Interesting LWI outcome

[deb]

I did some LWI tops yesterday, pretty Autumn colors. One shirt I put a deep green at the bottom of the jar (sort of a cross between olive and forest green), then stuffed in the shirt and squished down tight, then topped it off with a golden yellow-brown and let the colors do whatever during the afternoon and evening.

Before bed I put in the soda ash fixer, smooshed it around, left it overnight, smooshed some more this morning, and after an hour or so rinsed it out and laundered it.

Apparently overnight isn't long enough for a tightly-smooshed garment, though; a lot of the green came out deep blue - all the yellow had washed away, much to my surprise!

It still looks pretty cool, but I was surprised that the yellow maybe needs more setting time than the other components, or does the blue need less soda ash so it 'stuck" when the yellow didn't, or is there some other factor that would be contributing to this? If I can understand it better, I can use it to my advantage and do it on purpose! *rubs hands*

Thanks,
Deb

[zeppenwolf]

I did some LWI tops yesterday

Thou Shalt Post Pix. 

Apparently overnight isn't long enough for a tightly-smooshed garment

IMHE, doing LWI with any kind of predictability would require holding just about every variable as constant as possible.

Eh... that came out as a tautolgy, pretty much.  What I mean is, if for instance you use a certain container, a coffee can or a certain tupperware(tm) thing, then you must use the same exact one, (with the same exact shirt), if you hope to get something similar to last time.  IOW, how much the shirt is "smooshed" makes dramatic differences in the outcome-- use a slightly larger container, and it's completely different.

or does the blue need less soda ash so it 'stuck" when the yellow didn't

If by "blue" you mean that #25 Turquoise, I've noticed that that particular dye is alot "stronger", in various ways, compared to the other dyes.  It sticks on easier, and it doesn't wash out with dischargers as much.  And I don't think it bleeds as much, as far as mixing with other dyes while on the shirt...  It really seems like the oddball, chemically speaking, to all the dyes I've gotten from Dharma.  And I don't like it much, therefore.

[deb]

I've GOT pics, but none of them are small enough to post here. Once I get it listed on my Etsy shop, hopefully tomorrow (Sat), I'll post a link.

Hey, half the fun is the randomness and all the variables playing around. I'm trying to work out why this particular outcome. I figure part of it is the soda ash not getting all the way through the fabric smooshes to the center, hence areas that had dye on them rinsing clean.

I'm getting a kick out of the stuff I'm learning about the chemistry of the different colors of dye. For the first time, chemistry is fun for me!

[tiedyejudy]

Hi, Deb.  I do a lot of LWI dyeing, and 2 questions came to mind when I was reading your post:
1) How old was the green dye you used?  Had you just mixed it?  If so, was the dye powder old?
2) How much liquid was in the dye bath, and how much soda ash solution did you add later?
My experience with green is that if it is old, the blue usually fades out, leaving a sickly yellow.  But since most dyes are made up of different colors, you might have had one that had stronger blue than yellow.  Yellow can lose it's power after sitting for awhile.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that you should get good results after soaking in the dyebath for an hour, followed by another hour with the soda ash solution.  I have never had to 'smoosh' the soda ash, I just pour it over the top.  I keep track of the quantity of dye liquids I add to my container, then mix 1 tsp soda ash for each cup of  dye to 1 cup of hot water, plus one for the cup of hot water, for my soda ash solution. 
I do love LWI dyeing, though!  No two come out alike, and I am almost always pleased with the results.  The few times I haven't been thrilled, I have tried overdyeing and that usually adds interest to the end result.
Have fun!

Judy

[deb]

To be completely frank, I often don't know how old the dye is. Part of the territory when trying to dye while also having 2 energetic spirited kids at home all day!

I'm not displeased with it in any way - heck, I wouldn't be listing it for sale if I thought it was ugly!  But if there's soemthing I can use to replicate that phenomenon (not the result, but the "green fading to blue" thing)  intentionally down the road, it's nice to know.

Anyway, here is the result: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16580325