#textiles dye process

 On Tuesday 3rd March 2015, following some reading about the natural dyeing process, I attempted to have fabric samples dyed in onion skins. 

The skins used for the dying process experiment are from one yellow onion and one red onion. They were used separately, because I wanted to see what colour differences they had in comparison.

The two onions skins were boiled for one hour in two separate pots. During this time, I noticed the change in colour of the water (dark brown for red onion skin, and light brown for yellow onion skins), showing the extraction of the colour from the onion skins. 

However, as the electric hot plate set on boil tends to make the water quickly evaporate, I topped both pots with warm water before the onion skin dye liquid is lost.

After an hour, with the pots half-full, I added cold water to each pot, then placed wet fabric samples (they were submerged in cold water for a hour), before putting the hot plate setting to simmer. Afterwards, this became a test of patience, as I had to wait until the fabrics are dyed with the desired colours. During this, I gently stirred the pot, so as to not get the fabrics to stick in the pot and for the onion skins to get stuck onto the samples.

After finally getting the desired colour, the fabric samples are rinsed in cold water before being placed on a clothes rack to dry. The reason for this is because the spinner and tumble dryer are used by other students at the time.

To help me identify which dyed fabric was which, I pinned a piece of paper with the dye (red onion, yellow onion) on each area where the fabric samples were placed.

The process of dying with onion skins was a good experience, because it gave me a better understanding of what to expect when trying out natural dyes. The process I did had no mordant; from the books I read on dyeing with onion skins, there were some that required alum mordant or none at all, so if I was to do this again, I could try with a alum mordant to see some differences.

On Tuesday 23rd 2014, the Contemporary Textiles class were shown how to make certain pastes such as discharge, Devore and Indalca. Last year, we had to inform the technical staff if any pastes were low or empty. This year, we were able to learn how to create our own pastes, so this not only saves time, it also informs us of our responsibility in both care and usage of the pastes.

Vicky, the university technician who runs this workshop, informed us of important things like health and safety (example of gloves when using the fume cabinet in photo), how to work in the fume cabinet safely (e.g. wear hand and mask protection, what powders and dyes are bad for your lungs if you breathing without wearing a mask), what exact measurements required to create a paste, and how long can pastes be stored in.

As for disposal of old pastes, they had to be put into these bins so they can be recycled with care.

Later, we were shown the two-tone Devore dye process - making a two tone dye using a procion and acid dye mix. The fixatives were made separately from the dyes, so that the fabric can be washed in the fixated-filled water before the dyes are added in together. Afterwards, the fabric is then fully immersed into the dye bath. After about 30 minutes, the dyed fabric is taken out to be rinsed with cold and hot water before being placed in a washing machine to be thoroughly washed with detergent. upon showing us the result, Vicki told us that the fabric can be dried naturally or in the tumble dryer.