silk and citric acid

[fiberartist219]

I have dyed silk with both vinegar and soda ash. Let me tell you though, that I just got some citric acid crystals, and they are amazing! I use MX dyes, since they are all I've got, and the silk looks gorgeous when dyed with citric acid. The colors look more like they would in a cotton/soda ash combination. My black dye actually looks black! Imagine that.

[pburch]

Which black dye mixture did you use?

Paula

[fiberartist219]

I used Black CWNA... I think it's Dharma's New Black. It's one of the cheaper blacks.

Although, I have used ProChem's Silk black before and gotten black with soda ash on silk, but I figured it was designed for it. Silk Black is a much better dye in my opinion, but when I tried the same soda ash technique with the New Black from Dharma, it ended up bright red.

The citric acid made a huge difference. Paula, I think you were the one that suggested it to me months ago on the dyers list when I was trying to get a brown color, but I just played with vinegar at the time since it was easier to come by. The citric acid is preferable though, because it does not add any extra liquid to the mix. I can add as much as I need without it diluting anything. (Thanks for suggesting it to me by the way)

There was once a time when I was afraid of acid dyes, because at school, we used acid that probably came from the chemistry department... we had to wear rubber aprons, goggles, etc to even open up the case that it was stored in because it was such a strong acid. Now that I have citric acid crystals, I'm much less afraid of trying acidic mixtures. I found that there was more citric acid in Lipton's green tea than there was tea! I figure if I can drink the stuff, I can handle the concentrated powder version with gloves on and not be afraid of splashing toxins around.

Plus, it is a relief to know that MX dyes can be used as acid dyes (maybe not quite as well, but still adequate for my needs). I like to think that I can use what I already have rather than buying a whole new palette of colors for protien fibers.

[fiberartist219]

Well, my latest batch of silked dyed black came out kinda purpley. I think Darlene said she had good results getting black with citric acid using Dharma's Better Black.

http://itiedye.com/smf/index.php?topic=440.msg2289#msg2289