More Dyeing

 Our lesson this week in Three Ways To Dye was Discharge Dyeing.  Discharge Dyeing is basically controlled removal of color from a previously dyed piece of fabric.  With these first two samples, I put a 1/2 yard of soaked PFD fabric on stretchers and painted several colors of dye onto it--red, orange, yellow, green, blue & purple.  After the dyes had set and the fabric was washed and dried, I tore it in half lengthwise.  With the first piece, I used the blunt end of a foam paint brush.  I dipped the brush into Clorox Bleach Gel and then pressed it onto the cloth.  Dip and Press, Dip and Press, etc--being sure to wear gloves because the bleach could really burn the skin if it came into contact with it.  After the bleach had removed however much color I wanted it to, I washed it in warm water to halt the process and then washed it in warm water and dish soap.  This method I liked and saw some potential in it.

This second sample used the method of squeezing the gel directly from the nozzle of its container.  As you can see, I didn't do so well with it.  It was heavy and, in this exercise, I had the fabric again attached to the stretchers--only, as it turned out, not tightly enough.  The bleach tended to roll to the low point--which was the center (the top of the fabric in this photo) so I had a LOT in that one area.  Not pretty--not pretty, at all.

In this last sample, I took a dry, previously dyed fat quarter and accordian-folded it from the narrow side, securing the top with clothespins.  I then poured about 1/2" of the Clorox Bleach Gel into a small container and set the fabric into it (with the clothespinned side up).  After about 30 minutes, I removed it, rinsed, washed and dried it.  This photo doesn't really show it to its best but I really loved this process and see a lot of ways I could use it.
So, that's it for this week in the dyeing world.  This coming week, we working with potato dextrin.  What's that, you say?  I'm guessing it's not instant potatoes!