RIT DYE
Big roll of wool, a stack of powder Rit dye packs, a bottle of vinegar, plastic bowls, measuring spoons, a scale and a microwave. It's just like Breaking Bad!
The Rit company apparently expects us to be dyeing pounds of fabric at a time, so I had to adjust all of my measurements for the small amounts of wool I was dealing with. For one pound of wool I would have to add one cup of vinegar and one packet of powder dye. In reality I only needed half an ounce of wool per color.
Simple arithmetic to scale down my ratios equally:
1 lb = 16 oz, 1/2 oz of wool is 1/32 of a pound.
1 cup of vinegar divided by 32 = 1 1/2 tsp
1 packet of dye, 31.9 g divided by 32 = 1 gram
Using my scale I believe I was able to get a pretty accurate measure of half an ounce for the wool, however it turns out the scale isn't sensitive enough for a measure as tiny as one gram, so I used a quarter teaspoon of dye. Honestly I think a quarter teaspoon is more than a gram, maybe even two grams, which is why my colors came out very rich. I didn't have any specific colors I needed going into this, so I don't mind, but I think I will find a more sensitive scale when I want color precision. The main reason I was diligent about measuring and taking notes is to have a record and the ability to re-create a color I really like.
Simple arithmetic to scale down my ratios equally:
1 lb = 16 oz, 1/2 oz of wool is 1/32 of a pound.
1 cup of vinegar divided by 32 = 1 1/2 tsp
1 packet of dye, 31.9 g divided by 32 = 1 gram
Using my scale I believe I was able to get a pretty accurate measure of half an ounce for the wool, however it turns out the scale isn't sensitive enough for a measure as tiny as one gram, so I used a quarter teaspoon of dye. Honestly I think a quarter teaspoon is more than a gram, maybe even two grams, which is why my colors came out very rich. I didn't have any specific colors I needed going into this, so I don't mind, but I think I will find a more sensitive scale when I want color precision. The main reason I was diligent about measuring and taking notes is to have a record and the ability to re-create a color I really like.
Alrightey. Two cups of clean, warm water in a plastic container. (Two cups was enough to submerge the wool, that's all.)
I added the vinegar and dye and swirled it around until dye had dissolved.
Separately I had soaked each tuft of wool in clean water and gently squeezed out the excess. Apparently pre-wetting the material facilitates an even absorption of dye.
Damp wool put in dye bath and swirled around a bit with a plastic straw.
In a small, 700 watt microwave, I heat my concoction for one minute. The water is warm (I should have brought my heat gun) and I gently swirl the mixture. I am careful not to agitate my wool too much because I don't want it to felt, which is a process by which the wool mats together and is no longer fluffy.
I microwaved for another three minutes. When taken out I can see that it had been boiling very gently-- so far so good. Since it has reached the low boil I put my container outside so it can cool in its dye bath.
(This is as good a time as any to write that the smell of hot vinegar and wool is pretty pervasive and not very pleasant. It dissipates fairly quickly, just not quickly enough for me.)
Forty minutes or so later my mixes have cooled and I can see the water is no longer brightly colored because it has been absorbed into my wool.
Rinsed in cold water. I gently squeeze out excess water, then take a dark towel and wrap around my wool to press out as much moisture as possible.
Last step is to lay my wool on my ingenious drying rack, a window screen on a upturned footstool.
I added the vinegar and dye and swirled it around until dye had dissolved.
Separately I had soaked each tuft of wool in clean water and gently squeezed out the excess. Apparently pre-wetting the material facilitates an even absorption of dye.
Damp wool put in dye bath and swirled around a bit with a plastic straw.
In a small, 700 watt microwave, I heat my concoction for one minute. The water is warm (I should have brought my heat gun) and I gently swirl the mixture. I am careful not to agitate my wool too much because I don't want it to felt, which is a process by which the wool mats together and is no longer fluffy.
I microwaved for another three minutes. When taken out I can see that it had been boiling very gently-- so far so good. Since it has reached the low boil I put my container outside so it can cool in its dye bath.
(This is as good a time as any to write that the smell of hot vinegar and wool is pretty pervasive and not very pleasant. It dissipates fairly quickly, just not quickly enough for me.)
Forty minutes or so later my mixes have cooled and I can see the water is no longer brightly colored because it has been absorbed into my wool.
Rinsed in cold water. I gently squeeze out excess water, then take a dark towel and wrap around my wool to press out as much moisture as possible.
Last step is to lay my wool on my ingenious drying rack, a window screen on a upturned footstool.
With orange I experimented by dropping color crystals on top of the wool in its dye bath and only mixing gently, to create a mottled effect.
Kool-Aid
This has been my first time dyeing with Kool-Aid and I am thrilled with my results, using Lemon-Lime flavor for green dye, Blue-Raspberry Lemonade for blue and Pink Lemonade for light pink. The internet is already bursting with instructions for dyeing wool using this fruity drink mix so I'll just mention a few of my observations: I didn't need to use vinegar so the kitchen smells much nicer compared to dyeing with Rit. My wool appeared to absorb the color almost right away-- with Rit my water didn’t turn clear until the mix had cooled, but with Kool-Aid (especially the green) only a few minutes after heating my water was clear. Regardless of how quickly the dye saturated into my wool I left it outside until it had cooled before rinsing.
The little pieces of wool were from the yellow and purple Rit batch, and I overdyed them with the blue Kool-Aid. It made a really nice shade of green over my yellow, the purple wool barely changed.
Cost comparison (similar shades)
Rit Teal powder dye, at $5.33 for a box comes to $4.73/oz
Kool-Aid blue flavors have more powder than most of the other varieties, costs .25 cents for .22 oz, making it $1.13/oz
Tulip turquoise powder dye is $2.77, making it $1.57/oz (so what if I haven't used it yet)
Obviously, if Rit goes on sale, or you have a coupon, or snag it as a cheap add-on item from Amazon, and then its cost/oz drops and it comes closer in value to other dyes. At the end of the day Rit will dye many different fabrics and has an established track record for remaining color fast and permanent. The Kool-Aid colors supposedly won't bleed out when you wash the wool, but I have no idea if the colors will fade with time.
I am very happy with both dye processes and my vivid color results, but if I had to choose one as my favorite for wool it would be the Kool-Aid method-- my Rit colors are so bawdy and I prefer the light, clean, pure colors achieved with Kool-Aid. It seems like mastering bright colors is the easy part, and I hope to expand my palette with a greater variety of pastels and complex, muted shades.
Kool-Aid blue flavors have more powder than most of the other varieties, costs .25 cents for .22 oz, making it $1.13/oz
Tulip turquoise powder dye is $2.77, making it $1.57/oz (so what if I haven't used it yet)
Obviously, if Rit goes on sale, or you have a coupon, or snag it as a cheap add-on item from Amazon, and then its cost/oz drops and it comes closer in value to other dyes. At the end of the day Rit will dye many different fabrics and has an established track record for remaining color fast and permanent. The Kool-Aid colors supposedly won't bleed out when you wash the wool, but I have no idea if the colors will fade with time.
I am very happy with both dye processes and my vivid color results, but if I had to choose one as my favorite for wool it would be the Kool-Aid method-- my Rit colors are so bawdy and I prefer the light, clean, pure colors achieved with Kool-Aid. It seems like mastering bright colors is the easy part, and I hope to expand my palette with a greater variety of pastels and complex, muted shades.