Dying Roving Wool!

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Sick Puppy
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Dying Roving Wool!

Post by Sick Puppy » Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:23 pm

I would really really really love any help on this matter!

What are the best (and cheapest) mediums to use to dye wool? I live in Australia - so I find it pretty hard to get my hands on Kool Aid sachets (as someone once recommended)

How does one go about to dye wool for dreads? Do you do it before you have dreaded it or after? (though I consider the logic of this question, the answer is staring at me :P)

Sorry for all the questions! I would really love to embark on the epic journey of dreads that is custom dyed wool so any help would be greatly appreciated!

(Sorry if there is already a thread like this!)

xxxx

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VixenSingsBlack
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Re: Dying Roving Wool!

Post by VixenSingsBlack » Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:02 am

A lovely tutorial is here!

viewtopic.php?f=65&t=408

Elokin
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Re: Dying Roving Wool!

Post by Elokin » Fri Sep 12, 2008 5:25 am

I use lanaset (or sabraset, whatever) dye for my wool. It's a bit more expensive to buy than kool-aid or whatever, but you can dye a TON with a half ounce. I get mine prochemical.com

I'm not sure if you can find it in Australia or not, but Wilton's icing dyes work well too. The colors seem to separate a bit though and it can take a while to get used to.

A company in NZ called Ashford also makes dyes that are very similar to (if not the same as) lanaset. Their website is http://www.ashford.co.nz/

Jacquard makes acid dyes that work on wool also. I don't like them as much as lanaset, but they work and are cheaper to buy initially. http://www.jacquardproducts.com/

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Re: Dying Roving Wool!

Post by Miffy » Fri Sep 12, 2008 11:46 am

I dye my roving with food colouring. I can get bottles of red, yellow and blue here in a toko and mix my own colours. It's very colourfast and really easy to use. You can use it on both felted and unfelted roving. For me, it depends on what I want with it. My rainbow dreads were dyed unfelted, it was easier and faster to just pop some strands into de microwave and felt them afterwards. Things like dip dyeing are easier to do when the dreads are already felted, just grab a bunch, hang them in a pan and wait for the dye to set.
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Sick Puppy
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Re: Dying Roving Wool!

Post by Sick Puppy » Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:14 am

Thankyou so much!

I was wondering if it would be possible to do it with Food Dye - so YAAAY

I can get HEAPS more custom colours at a fraction of the price - so w00t :D

I haven't got a microwave at this house - so is there a way to dye with out one?

I am looking to make a set of dreads that are rainbow striped (for a friend of mine) and I have really got NO idea how to go about it :P
How do you rinse them afterward? Sorry again for all the n00bish questions :P

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[Tank]
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Re: Dying Roving Wool!

Post by [Tank] » Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:06 am

If you want to do rainbow dreads this might be a good tutorial for you, if you havent already seen it:
http://hairextensionsforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=153
To begin with, a dog is not mad. you see a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I am mad.

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Miffy
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Re: Dying Roving Wool!

Post by Miffy » Sun Sep 14, 2008 2:42 pm

Without a microwave I find it hard to do something like rainbows, unless you're willing to dip dye every section of roving/dreads into your dye pan at the stove and hold it until the dye sets.

Image

This is a pic I made of the roving I dyed with the microwave. The method is fairly easy: Spread out a long piece of plastic microwave film, on top of that, lay down your presoaked (in warm water with a bit of vinegar) and squeezed out roving, get a syringe and your (watered down, with a little vinegar added) dyes and then wet little sections of the roving, not too wet, because the colours will bleed into eachother easily. When you're finished, fold the ends of the film inwards and roll the thing up until you have a sausage shaped thing on your kitchen counter, put it in a heatresistant dish and pop the thing in the microwave for a few minutes. When done, take it out, wait a bit until it cools down (it's very hot!), open the plastic and rinse with warm water until the water is clear. Then hang to dry.

I'll make a tutorial as soon as I have my internet connection back, but I hope it's clear this way. If you only have a pan and a stove you could try dyeing every section as I said before, but that takes a lot of work. I don't think it's impossible though, although I find that with stovetop dyeing it takes longer and more times heating up before the dye sets. I'm very curious to see the results if you try it!
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Elokin
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Re: Dying Roving Wool!

Post by Elokin » Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:21 am

You can use the same method on a stove top if you have a canning pot or some other type of steaming apparatus. I have 2 tamale pots that I use.

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Re: Dying Roving Wool!

Post by VixenSingsBlack » Thu Sep 25, 2008 1:34 am

Could you detail how to do the dip-dye method with foodcoloring? I'm REALLY struggling! Also, what brand of food coloring do you use? Cuz I saw these people on ebay, and it looks AWESOME.

Food Coloring on the Ebay.

Also, what has been your success/failure with black food coloring and roving?

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Sick Puppy
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Re: Dying Roving Wool!

Post by Sick Puppy » Thu Sep 25, 2008 1:30 pm

For now methinks I will just attempt to dip dye one end and see how that goes - to get a colour transitional...

Ima be using the stovetop - so how do I prepare the food dye on the stove top? How much do I dilute and more importantly, how do I do any of it in the first place?? :P

Thankies for all the help!!


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