Direct Application Trouble (White Spots)

[layangankora]

hey everybody,i'm having a trouble. whnever i dye a shirt by twisting,there always many white spots in my shirt.. i wonder how to make the shirt full colored? i don't want a white spots,it must be full colored.. i just don't have the clue.. need advice from all of you.. thanks!

[2D4]

Hi layangankora,

Couple questions....
Are you pre-washing the garment? At what point are you using soda ash? (Pre-soak, soak after folding or in with the dye?)
Is the shirt dry when you dye it? Or are there areas of dried soda ash?

Jo

[layangankora]

i pre washed the garment in hot water,i also soda soak the garment before folding,i dye the shirt damp,not too wet but i let it sit for about 6 hours,but it's just a little bit damp i guess.. whats my problem then? i think i'm doing it right.. 

[ktaltre]

Tie dye is a resist technique, so when you twist the shirt, you are creating sections of the shirt that aren't going to dye.
You could overdye the twisted already dyed shirt by low water immersion (LWI) a lighter color.
Or you could LWI the shirt first and then twist and dye with a darker color.
I also think you should batch a lot longer - 24 hours. Some dyers batch much longer.
Steve (fearless leader) says to dye bone dry to get more color saturation.
Some dyers say that the water in the fabric will resist the dye.
I dye shirts damp and am pleased with my dye saturation.
k. taltre

[2D4]

Well, it sounds like you're doing it just fine. Are you using squeeze bottles to apply the dye?
If so, are you're dyeing one side then flipping it over and dyeing the back? If you are, perhaps just try
applying more dye. Occasionally, I'll get a white area in my classic spiral in a place where
it's a little too noticeable. In those cases, I'll touch up the area with a paint brush and dye.
(I mix up a little dye and add soda ash to it.)

Jo

[Releaf]

I think this is more a matter of experience than anything else.  I have found that I get poor saturation if the fabric is too wet, but when I was new at this, I got poor saturation because I just didn't realize how much dye I needed to squirt on there to get good saturation.  It takes a lot more than you might think -- you can't just saturate the parts you can see and leave it at that.  You need to keep applying more dye, and give it a chance to soak through the layers you can't see.  I also batch for at least 24 hours, but all the time in the world won't give me good saturation if I haven't applied enough dye.

Just keep practicing.  You'll soon get a feel for it.

Good luck!

Releaf

[pburch]

i pre washed the garment in hot water,i also soda soak the garment before folding,i dye the shirt damp,not too wet but i let it sit for about 6 hours,but it's just a little bit damp i guess.. whats my problem then? i think i'm doing it right.. 

Didn't you say that you are using Dylon Multi Purpose dyes? There is no reason to presoak in soda ash if you are using all-purpose dye. The soda ash presoak is for fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX or Remazol.

Paula

[layangankora]

oh yeah,i forgot to tell you,i already bought the Remazol dyes and i am satisfied with the colors,its vivid and bright.. the only problem now is the white spots..

[pburch]

Are there white spots because the dye is not penetrating the tied areas as much as you'd like, or are the white spots where the minerals in hard water have precipitated out of the soda ash presoak and then stopped the dye from reaching the fabric?

I'm glad you've got the Remazol dyes. They will stay bright for far longer than the all purpose dyes.

Paula