Want to dye or bleach wool challis

Posted by Bronnie on January 27, 2008, 11:43 pm

Hi folks,
I am designing an art quilt using wool fabrics - wool challis. I can
only get some bright colours (pink, red, yellow, green) and am
thinking of bleaching pieces to increase my tint selection. I'll test
some fabric to see if this will work. As an art piece, the finished
quilt will not be washed.
Not sure I want to go the dyeing route - expensive etc. There's some
advice on this website: http://www.dharmatrading.com/info/dyeing_wool.html
but it says starting with a pure white is the best way to go.
Anyone got any comments on bleaching wool?

Hugs and kind thoughts to all those in need and to the rest of you a
big *kiss*

Bronnie
Oz

Posted by NightMist on January 28, 2008, 12:55 am

I would do about a ton of research first.
There has to be a safe way to get the color out, but I am not sure
bleach would be it. Bleaching wool or silk is not something I would
really consider. Chlorine + protien = unhappy protien
You know what a swimming pool can do to your hair, multiply that by a
LOT and you get an idea of what bleach is going to do to your wool.

Here is the page at Dharma about color discharging.
They specificly say not to use bleach on silk or wool, and do have an
altenative, thiourea dioxide. Although it is entirely possible that
it won't work on commercially dyed fabric.
http://www.dharmatrading.com/info/ddp.html

I have dyed wool, though not a lot, it is a hot process like silk.
You use the same dyes in fact. The main things are to stir it only as
much as you have to, bring it to heat gradually, and let it cool in
the dyepot before you rinse. Excessive agitation and temperature
shock are bad.

Were I you I would be looking at changeing red to orange, blue to
violet, altering shades, etc. There is enough color variation in
available dyes to let you mess about quite a bit with just changeing
colors.

You could try some of the silk paints on it if you just can't do
dying. Silk paints are like dye, they are not opaque, they spread on
the fabric like dye will, and they do not alter the hand of the
fabric. You probably wouldn't want to mess with steaming it, it takes
hours with silk, I shudder to think how long wool would take, but you
could try the brush on liquid setting agents. Or you could try one of
the dry heat set kind. The dry heat ones are usually set by ironing,
but I have taken to baking my monster silk circles in the oven. Heat
setting a nine foot diameter silk painting with an iron takes
_forever_. So I roll them up in newsprint and curl them up like I was
going to steam them on top of the stove and bake them at 250F for an
hour. I see no reason why it wouldn't work for yardage. Though with
wool I would put it in the oven then turn the heat on, then turn the
heat off an hour after I put it in, and let it cool before taking it
out.
At the very least you should be able to get hand dye or tie dye
looking results with it.

HTH

NightMist

On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:43:03 -0800 (PST), Bronnie

show/hide quoted text

--

Nothing has been the same since that house fell on my sister.

Posted by Bronnie on January 28, 2008, 1:24 am

On 28 Jan, 15:55, nightmi...@gmail.com (NightMist) wrote:
show/hide quoted text
[snip]

show/hide quoted text

Thanks Nightmist, you are so quick and helpful with that ton of
advice. Just what I thought - alot of work dyeing fabrics, to me,
like auto repairs - too dirty and time consuming LOL. However, I
shall study your reply and decide where to go from here. It really is
a subject that takes time, learning, confidence and commitment to
master. I did a 2 day course last Feb at a quilt convention just
dyeing white cotton FQ. I was pleased with the results but didn't take
to the messy work!!
I might just have to hunt down some more fabric colours and use
quilting threads to give a visual variation.
Again, many thanks,
Bronnie

Posted by Polly Esther on January 28, 2008, 8:11 am

Bronnie, I had forgotten the word 'challis'. Way back in my memory, it
seems like challis was something we used for newborn shirts and blankets.
They were quite washable although hot water and hot dryer were not
acceptable. I remember the challis as being soft and gently warm. Perhaps
you could get some white challis and use the silk paint. There's a way.
Sounds like such a wonderful idea. Polly

show/hide quoted text

Posted by Bronnie on January 29, 2008, 1:17 am

show/hide quoted text

Hi Polly,
This wool challis that I have bought took me back to my earlier
working days in the 1980's in a big city and a cooler climate. It
made beautiful suitings. I made silk blouses to match. Those were
the [elegant] days!

Today I bought half a metre to play with first. Will look to see how
it quilts up using different threads. On a strip 2inches wide I on
the grain I fringed it. Looks great. I was thinking of a black +
another color background in offset vertical strips of uneven lengths
on the bottom where I could fringe each strip. Oh, wait until I make
show/hide quoted text
Cheers Bron

Page 1 of 2 1 2 > last >>

Similar Threads	Posted
Re: Can I Bleach It??	January 25, 2007, 4:03 pm
Can I Bleach It??	January 25, 2007, 12:30 am
washing fabric Re: Can I Bleach It??	January 25, 2007, 4:14 pm
Wool Felt	December 29, 2006, 11:43 am
wool batting - Texas?	July 14, 2006, 10:56 pm
New Batting - Silky Wool	August 2, 2006, 8:55 pm
What is your favorite wool batting?	April 19, 2007, 11:49 am
Wool Batting questions	July 7, 2008, 9:39 am
2 Quilts and a Wool Table Mat	December 6, 2008, 12:05 pm
Wool.....amazing stuff	April 16, 2009, 1:58 am