Scouring Plant Fibers: Preparing Cotton and Linen for Natural Dyeing

[@VikingMakery]

I've always found scouring linen to be difficult. I'll give your method a try!

[@TextileIndie]

Let me know how it works for you!

[@avoiceinsupportoftruth5]

thank you

[@TextileIndie]

I appreciate your kind comment! Thanks for being here!

[@anitajackson3101]

I read that Arm & Hammer has a product that can be substituted for soda ash. I’m going to try dying cotton rope - I have started making bowls, etc from cotton rope and I saw a lady make a blue and white striped bowl - she dyed half of her rope blue and it looked really nice. I want to use natural dyes rather than Rit or others that contain chemicals that are harmful. I’m looking forward to learning how to dye with plants.

[@TextileIndie]

That sounds like a fun project! I would love to see it when you're done. Come back and let me know how the Arm and Hammer works.

[@WorkingProgress17]

Rit claims that their dyes are non-toxic and I have yet to find a source that cites harmful chemical in Rit Dye. Do you know specifically what toxic chemicals are in Rit Dye?

[@debfergusson6284]

Full of information I use my top loading washing machine by setting it to just do the first part of the cycle ie fill with hot water, wash then stop, then leave overnight before the rest of the cycle the next day. This seems to work well judging by the yellowness that comes out, and the cleaness of the pre-used fabrics

[@TextileIndie]

Good tip, thanks for sharing. I'll give this a try.

[@mac-mb6tc]

Hi..Great info...one question..where did you get your overalls? Really nice

[@TextileIndie]

Thanks! It’s an apron from Amazon. Unfortunately the vendor no longer sells this style😞

[@jenniferlawson3847]

Great video! Where did you get the detergent strips? I've never seen those before.

[@TextileIndie]

Thanks! I found them on Amazon as I was trying to avoid plastic bottles of soaps. Super handy.

[@jenniferlawson3847]

@@TextileIndie Thanks! I'll have to look for those...so much more convenient too!!

[@kaybussjaeger567]

What temperature did you rinse your fabric after it was scoured? Can it be dried in a dryer-if so what temp in dryer

[@TextileIndie]

The temperature for drying doesn't matter. Typically cotton and linen are the same setting on a dryer so you can use that or whatever setting you typically use until the material is dry.

[@jessicag630]

7:40 Does this formula work for any type of fabric? 8:10 Is soda ash sdium carbonate? I read somewhere that you can use NaOH (lye). Is that true? Is the weight of NaOH to be used the same as soda ash? Thank you.

[@TextileIndie]

This formula works for plant based fibers, like cotton and linen. I've never used lye so I'm not sure about that.

[@anitajackson3101]

Where do you find soda ash?

[@TextileIndie]

Everything I used for this project is linked here: www.textileindie.com/how-to-scour-cotton-fabric/ What are you planning dye? I'd love to hear.

[@rockshot100]

Any grocery store that sells laundry soap, it is labeled Washing Soda.

[@dianeovenden]

I’m trying to find out how they would have naturally bleached flax 4000 years ago do you have any idea?

[@TextileIndie]

Hmmm, I'm guessing, the sun. Here's a blog post about Egyptian Flax: sheeptoshawl.com/the-flax-of-egypt/

[@robinm7599]

Is Soda Ash the same as Sodium Bicarbonate?

[@TextileIndie]

Sodium bicarbonate is baking soda. Soda Ash is sometimes referred to as washing soda, and that's a different substance.

[@serendipidus8482]

So basically wash it in hot washing soda and some detergent then rinse... why do you use such a strong lye when there are much milder lyes that you could more safely use.

[@TextileIndie]

Tell me more?

[@serendipidus8482]

@@TextileIndie tell you more? What more do you need to know?