye concentrations from the Rit bottle and the squeeze bottles, that the final colors would have come out as expected. From the amount of dye that didn't bind, it looks like the concentrations in the squeeze bottles were too much (which you probably knew). But this was an experiment!!! 🤣 I have always used Rit for the wools that I dye for my felted bags and have been quite pleased with how fast they are in the final projects.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Oh yes, I'm sure that I used WAY too much dye. I couldn't find good instructions from the company for handpainting yarn, most of the instructions were for kettle dyeing. I loved the intensity, though!

[@christines1924]

ChemKnits Tutorials Rebecca, the "equation" I was thinking of was: you know the bottle volume to washtub ratio from the instructions (approximate the washtub volume); set this to equal unknown dye to known syringe volume. I'm assuming you know how to do the math. I'm wondering if you would get any dye color close to what you were imagining it should be. Washer dyeing and handpainting shouldn't matter.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I think that even with the suggested ratios there is still WAY too much dye. In an upcoming video, I used 1/2 of a bottle with about a pound of fiber (they say one bottle for 2 lbs) and there was a TON of color left over. I think that their ratios are meant to have excess because people typically want to dye solid colors. When I'm mixing my acid dye stocks, I'm going to take a close look at the recommended concentrations. :)

[@christines1924]

ChemKnits Tutorials sounds like a plan!! 😁

[@aquariuslady8277]

After doing one side you can flip the yarn over to do the other side.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Absolutely! This time I think I was nervous about contaminating the colors a bit, I hadn't used these dyes before so I was feeling a bit tentative i think.

[@mary-ruthflores4107]

When I have used This I noticed that I needed more vinegar or salt than I had expected. Don’t know why, but when I used more vinegar with the wool it absorbed better . It’s not my fav dye

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I've gotten better with Rit over the years. I know that less is more for SURE and that the instructions contain information on how to dye fabric a more even color so they have you use way more dye thanyou need.

[@hugettewatson2789]

I’m a learner I’m sorry if I came across the wrong way, I meant it to be a question based on what I say other dyers were doing. As I kept looking i say the end results and they came out nice . A little goes a long way

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Hugette Watson Don't worry at all! I honestly love questions. They help me learn, too. :)

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

And this video was my first time ever playing with these dyes. I film a lot of videos as I try things out.

[@birdapelton2360]

9

[@bccorbie4946]

Rit dye has 2 different dyes, one for protein and one for bast (plant) fibers. This is why you had so much dye to rinse out.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I've done a lot more dyeing with Rit now, and the main issue I had here was that I used way way way too much dye. If I use less dye to begin with, I can get stunning saturated colors and have less washing.

[@knitpurlsquirrelwithgrannydee]

Gosh, at least ya got a little on the acrylic- when I tried it, I got nothing - it all washed down the drain.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I was SHOCKED there was something there.

[@sogolgazerani5216]

I didn't get why you use vinegar or salt

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I was following the manufacturer instructions. Salt might be a leveling agent, but I'm not 100% sure why it was needed. Vinegar is required for a lot of dyes to absorb to protein based fibers like wool - but I haven't done the experiment to see what happens without vinegar.

[@hugettewatson2789]

Hi don’t you need to soak it a little more? I’ve seen other dyers soak them a lot

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

With my experience with food coloring dyes, 20-30 min presoak is sufficient to get the fibers saturated so it is easy to apply the dye. There is no harm in soaking them for longer, but if you are in a rush waiting horus isn't necessary.

[@marieking-stevason1775]

It might be easier to tell the colors if you tape the color name to the bottle before you use them. 😊

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

That would have been a great idea!

[@hugettewatson2789]

I’ve seen them soak them with more dye

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

You think I should have added more dye to the yarn? I was very happy with the color penetration (at least of the 100% cotton and 100% wool that these dyes were designed for.)

[@anniethesureshot]

I understand why you rinse in the sink for your videos. I rinse mine in the tub with the shower head, sometimes with the yarn resting on cooling racks. I need my hands and wrists to last me. All that squeezing has to be very stressful on your body. Just a thought.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

This is a great suggestion. It would be much harder for me to film it like this, but this would be great for the harder to rinse items.

[@kathleenmcquade31]

I don't see any brown!

[@attheranch873]

I wouldn’t put acrylic in water that hot.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

It kills it for sure! I'm not sure the best way to dye acrylic yarn still. The dye directions want you to use boiling water... I have yet to have a super successful version of it.

[@Clubkidknitter]

I think that was way too much dye 😊

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

100% yes!

[@Swhoney2]

wasteful.. always have to watch @ 2x speed.. only way..