Friday, July 15, 2016

Strong orange isn't strong anymore

After dyeing the orange to blue gradation the other day, my results were so awful that I did another whole set yesterday.

I mixed Strong Orange and Intense Blue dye stock, then dyed a standard gradation. The first one I did is shown on the bottom here:


The fabric I used wasn't my usual dyeing stuff, it was some that I found in a bin in my cellar a while back.  It hardly took the dyes at all. So my next one was done with Testfabrics 400, it turned out better, but the orange is definitely washed out. Maybe my dye is just too old?



Not sure if I'll dye another set and mix up my own orange, using red and yellow, or just use these pieces for the project I have in mind...


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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 15, 2016 at 2:33 PM

    i don't know much about dyeing, but wouldn't any amount of blue just cancel the orange out and muddy it? i think all the gradations and colors you got are nice.

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    1. Laura McGrathJuly 15, 2016 at 4:01 PM

      One piece is 100% orange, and one piece is 100% blue, the rest are varying measurements of both. So the 100% Orange piece should be pretty bright, but it wasn't.

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  2. lindaJuly 15, 2016 at 5:28 PM

    Might not be what you wanted but I think its pretty - like a melting creamsicle.

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    1. Laura McGrathJuly 15, 2016 at 6:48 PM

      Yum, I was just sitting here thinking about going for ice cream for dessert.

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  3. Judy Sall Fiber ArtJuly 16, 2016 at 8:22 AM

    Laura, how much dye powder did you use? With strong orange, using the 2 tsp to 1 cup water formula should get you really strong, dark color. I gave up on that color awhile back because it was too strong...

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  4. Teri BerryJuly 17, 2016 at 3:59 AM

    Surprising results Laura, are you working from dye powder or stock solutions? How old is your orange dye? Blue and orange are such a zingy combination, I would be tempted to dye another batch, at least the orange end of the spectrum, to get what you had in mind...

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    Replies
    1. Laura McGrathJuly 17, 2016 at 5:40 AM

      Teri I was thinking about it all day yesterday and decided to dye the orange portion again, but this time use a red and yellow mixture instead of the strong orange powder and see if that turns out better. Some of my dyes are pretty old, I'm afraid.

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  5. ElizabethSeptember 12, 2016 at 11:15 AM

    I have been using some very very old dyes (15 years) and the only ones I have had that wasn't as strong were some of the reds. I keep my dyes in a light free, coolish environment in my basement. Strong Orange is a very very strong dye and like one of your other readers, surprised that it was so pale. The strong orange I am using is probably four or five years old and is still very strong.

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